Michael E. Shea's Blog, page 15

Spiral Campaign and World Building in D&D

Often DMs and designers build worlds from the outside in. The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide describes worldbuilding through gods, religious organizations, the cosmos and planes, and the geography of the world. The world, and the campaign you build within it, starts big — from the universe inward.

But there's another way — a lazier way — spiral campaign development. I describe spiral campaign development in chapter 16 of Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master but we'll dig into the topic even more in this article.

For a video on this topic, see my Spiral Campaign Development in D&D YouTube video. A previous article Thinking Two Horizons Out also touched on this subject.

What's the Campaign's Theme?

When engaging in spiral campaign development, we start by thinking about the campaign's central theme, mission, or goal. What's this campaign about? The shorter this is, the better. Ideally one sentence. Maybe even just one word.

If we look at the hardcover 5e adventures from Wizards of the Coast here are some examples:

Help Ten Towns survive the endless night.End the soul destroying engine in Chult.Stop the rise of the elemental cults.Escape the underdark.Restore the Ordening.Stop Tiamat's rise.Save Elturel.Kill Strahd.

Sometimes these themes change. Sometimes we start with one theme and switch to another. For Descent into Avernus we might start with "hunt down the cults threatening Elturel" and then switch to "save Elturel" once it's sucked into hell.

A campaign theme helps you and your players understand the focus of the campaign. It lets players know what kind of characters to build and it lets you know what sorts of adventures to prepare.

What Makes Your World Unique?

The campaign's central tenants, often described during a session zero, make your campaign and your world unique. I often refer to these as the "six truths." There doesn't have to be six. There can be three. More than seven is probably too many.

Even though these truths may be big in scale, they matter to the characters right now. They tell your players what the world is like for them and what sorts of character navigate that world. They tell the players what makes this world and this campaign unique among those they've seen or played.

Example questions that might define these "truths" include:

What major war is going on in the region?What dark force is rising and what are the repercussions of this?What changes your world from the default considerations of D&D? Are the gods silent or dead? Does magic come from a different source? Is magic extremely rare or extremely common?What is the theme and feeling of your campaign? Is it wondrous and whimsical? Is it dark and dismal? Is it apocalyptic? Is it beautiful?

Clarify the theme in these "truths." Let the players know what they're getting into.

Spiraling Down to the Characters

Next, laser in on the characters and what's around them right in the beginning of their adventures or campaign in this world. Instead of answering questions about gods, pantheons, planes of existence, government structures, world geography and all the rest — focus on the following questions and ideas:

Where do the characters start physically? Where does the campaign begin? Build a small town or settlement.What makes this town or settlement unique? Pick one fantastic feature of the town. Maybe it's a big stone hand sticking out of the ground.What locations exist in this town or settlement that the characters (and players) likely want to visit? Pick one per character.Which NPCs likely engage with the characters? Which NPCs likely matter to the characters in the first session? Pick three.What villains are in play in this area? What do they want? What quests are they on themselves? What friction do they cause? Pick three.What adventure locations are nearby? What ruined watchtower sits atop a nearby hill? What shunned ruin lies just outside of town? What's hidden in the old sewers beneath the town? Pick three such locations.What quests can the characters pick up? Write up three.

You'll notice these questions feel like building an adventure, not a campaign world, but that's what matters. The larger world and the larger campaign is interesting but only in small pieces revealed to the characters as they explore the world around them. You don't need to know every god in the pantheon — just those tied to the characters or to their enemies. Fill out the rest as the characters go on their adventures.

A Focus on the Characters and Your Next Game

The whole philosophy of spiral campaign development is a clear focus on the characters, what they're doing, what they're going to do, and what the world around them is like. This isn't the end-all be-all of building a campaign. It's a start. Your world can be vast, deep, and old but the way you expose that to the characters, and their players, is through gameplay. It's during the game that the characters learn about the planes of existence, the old gods, the wars that tore apart the world, the lost species, and all the rest. They learn it one line at a time while delving deep into the old dungeons, caverns, keeps, and temples in the earth.

Focus on your characters and focus on the next adventure you're going to run. Let the world build out from there.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

This week I posted a YouTube video on [prepping Scarlet Citadel episode ] and Sharing your RPG PDFs with Players Safely and legally.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

D&D Direct AnnouncementsD&D 3D Virtual Tabletop First LookMore Announcements from D&D DirectThe D&D Virtual SummitPlayDnD and D&D Beyond 1st Level PregensCubicle 7's Design Goals for C7D20Shadow of the Weird Wizard AncestriesPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

Getting Better at Being a DMUsing Random Tables for Prep or At The Table?Using D&D For Facing with Real Life IssuesToo Many NPCs as Upward Beats in a Dungeon CrawlGetting Through Lots of Story in Shorter SessionsRunning Online With Some Players At Same LocationHow's Dungeon 23 Working Out?Dealing With High Passive InsightOffering Three Plus Infinite ChoicesBuilding Shorter Campaigns for 8 to 12 SessionsRPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's tips:

Don't forget the simplicity of this hobby. It's friends around a table rolling dice and having some laughs. Don't let the game psyche you out.Think about secrets from the points of view of the characters. Which of them are most likely to reveal the secret?Grab what the players bring to the table and run with it.Keep a handful of your favorite monster stat blocks handy. Use them liberally.Scenes are built from fantastic features, interesting NPCs, cool monsters, intriguing secrets, and eye-opening treasure.Roll randomly for treasure during prep but select items you know the players are interested in.Set up situations. Let the players choose their approach.Related ArticlesTying Characters to a Campaign's ThemeConverting Adventures Between SystemsTwenty Things to Do Instead of Checking Social MediaBuild Cities Around the CharactersWriting a One-Page Campaign GuideGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Converting Adventures Between Systems

With all of the great RPGs out there, sometimes we want to run an adventure or campaign from one system but with the mechanics of another. Maybe that awesome 5e adventure sounds like it'd be fun in Fantasy AGE or the Cypher system. Maybe that Pathfinder 2 adventure would work well in D&D.

How do we convert adventures or campaign worlds from one system to another? The answer might be easier than you think.

When we first think of such an endeavor, we think about converting all the mechanics of the adventure over to our system of choice but we don't usually need to do that. Instead, use the mechanics of your RPG system of choice and overlay the lore and fiction of the adventure.

Don't worry about the specific details of difficulty checks, monster statistics, or other mechanical bits from the adventure or campaign. Focus on the intention of the adventure and use the mechanics from your chosen RPG system.

Ensure the Theme Fits

Certain types of adventures or campaigns don't fit well with certain RPG systems. A Call of Cthulhu adventure isn't likely to work well with vanilla 5e rules — one being a game of gothic horror and the other a game of high fantasy. It's often best if the theme and genre of the adventure fits the themes and genre of the RPG system you choose. High action adventures work well with high action RPGs, for example. Are the heroes from your chosen RPG powerful and empowered or are their lives risky and fleeting? Consider the theme of the adventure or campaign and ensure that theme fits the style of the RPG you want ot use.

That said, story-focused RPGs like Dungeon World or Fate Condensed work well with more mechanical adventures because the theme still fits. It's more of a problem when the intended feeling of an RPG doesn't fit the feeling of the adventure or campaign.

Understanding Challenges and Action Resolution

It's important to know how your RPG of choice handles resolutions like skill or ability checks. How are actions resolved? How do the characters accomplish things? What is the range of difficulty and how do you change it?

Then look at the adventure or campaign and understand how it expects to handle challenges like this. It's important to understand the underlying system of an adventure or campaign so you know what the actual difficulty of a DC 18 check is compared to a DC 12. Once you understand the ranges of challenges, you can abstract such types of checks into bins of difficulty like "easy", "medium", and "hard". Then convert those difficulty bins over to your new RPG of choice.

For example, if you wanted to play a D&D 5e adventure using Fate Condensed, you can take D&D's difficulty class range of 10 (easy) to 25 (very hard) and lay it over Fate's adjective ladder of -4 to +8. Thus, a DC 14 in a D&D adventure is probably about a +2 in Fate Condensed.

Reskinning Monsters

Many times our chosen adventures and campaigns have a big bunch of monsters in them. Instead of painstakingly converting monsters from one system to another, rip out the ones in the adventure or campaign and replace them with monsters from the RPG you're using. When they aren't a perfect match, reskin the closest monster in your RPG to the one described in the book. Reskinning once again proves to be an invaluable lazy DM tool.

Make Life Easy On Yourself

We GMs often take the hard path. I don't know why, but we feel like it's cheating when we find things too easy. What really matters is running a fun game for our friends — not how accurately we stayed within the lines of a published adventure or campaign. When it comes to converting an adventure or campaign to an RPG of your choice, take the easy path. Rip out the adventure's mechanics and replace them with those from your RPG. Take a break. You deserve it.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

This week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

Final Week of Forge of FoesAppearance on D&D Beyond Twitch StreamForge of Foes Interview on EN WorldThe Resilience and Antifragility of Tabletop RPGsWhat can WOTC Do for the RPG Community?Before the Storm D&D Intro on D&D BeyondPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

Avoiding Bioessentialism in 5e RPGsLow Fantasy Survival Horror in 5eDealing with Lots of Overpowered Tag Along NPCsRPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's tips:

Let characters manipulate magical monuments in combat recklessly as a bonus action, potentially suffering damage on a failed attempt.Give as clear description of the situation that you can. Avoid gotchas.See the world, NPCs, locations, situations, and items through the eyes of the characters. What do they see?Let NPCs recognize characters and their reputations.Describe points of interest likely to interest the characters and their specific backgrounds and interests.Build puzzles or riddles that show off a characters' skills and approaches.Use random tables to fuel your prep. Build your ideas off of the results.Related ArticlesTwenty Things to Do Instead of Checking Social MediaDescribe your GM StyleMultiple Solutions to a Single ProblemUse Static Initiative for MonstersSandwich Mechanics with StoryGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Multiple Solutions to a Single Problem

We're on the last week of the Forge of Foes Kickstarter! If you haven't yet checked out the 30 page free preview and pledged to get the book, now is the time! If you're as excited about the project as we are, please share this link wherever you think you can help get the word out:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/slyflourish/the-lazy-dms-forge-of-foes-for-5e?ref=e3rd14

Forge of Foes is built to address a lot of hard parts of running monsters in our 5e games. Many times these problems don't have one single solution. If they did, we'd be using that one and it wouldn't be much of a problem anymore. But some things are hard. How do you balance encounters? How do you design encounters? How should you modify monsters? How do you choose monsters? How do you run great boss battles? What parts of a monster can you modify during play and when should you? How do you run dozens to hundreds of monsters in a single battle?

There's no one perfect solution to the problems above, so we offer multiple. In Forge of Foes you'll find multiple solutions to these common problems. We don't just offer one way to run hordes of monsters — we offer three ways of both managing damage done to monsters in a horde and handling a horde's dice rolls. You pick and choose the tools that work best for running hordes at your own table.

We have entire chapters looking at problems from different angles. Do you choose monsters based on the story or build a story around cool monsters? We talk about both approaches.

This idea of having multiple approaches to a single problem doesn't just define how we write about the topic in Forge of Foes — it's also how you can think about your own GMing toolbox. We each have so many ways we can run our games. There are so many ways we can build and develop NPCs, run scenes and situations, spice up encounters, build magic items, and share the story of the game at our table. There's often no single right solution. There are many right solutions for different circumstances.

When you're putting together your own toolbox of GMing processes and ideas, don't feel like you must have only one solution for each problem. Keep a wide range of tools — choosing the best one at the moment to share our fantastic tales with our friends.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

Forge of Foes Material Going to Creative CommonsGeneral-Use Stat Blocks for 5e in Forge of FoesShadow of the Weird Wizard Kickstarter June 2023Arcane Library Adventures for 5eKobold Press Black Flag Playtest 2Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

Why Make a Book About Building Monsters?Playing D&D with Small Children or Obstructive PetsHelping Players Synergize Character CreationRPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's tips:

Ask your players to take notes. Refer to their notes during your recap. Write down one cool character-focused event for each character in your next session. Ask players for a loose wishlist of magic items every few levels. Give magic items a unique name and history. What is the history of your fantastic location? What happened here before?Offer choices. Ensure the characters have something to do. Leave mysteries unanswered. Spotlight character traits and backgrounds through the eyes and actions of the NPCs. Related ArticlesTwenty Things to Do Instead of Checking Social MediaUse Static Initiative for MonstersDescribe your GM StyleBuild a Quick Monster with the Forge of FoesWhat 5e in the Creative Commons Means to YouGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Use Static Initiative for Monsters

There are lots of little lazy tricks we can use to streamline our 5e RPGs. I'm a big fan of using static monster damage for example. I find anything to help speed up and streamline the game worthwhile.

Forge of Foes (currently on Kickstarter!) is packed with tips and tricks for running awesome 5e monsters. Some tips offer fast and dirty tricks for streamlining your game. The book also has lots of tools and advice for adding detail, changing up tactics, and building big and engaging encounters. If you're a tactically-focused GM, you'll find as much to love in Forge of Foes as those who prefer the simple tricks to speed things up. Take a look at the free preview and back it on the Forge of Foes Kickstarter page!

One trick I've been using, which shows up in the "Lazy Tricks for Running Monsters" chapter of Forge of Foes, is static initiative for monsters. I started doing this a year or so ago and I really like it.

For a video on this topic, check out my Use Static Initiative for D&D 5e Monsters YouTube video.

With static initiative, you skip rolling initiative for monsters and instead give monsters an initiative of 10 + their dexterity modifier. If you want to group different types of monsters together, use the best dex mod of the group, or split them up with their own static initiative scores if you want.

Want an even easier way? Just make it 12.

There are some big advantages to static initiative. First, it saves you the time of rolling initiative. If someone else at the table is managing initiative for you (another lazy trick I really love), tell them the monsters have an initiative of 12. Like static monster damage, it's fast and it's easy.

Static initiative also puts monsters in the middle of the initiative order. This ensures the characters don't destroy half the monsters before they ever get a chance to act. Acting in the middle of initiative gives monsters a small but valuable edge, especially at higher levels.

Also, in my experience, players don't tend to care. In years of doing this for multiple groups, I've not had a player even mention it. I'm sure they know it's going on, but it just doesn't matter to them. Beating the monsters' initiative matters to them but when they know it's a static number of 12, they now have a reasonable number to beat.

You'll still have circumstances where all of the characters go before the monsters. That's fine. But it won't be because the monsters rolled low. It'll be because all of the players rolled high and that's cool and fun.

If you're more of a tactical DM who likes all the nuances of 5 foot squares, prefers rolling for monster damage, runs lots of different types of monsters in a battle, or likes rolling individual initiative for every monster in a battle — you can still do so. You might keep this idea on hand and use it for some of your battles where speed is more important than detail and tactical accuracy. Battles with less consequential outcomes or battles against easier opponents might benefit from static initiative. If you're like me, though, you might end up using it all the time.

So, to speed up your game and balance things out a little bit, try using a static initiative score of "12" for your monsters. It'll surprise you how much it streamlines your game.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

Forge of Foes Kickstarter ContinuesRadiant Citadel Nominated for a NebulaTome of Beasts 1 Revisited Campaign Builder - Cities and Towns by Kobold PressD&D Community UpdateD&D Content Creator's SummitHow Can Wizards be a Stronger Positive Force in the RPG Community?Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

Modifying NPCs with Species TraitsThe Challenge of Discovering SecretsIntegrating In Disconnected CharactersUsing Dice for Other Things In-WorldRPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's tips:

Put big decisions towards the end of the game so you know where things are heading next. Always consider what the characters can do in any given scene. End just before a big battle and you have a strong and meaty start to your next game. Aim for four players at your game. It's the ideal mix of character synergy and focus.Build fantastic locations. You have an unlimited special effects budget. Instead of rolling monster initiative, just give them a static score of 12.Ask your players to take notes. Refer to their notes during your recap. Related ArticlesSimpler Initiative OptionsThe Case for Static Monster DamageTwenty Things to Do Instead of Checking Social Media13 Tips to Speed Up D&D CombatEasier Initiative CardsGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Build a Quick Monster with the Forge of Foes

The Lazy DM's Forge of Foes is live on Kickstarter right now! Back the awesome 128 page book of guidance, tools, tips, and tricks for building, customizing, and running awesome monsters for your 5e RPGs. Check it out and download the jam-packed 30 page preview absolutely free.

The Lazy DM's Forge of Foes lets you actually build monsters faster than you can find most monsters in your various monster books. Forge of Foes gives you the tools to stat out a monster at any CR in under a minute then fill it out with custom abilities in just a minute or two more. It's fast enough that you can improvise a monster right at the table. I know because I've done so.

Today we're going to look at an example I used in my own game — the dwarven flesh cultist built for my Empire of the Ghouls campaign.

For a video on this topic, see my Build Quick D&D Monsters with the Forge of Foes YouTube Video.

To build our dwarven flesh cultist, we're going to use the Forge of Foes sample PDF and the "quick monster builder" on page 4.

Choose a Concept and Challenge Rating

The first thing we do is start with a quick concept. Dwarven flesh cultists are nasty cultists who eat the flesh of other humanoids and follow the Creed of All Flesh. They're no pushovers, attacking with whatever nasty cannibalistic weapons they have on hand and filled with the unholy strength of the Creed of All Flesh (a mask of the ghoul-god Vardesain from the Midgard setting).

Given it's story, we're going to give our dwarven flesh cultist a challenge rating of 3. This one challenge number gives us most of what we need to build it out.

With that challenge rating in mind, we write down the base statistics we need found on the "Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating" table on page 6 of the sample. Here's what we get:

Dwarven Flesh Cultist (CR 3)AC / DC 13HP 65Primary Ability Bonus: +5Damage per Round: 23Attacks and Damage: 2 x 12 (2d8 + 3)

With just that we're ready to go and it took about 30 seconds. We can improvise almost everything else when we run our flesh cultist at the table.

Here are some important things to note. First, the AC / DC number represents both the AC of the monster and as the monster's primary DC when forcing any sort of saving throw against a character.

The same is true for the primary ability bonus. It serves as the monster's attack bonus, their very best saving throw (if they're proficient in such a save), and skill bonus for their best skills. We can think of this number as the very top of their potential saving throws and skill checks.

Determining Saving Throws — the Lazy Way

What about it's other abilities or saving throws? Make them up. There's no simple curve for saving throws based on CR other than their highest possible one (the proficient ability bonus above). High CR monsters often still have lousy saving throws in some areas and many monsters have no proficient saves at all.

So we make up monster saving throws based on what we think makes sense for the monster right when we need them.

Here's a really lazy trick for you. Don't bother figuring out a monster's abilities and saving throws until you need them during the game. Often they never come into play. When a monster does need to make a saving throw — say a Wisdom saving throw — roll the dice first and see what the roll is. If it's really low or really high, it doesn't matter what the bonus is. They've already either succeeded or failed. Only if the roll is somewhere in the middle do you bother to determine a creature's saving throw bonus and you do so by asking yourself what sort of save the monster would have in that ability from -2 to a maximum of their proficient ability bonus.

Let's say a wizard casts a DC 14 Hypnotic Pattern on our dwarven flesh cultist. We roll a Wisdom save and the die is a 12. That's in the middle enough that we probably want to think about whether they failed. If it were a 5 or a 17, we wouldn't bother to figure out the bonus. But it's a 12, so we need to know if a bonus would have helped it.

So we go back to the monster's story. Based on our story of the dwarven flesh cultist, do we think them particularly wise? Not really. So we give them a +0. A 12 would then still fail and the flesh cultist is indeed affected by the hypnotic pattern.

This concept of "going back to the story of the monster" is a totally different way of thinking about our monsters but a great one for improvising monsters right at the table. Get comfortable with it and it'll take you far.

Customize Armor Class

Sometimes the baseline AC of a creature at a particular CR doesn't make sense based on its story. We can raise or lower a monster's AC however it makes sense for the story of the monster. I like to keep in mind that a non-dexterous creature wearing leather armor is an AC of 11 and a knight in full plate with a shield is an AC of 20.

If our flesh cultists wore heavy armor we might increase their AC to 17. If we want to keep it from being too much of a pain to kill, we can reduce their hits points in exchange. Don't worry too much about the mathematical rigor of such a shift. In the end it really doesn't matter.

For the story of our dwarven flesh cultists, though, an AC of 13 makes sense so we'll stick to that.

Improvising Attacks

We have most of the stats we need, but what about the details of their attacks? Like much of what we've done so far, we improvise them. Let's make them creepy by giving the flesh cultists bloody curved disemboweling blades, heavy meat-tenderizer mauls, and big chopping cleavers. This is all just flavor. The attack and damage are already in our stats. A flesh cultist might hack twice with a big cleaver for +5 to hit and 12 (2d8+3) slashing damage. Improvise the damage type along with the damage.

If you want to flavor it a bit more, you can split the damage type. Maybe the flesh cleaver inflicts 7 (1d8+3) slashing damage + 4 (1d8) necrotic damage because of their connection to the Creed of All Flesh. We can take the damage dice in the damage equation included in our quick monster stats table and split it among different damage types.

It's almost always worth including some sort of ranged attack. Maybe the flesh cultists can throw barbed harpoons. We use the same damage equations we would use otherwise or we can lower it a bit if we want based on what we think about the story of the flesh cultist.

Filling Out our Flesh Cultist with Powers

We can go with what we have but for more fun, let's give them some extra powers and abilities. Forge of Foes and the free sample include a bunch of "monster type templates". One trick is that we don't have to stick to only the monster type template that fits our monster's type. We can steal powers and abilities from any of these to fit our creature's theme.

Maybe our flesh cultist can throw out a fleshy barbed tendril Hellraiser-style by using the Aberration's "Grasping Tentacles" ability. Maybe we grab the beast's "Empowered by Carnage" power or the Monstrocity's "Devour Ally" power or the undead's "Stench of Death" trait. There's a lot to choose from if we want to customize our cultist.

If none of those feel right we can jump right to our "Common Monster Powers" list. Think of these like feats for bad guys. Choose one that makes sense for the monster you're building. Our flesh cultist might benefit from any of these:

Delights in SufferingFrenzyGoes Down FightingRefuse to Surrender

You can customize any of these powers to fit the theme of whatever monster you build.

Don't to overboard with these powers. Usually one special power is enough for a typical monster.

For our flesh cultist, we're going to use the Hellraiser-style barbed tendril and give it the ability to pull the target towards the cultist as well as restrain them. Fun!

A Final Look at our Flesh Cultist

In the end of our experiment, we have a fleshed out flesh cultist that looks like this:

Dwarven Flesh Cultist (CR 3)AC 13HP 65Primary Ability Bonus +5ATTACKSMultiattack. The dwarven flesh cultist can attack with two meat cleaver attacks. It can replace one of these attacks with a barbed fleshy tendril.Meat Cleaver. +5 to hit; 7 (1d8+3) slashing damage and 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.Barbed Fleshy Tendril.: +5 to hit; 30 ft., 7 (1d8+3) piercing damage and 4 (1d8) necrotic damage. The creature must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be pulled adjacent to the Dwarven Flesh Cultist and is grappled and restrained (escape DC 13).

That's a solid and really fun stat block to run.

What do you want to build next?

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

Forge of Foes Kickstarter Going On Right Now!Shadowdark RPG by Arcane LibraryOpen5e.comPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

How to Handle Maps for ExplorationTeaching New Systems to PlayersTaking Notes while Running a GameHelping Players Balance Character Types and SkillsNot Offering Custom Lineage or Variant Humans -- Is that Wrong?Accomidating a Players's Spirit Being In Your GameOverwhelmed by Midgard LoreDealing with Shopping SessionsBalancing Encounters in High Magic Item CampaignsAdopting the Eight Steps to Gumshoe GamesRPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's tips:

What's the coolest part of the next session you're going to run?Print or share overland maps, NPC art, and captured letters as handouts to your players. Build monsters on the fly with the Forge of Foes quick monster builder!Embrace 5e adventures, character supplements, and monster books from many publishers.Understand how the species and backgrounds of the characters tie them to the world. Let the characters get away with shenanigans. Add monsters intended to be crowd controlled. Related ArticlesImprovise D&D Monster AbilitiesD&D 5e Numbers to Keep In Your HeadCustomizing MonstersTwenty Things to Do Instead of Checking Social MediaInstant NPCs for Fifth Edition D&DGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Twenty Things to Do Instead of Checking Social Media

Read a sourcebook, campaign book, or world book.Read some third-party campaign books.Think about what your villains are doing right now.Watch a movie or show with great characters and fantastic locations.Read a fun fantasy novel.Listen to an audiobook and practice your voices.Call a friend and chat about their game.Fill your campaign's geography with little-known dungeons and lairs.Come up with three fun sidequests.Read a monster book seeking fun lairs and encounters.Read the descriptions of the characters' race, class, and background.Write down a personalized quest for each character.Find evocative art for your campaign.Share an experience from your last game with fellow DMs.Update your campaign journal.Write down a character-focused summary of your previous game to deliver at the beginning of your next one.Make a cool handout.Write and email short flash fiction to your players showing the movement of the world.Find music to build a great soundtrack for your game.Flesh out the details of NPCs the characters know and love.More Sly Flourish Stuff

The Lazy DM's Forge of Foes is live on Kickstarter! Back it today and grab the 30 page sample PDF!

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

Forge of Foes Kickstarter This Wednesday!Arcana of the Ancients Bundle of HoldingMastering Dungeons on Shadow of the Demon Lord New One D&D Playtest Iskandar Player's HandbookPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

Co-DMing Two Groups in the Same Campaign AdventureManaging and Referencing So Many Monster BooksUpdates to the 5e Artisenal Monster Database in NotionWorldbuilding Book recommendationsSharing RPG PDFs with Google DriveRunning D&D for a 5 year OldGetting Players to Be More TacticalRPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's tips:

Never forget. The number one goal of an RPG is to get together and share some laughs and tales of high adventure with your friends.Your friends love you. You're game will be great.Stack multiple encounters together. Mix in roleplaying and exploration.Monsters often aren't tactical masterminds. Play them dumb.Provoke opportunity attacks.Keep tools on hand to improvise monster statistics at the table.Keep a handful of basic monster powers you can drop in when you need them.Related ArticlesDescribe your GM StyleSandwich Mechanics with StoryWrite Down Page Numbers on D&D Prep Notes and Character SheetsThe Near Perfect RPG SessionSeven Fantastic Tools to Play RPGs OnlineGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Describe your GM Style

Fengh, a Patreon of Sly Flourish asks:

"How do I describe my style of play to players I don't really know?"

This is a fantastic question.

Just as we should try to define the characteristics we look for in our ideal players (recognizing that our ideal players aren't necessarily everyone's ideal players), I think it makes sense that we, as GM, describe our style in a way that clarifies to potential players how we're different from other GMs.

When I describe my own GM style to new potential players, I clarify the following:

I'm a GM who focuses mostly on the evolving story of the game itself.I play either online or in-person.I run a mix of abstract and "theater of the mind" combat styles. I'm not a tactical GM who focuses on the 5 foot grid. Half or more of battles are in theater of the mind (this immediately filters out a lot of players which is fine).I use Discord, D&D Beyond, and Owlbear Rodeo. I don't use Roll 20 (this also filters out a lot of players).I'm a loosy-goosy GM. I don't hang on too tight to the story, the characters' story, the rules, or just about anything else.I make mistakes but keep rolling on. If a player is looking for a tight cohesive narrative arc, I might not be able to provide that.

In many ways I try to think about my style of GMing and how it would turn players off. Instead of selling myself as a GM, I'm happy for them to recognize how I might not be a good fit before we start.

If I'm looking for a GM, I'd probably look at the following criteria:

Are they a tactical or story-focused GM?Do they consider themselves a "killer" GM?Is everything on a grid or do they run some combat in the Theater of the Mind?Do they consider themselves opponents or fans of the characters?What parts of the game do they enjoy most?What bugs them?Where do they spend most of their prep time?

Of course, nothing works better than running a one-shot or a short number of games with potential players and GMs to see if things gel.

Friend and Sly Flourish Patreon Rangdo offered up this Same Page Tool which discusses how players and the GM can work together to build the style of game they're all interested in. It's another good source to think about your style and how you might describe it to potential players.

How do you describe yourself as a GM?

More Sly Flourish Stuff

This week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on the Preview of Forge of Foes and Scarlet Citadel Prep for Session 16.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

Forge of Foes Kickstarter Coming March 1stValikan Clans by Ghostfire GamingKobold Press Black Flag Playtest 1Demiplane 5e Nexus and the Future of Digital 5e ToolsLevel Up Advanced 5e Trials and Treasure by EN World PublishingPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

The Future of RPGs -- 5e or Independent RPGs?RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's tips:

Steer the game towards the decisions and actions of the characters.For each scene you plan, write down a few things your specific characters might do in the scene.Show the results of the characters' actions.Not all dark magic items are cursed.Let the characters take a specific part in a larger war or military campaign.Shake up stereotypes. Run phased battles. Lots of minions followed by some big bruisers followed by a boss.Share art, either printed or shared online.Related ArticlesSandwich Mechanics with StoryWrite Down Page Numbers on D&D Prep Notes and Character SheetsThe Near Perfect RPG SessionSeven Fantastic Tools to Play RPGs OnlineBuild Cities Around the CharactersGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

The Near Perfect RPG Session

Thinking back over the games you've run, which ones do you consider your near perfect games? Which ones hit just about every mark? What was it that made them near-perfect?

We're avoiding "perfect" games because often our self-defeating attitudes won't let us pick any game as perfect. But near perfect? We've had a few of those.

What criteria define a near-perfect game? Only you get to decide. Write down your own list and see what you come up with.

Here's my own list of criteria for a near-perfect game:

The players are all engaged most of the time.Players walk away excited by what happened and excited for what happens next.The characters have agency to make meaningful choices.Every character had an opportunity to shine both mechanically and in the story.The pacing of the game was spot on and the game ended on time.When the story and direction of the game goes in an interesting direction no one could have predicted.What Brings You the Most Fun?

A Reddit thread entitled "What part of GMing gives you the greatest pleasure?" covered similar ground to this question. The top comments offer comparable results to our near-perfect-game criteria. These included:

When the players are so in the moment that THEIR emotions rise to the front.When finally revealing a big secret or plot twist.When a player wants to talk about the campaign even outside of the session.When the players "live" in the world by interacting with NPC's when they don't have to.When we GMs get to shut our mouths since the players are so engaged in talking to each other in character.When something happens we didn���t plan or expect.The table wide cheer that goes up on a natural 20 or when a hard enemy goes down.

There's some common ground in these top comments and my own list. It leads us to the practical question for this thought exercise:

What can we do to pave the path for a near perfect game?

How can we focus our preparation towards a near perfect game?

It's important to consider that a near-perfect game relies as much on the players, maybe even more on the players, than it does for DMs. We must also consider that some players may love a game that others didn't care for. That's ok, we can still pave the path. How?

Prepare to Improvise

I think the greatest fun during a D&D game comes when the game takes a turn no one expected. We can prepare for this by focusing our preparation to support improvisation. This means having what we need to react as things change. Here are a few things we can do (some of which will be very familiar):

Write out one-line secrets, clues, bits of history, and other lore the characters can discover anywhere.Prepare interesting locations, populate them with NPCs, plan some goals, and set up situations. Let the players choose their course.Have a list of monsters the characters might encounter anywhere.Have a handful of locations ready to run should the characters go somewhere you didn't expect.Be prepared to build NPCs quickly and easily depending on which NPCs catch the characters' attention. At least with a list of random names.Know what your villains are doing and how they'll react as things change. Get into the heads of your villains.Focus on the Characters

Players love their characters. A character is the focal point and interface between a player and the world. The more time you spend understanding the characters, both mechanically and in their own story, the more you can draw the players into the game through their characters. Here's a few things we can do:

Read up on each character's story.During downtime and rests, ask the players what their characters think of the current situation and how it reflects on their past.Ask the players what mechanics they love about their character. Write it down.Build encounters that show off those well-loved mechanics.

How will you prepare what you need to set the stage for a near-perfect game?

More Sly Flourish Stuff

This week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Scarlet Citadel Session 14 ��� Lazy GM Prep and Designing Vampires for MCDM's Flee Mortals.

Last Week's Lazy D&D Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy D&D Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things D&D. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

Pathfinder 2 Humble BundlesKobold Press Worlds Humble BundleWhat's Normal in the Post OGL Fiasco RPG Hobby?Keys from the Golden Vault Free Adventure Raiders of the Serpent Sea by Arcanum WorldsKibbles Compendium of Legends and LegaciesPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

Lazy Encounter Benchmark for Solo and Legendary MonstersPlayers Making Choices Against a Chracter's AlignmentConverting Monsters Across RPG Systems? Reskin!Worried About Making Mistakes with Big Published AdventuresFree to Use Dungeons of Fate?D&D Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last D&D game and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's D&D tips:

Develop locations, fill them with inhabitants, give the characters a goal or two, and enjoy how the game unfolds.Let the characters of missing players handle secondary activities off-screen. Maybe they���re keeping the get-away clear or maybe they���re transferring useful information from a high tower.Build encounters from what makes sense in the story. Worry about difficulty only if you may inadvertently kill all the characters.Guards are guards whatever level the characters are. Just because the characters are 7th level doesn���t mean all the guards turned into veterans.Your 5e game is your own. There���s nothing ���official��� and nothing ���third party���. Use any 5e material you want to make your game awesome.Have a backup plan if your favorite digital tools fall apart or start to suck. Relying on only one platform puts your joy of the hobby at risk.Enemies don���t always act optimally. They can be as confused as the characters are.Related ArticlesBuild Cities Around the CharactersSandwich Mechanics with StoryReach Satisfying Campaign ConclusionsWrite Down Page Numbers on D&D Prep Notes and Character SheetsLearning About the CharactersGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

What 5e in the Creative Commons Means to You

On 27 January 2023 Wizards of the Coast released the 5.1 System Resource Document, a 400 page PDF of the core rules, races, classes, monsters, and magic items for D&D 5th edition, under a Creative Commons Attribution license. This means that, by simply crediting Wizards of the Coast in a product, you can legally use any of the material in that document, including making derivative works from the material in that document. Forever.

Download your own copy of the 5e SRD with the Creative Commons license. Save it to your computer. Back it up. And it's yours. Forever.

This is an incredible step in the Open Gaming License saga — one of the craziest months in the hobby of roleplaying games.

But what does the release of the 5e SRD into the Creative Commons mean for us dungeon masters and game masters?

A lot.

It means RPG publishers can use and build off of material in the 5e SRD to make anything they want and make it compatible with 5e. It means 5e became an RPG system separate from Wizards of the Coast. It means publishers can write 5e compatible systems, supplements, adventures, class options, monster books, and more — forever. And, unlike the attempted "deauthorization" of the Open Game License, WOTC can't take it back. The Creative Commons license isn't owned by Wizards of the Coast and it's been in use in various industries for decades. All of Wikipedia, for example, uses a Creative Commons license. It ensures content owners can share their work and know it can always be shared thereafter.

And now that's happened with 5e.

We've already seen tons of awesome 5e products over the past eight years. Huge adventures, awesome monster books, tons of character options, deep campaign worlds — there's more 5e material than we can ever use in our lifetimes and now far more to come.

An open 5e SRD means there's no limit to the amount of quality 5e material we may see in the future. No one company can stand in the way.

The 5e SRD in the Creative Commons means D&D is safe and secure. No matter what path Wizards of the Coast takes with D&D, we always have 5e. Not just because we have the physical books, which alone can last beyond our own lives, but because anyone can write, publish, and sell new 5e material — forever.

Whatever direction WOTC takes with One D&D, it's only one option we can choose to accept or not. Maybe we move to One D&D and keep using the rest of our 5e material. Maybe we take a few ideas from One D&D as house rules for our existing 5e games. We get to choose what we want based on the merits of those products.

And One D&D is only one path forward. Kobold Press announced their own 5e compatible RPG codenamed Project Black Flag as did Cubicle 7 with C7D20. We already have Level Up Advanced 5e which is likewise moving to an independent publishing license (I'm hoping it's Creative Commons as well!) and opening up their content to other 5e publishers.

This means we don't have to choose a single 5e system. We can treat each 5e system as extended sets of house rules from which to pluck our own preferred rules for our group and our game.

It also means should WOTC decide to pull their support for Roll 20, Fantasy Grounds, or Foundry; we'll have three other compatible 5e systems on those platforms.

There's also something extremely powerful about being able to write derivative works from the 5e SRD. It's this idea that let Necrotic Games write Old School Essentials — a classic D&D BX-compatible game written from the bones of the 3.5 SRD. They reverse engineered common D&D terms and concepts like the six attributes, armor class, and build an updated clone of the oldest version of the game without fear that WOTC might sue them. They did so under the original OGL but now anyone can do it with this CC-released SRD without fear that WOTC tries to "deauthorize" it again.

Being able to use the material in the SRD is great. Being able to write derivative works off of it is limitless.

5e is its own RPG now. It's own platform from which thousands of products can spring. It's an RPG independent of any one publisher.

What does the 5e SRD under a CC mean for us game masters? It means 5e is ours. Forever.

Last Week's Lazy D&D Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy D&D Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things D&D. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

WOTC Releases 5e Into the Creative CommonsWhat Does Trust Mean with Wizards of the Coast?Lazy RPG Podcast Awarded Best Talk Show Podcast by EN WorldOracle Character Generator Deck by Nord Games Zobeck Clockwork City by Kobold PressPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

Running Rich and Dynamic Combat EncountersNot Exposing a Movie-Based Adventure PlotBuilding a Villain or Monster from a PCHow Many Rounds Should Encounters Go?Other RPGs I'm Running This Year?Finishing Writing One-Shot AdventuresBalancing the Action Economy with Big Solo MonstersD&D Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last D&D game and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's D&D tips:

When running a heist-style adventure: clarify the goal, give them useful information through recon, understand the typical behavior of the inhabitants, be ready for a complication.When playing online, call on individual players instead of asking the whole group.Know which decisions require a unanimous decision and which can be made by the majority.Show pictures of NPCs.Have friendly NPCs help the characters off-screen instead of becoming tag-along NPCs.Act how the NPCs would act.Underground sewers and caves are a great way to infiltrate a fortified castle or keep.Related ArticlesFeedback to WOTC on the OGL 1.2 DraftYou, Me, and the D&D Open Game LicenseTop Ten Notable 5e Products for 2022Notable Third-Party Products for D&DA D&D 4th Edition DM's Guide to 5th EditionGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Seven Fantastic Tools to Play RPGs Online

More people than ever play RPGs online. Over the past few years the suite of tools to play RPGs has grown and improved as well. Today we're going to look at one "stack" of tools to run awesome games online. There are many such stacks, and some tools containing almost all of the features below in a single tool. This stack doesn't contain the most popular tools you can find but I recommend it none the less. It's a fantastic suite for the lazy dungeon master.

Game Prep: Notion

I've been using Notion for more than two years now and love it for campaign planning. If you've used Microsoft OneNote, this will seem familiar. Notion lets you set up a suite of interlinked pages with text, pictures, and other embedded items organized however you want to organize it. I've built a Notion template for Lazy DM prep and have used it for more than three hundred game sessions and I continue to love it. You can read my article on using Notion for Campaign Prep for more details.

If you're looking for something less commercial, less locked-in and more expandible; check out Obsidian. It's equally popular for RPG campaign prep.

Communications: Discord

Discord is an extremely common platform for communications with text, audio, and video. Over the past few years its audio and video functions greatly improved. You can set up a server for your game, with an audio and video "room" for the actual game and text channels for things like dice rolls, sharing pictures, and keeping a persistent game log. I have a Discord server you can clone to create your own RPG-focused Discord server and an article describing how to use Discord for online D&D games for more information.

Virtual Tabletop: Owlbear Rodeo

You can go far just sharing pictures of maps or art over Discord but if you want to actually move tokens around a map, Owlbear Rodeo is my favorite virtual tabletop. It's extremely lightweight with no game rules built into the platform. It's fast enough that I can prep a map in the middle of a game. It doesn't have the heavyweight features of bigger VTTs like Foundry, Fantasy Grounds, or Roll 20; but you and your players will love the speed and ease of use. Here's an article about using Owlbear Rodeo and a video on Owlbear Rodeo and how I set up all of Castle Ravenloft in Owlbear Rodeo in ten minutes.

Maps: Dyson Logos

As a lazy DM, I always recommend finding a good map instead of making your own. If you ever need a dungeon or overland map, my favorite maps are those by Dyson of Dysonlogos. There's over a thousand maps, mostly dungeons but some overland maps, we can repurpose for so many different locations. I've used them for Eberron, Midgard, Forgotten Realms, and Numenera. Because they're lightweight on theme, you can easily reskin them. The same map can be used for an ancient tomb or the ruins of an old tech power generator. Dyson maps, of course, work very well in Owlbear Rodeo.

Tokens: Token Stamp

Google's image search mixed with Token Stamp by RollAdvantage lets you build virtual tabletop tokens for just about anything in a few seconds. I often use it to build tokens in the middle of the game when I need one. I'm able to google for an image, take a screen shot, import it into Token Stamp, dump out the token, and import it into Owlbear Rodeo in about a minute.

Making custom tokens in Token Stamp lets you pick a particular style you like and stick with it. I, myself, like big face-focused tokens instead of full-body shots that are harder to recognize. Token Stamp lets me stay with that style whatever monster I need.

Music Sharing: Kenku.fm

A good musical backdrop can add a lot of atmosphere to a game but sharing music online can be tricky. The fine people at Owlbear Rodeo built a music sharing application called Kenku.FM. With Kenku you can share music through Discord as though it's another member of your audio channel. Setting it up is tricky, requiring that you set up your own Kenku bot in Discord to allow the streaming. The folks at Kenku have a good instruction page to walk you through the process. You'll want to warn your players that they can control the volume level of the Kenku service themselves by right-clicking the Kenku member of the audio channel and setting their own preferred volume.

Kenku lets you stream anything you can find over the web including Tabletop Audio, YouTube, and others. If you can hear it over the web, you can stream it to Discord.

For an advanced trick, let one of your players manage the Kenku service and DJ your game for you.

Rules and PDF Sharing - Google Drive

If you're playing D&D, [D&D Beyond] is the most likely way you'll want to share material with your players. However, if you're using third party material or playing other RPGs, there's a great way to legally share PDFs with your players using Google Drive. Upload the PDF you want to share to Google Drive and share it specifically with your friends in your group identified as "viewers". Before you exit the window, click the little gear icon on the upper right corner of the share window and un-check the option for "Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy". This way your players can view the PDF through Google Drive but can't download their own copy or print it out. It's the digital equivalent of handing a book around a table and far safer (and more legal) than sharing the PDF directly with your friends. Here's more about restricting sharing on Google Drive.

Build Your Own Stack

The above tools are my own personal and recommended stack of software but it's far from the only one. Each of us can decide which tools serve us best. Choose the tools that help you and your friends enjoy the most of this game we love so much.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

This week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on the Cure to the OGL Blues and Scarlet Citadel Session 12 ��� Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy D&D Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy D&D Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things D&D. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

OGL 1.2 Feedback and Suggestions The Industry Responds to the attempted OGL 1.0a Deauthorization Rebranding the Lazy RPG Talk ShowI'm Here For You Whatever RPG You PlayCuring the OGL BluesDeep Magic 2Two Huge Bundles of Holding and Humble BundlesPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

Keeping Your Games on TrackRunning Games for Seven PlayersIntroducing Lots of NPCs at OnceFueling CreativityIdentifying Relics and Single-Use Magic ItemsImproving Representation in Older MaterialD&D Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last D&D game and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's D&D tips:

Occasionally run big multi-wave battles where the characters defend a ruined keep or fortified town or some defensible position.Add a starving vampire trapped in an oubliette and see how the characters respond.Bathe monuments in interesting lore, religions, and histories of the region.Ask your players what character options they're excited to use.Let any player (and yourself) use "pause for a minute" to break character and clarify things as players around the table.Write down page numbers in your prep notes.Use a mixture of theater of the mind, abstract combat, and big tactical encounters. Don't limit yourself to just one style of combat.Related ArticlesOwlbear Rodeo: A Simple D&D Virtual TabletopTwo Years Playing D&D OnlineShared Experiences Playing D&D OnlinePlay D&D Over DiscordSandwich Mechanics with StoryGet More from Sly FlourishRead more Sly Flourish articlesBuy Sly Flourish's BooksWatch Sly Flourish's YouTube videosSubscribe to Sly Flourish's PodcastSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish's Books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master The Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Fantastic Lairs Fantastic Adventures: Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.