Michael E. Shea's Blog, page 15

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.

Top Ten Notable 5e Products for 2022

Over on the Lazy D&D Talk Show I spotlight 5e products — primarily third party products but also those published by Wizards of the Coast.

Looking back, here are the top ten 5e products that caught my attention over 2022. This is just my view, of course. There are many products I never got a chance to look at and many products you may love more than the ones I outline below. Like everything I produce, hang on to this list with a loose grip.

These are also listed in alphabetical order — not in order by quality or preference.

Crown of the Oathbreaker by Elderbrain

Elderbrain, the publisher of Crown of the Oathbreaker used a survey of over 2,000 respondents to guide the construction of this massive 917 page hardcover and PDF adventure book. Both versions include extra digital books with player options, location gazetteers, maps, and more. It's a dark fantasy adventure with a focus on twisted histories of former noble families, fallen celestials, and other grim figures. The art is fantastic and the layout is excellent. A steal at $25 digitally and $75 for a digital and physical version.

Dungeons of Drakkenheim by the Dungeon Dudes and Ghostfire Gaming

A collaboration between the Dungeon Dudes and Ghostfire Gaming, Dungeons of Drakkenheim is an excellent campaign adventure for dungeon masters by dungeon masters. It's built by DMs who know what DMs need to run the campaign. The story is a mixture of dark political intrigue and horror-themed dungeon delving — definitely a dark fantasty focused adventure. The quality of the book is excellent with grim artwork, a solid design, and lots of accessories should you choose to buy them and run it.

GMs Miscellany Dungeon Dressing for 5e by Raging Swan Press

Raging Swan puts out amazing books of inspirational tables and tools to help us fill out our fantasy RPGs. The GM's Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing for 5e is the 5e version of the more system-agnostic Dungeon Dressing book but includes pre-rolled 5e-compatible treasure parcels and other 5e focused material. It's an excellent book from an excellent publisher and well worth a DM's money to help fuel ideas for future adventures.

Level Up 5e Monstrous Menagerie

A drop-in replacement for the standard Monster Manual, the Monstrous Menagerie is one of the three core books of the Level Up Advanced 5e RPG system. Developed by Paul Hughes of the Blog of Holding, the mathematics behind the monsters in the Menagerie is top-notch — far better balanced than what you'll find in the Monster Manual. The monster design leans towards complexity, so if you prefer simpler monsters, this might not be for you. Advancements like epic monsters gives you true powerhouse boss monsters sure to put your heroes on their toes. This book is absolutely packed with awesome monsters and gets my personal award for best 5e product of 2022 even though it came out in late 2021.

Path of the Planebreaker by Monte Cook Games

Monte Cook Games's take on worlds like Planescape and, to a smaller degree, Spelljammer; Path of the Planebreaker gives us a high-fantasy sourcebook with dozens of worlds the characters can explore along the path of a multi-planar moon crashing through the cosmos. Monte Cook Games's products are always exceptionally produced with amazing high-fantasy artwork, an excellent physical design and layout, and a wonderful approach towards indexing and cross-referencing that I wish every book included. My only complaint is that 5e design, both for monsters and magic items isn't MCG's strength. Often monster design is head-scratchingly bad and requires a lot of work if you want to use it. Easier is taking their story concepts and wrapping them around monster stat blocks from other producers. Regardless, Path of the Planebreaker is an awesome book with an awesome theme and one I highly recommend.

Planegea by Atlas Games

A massive 380 page sourcebook set in the stone age, Planegea shows us how far we can take 5e's design into campaigns and worlds beyond those published by Wizards of the Coast alone. Another "for GMs by GMs" sourcebook, Planegea includes awesome reskins of existing classes and races, a wonderful awe-inspiring setting, and tremendous artwork and design. If you're looking for a very different setting in which to run your 5e games, definitely give Planegea a look.

Southlands Worldbook by Kobold Press

Set in the south of Kobold Press's massive Midgard setting, the 300+ page Southlands Worldbook includes ancient tombs, powerful villains, old gods, detailed cities of intrigue, and vast histories. With a clear inspiration from our real-world middle east and Africa, three cultural consultants helped steer the Southlands Worldbook from potentially problematic topics such as racism and colonialism. The book's descriptions of slavery, however, warrant a solid discussion during a session zero. The Southlands Worldbook is an awesome spotlight and deep dive into a major region of Midgard — one that can lead to years of campaigns and adventures.

Tal-Dorei Reborn by Darrington Press

The latest refresh of the Tal-Dorei setting popularized by Critical Role, Tal-Dorei Reborn is an amazing and beautiful sourcebook of Matt Mercer's fantastic setting. The nearly 300 page sourcebook is packed with incredible artwork and a modern world design ripe for adventures. Clearly this book appeals more towards fans of Critical Role. It's a wonderful gift for a Critter whether or not they play D&D but for DMs it offers a wealth of ideas to either harvest into your own world or a whole world you yourself can set your adventures.

Tome of Beasts 3 by Kobold Press

Probably my favorite monster book to date, Tome of Beasts 3 is packed with fantastic monsters using the latest 5e design style of Monsters of the Multiverse. Unlike Multiverse, high challenge monsters in Tome of Beasts 3 have real teeth to challenge high level characters. A new set of NPC stat blocks offers tremendous reskinning potential and the rest of the 418 page book is packed with more than 400 monsters to drop into your 5e game and scare even the most grizzled veterans who can describe every feature of a shambling mound.

Venture Maidens Campaign Guide

Written by Celeste Conowich and developed for the Venture Maidens liveplay game, the Venture Maidens campaign guide builds a high fantasy world of epic quests in a land where the borders of the world grow thin. The Venture Maidens Campaign Sourcebook includes all new character creation and mechanics for following the epic quests held in the hearts of our heroic characters. The book expands out into some excellent gamemaster suggestions sure to improve any game. It's a beautiful book encapsulating a wonderful realm of high fantasy and the heroes who walk within it.

Tremendous Books Bringing Life to D&D for Years to Come

Looking over these ten books I'm amazed by the amount of material we have for this game we love. Though we sit less than two years away from a new version of the game, we still have tons of settings, campaigns, and monsters to fill out our 5e games as long as we want them to run. Because may of these books focus on settings and campaigns, we can be sure to find value in them regardless of which system we choose to run.

Pick up one of these books, sit back, and fall into another world.

Related ArticlesNotable Third-Party Products for D&DYou, Me, and the D&D Open Game LicenseA DM's Reading ListWolfgang Baur on WorldbuildingHow to Read Your D&D BooksGet 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.

Top Ten Notable D&D Products for 2022

Over on the Lazy D&D Talk Show I spotlight D&D products — primarily third party products but also those published by Wizards of the Coast.

Looking back, here are the top ten D&D 5e products that caught my attention over 2022. This is just my view, of course. There are many products I never got a chance to look at and many products you may love more than the ones I outline below. Like everything I produce, hang on to this list with a loose grip.

These are also listed in alphabetical order — not in order by quality or preference.

Crown of the Oathbreaker by Elderbrain

Elderbrain, the publisher of Crown of the Oathbreaker used a survey of over 2,000 respondents to guide the construction of this massive 917 page hardcover and PDF adventure book. Both versions include extra digital books with player options, location gazetteers, maps, and more. It's a dark fantasy adventure with a focus on twisted histories of former noble families, fallen celestials, and other grim figures. The art is fantastic and the layout is excellent. A steal at $25 digitally and $75 for a digital and physical version.

Dungeons of Drakkenheim by the Dungeon Dudes and Ghostfire Gaming

A collaboration between the Dungeon Dudes and Ghostfire Gaming, Dungeons of Drakkenheim is an excellent campaign adventure for dungeon masters by dungeon masters. It's built by DMs who know what DMs need to run the campaign. The story is a mixture of dark political intrigue and horror-themed dungeon delving — definitely a dark fantasty focused adventure. The quality of the book is excellent with grim artwork, a solid design, and lots of accessories should you choose to buy them and run it.

GMs Miscellany Dungeon Dressing for 5e by Raging Swan Press

Raging Swan puts out amazing books of inspirational tables and tools to help us fill out our fantasy RPGs. The GM's Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing for 5e is the 5e version of the more system-agnostic Dungeon Dressing book but includes pre-rolled 5e-compatible treasure parcels and other 5e focused material. It's an excellent book from an excellent publisher and well worth a DM's money to help fuel ideas for future adventures.

Level Up 5e Monstrous Menagerie

A drop-in replacement for the standard Monster Manual, the Monstrous Menagerie is one of the three core books of the Level Up Advanced 5e RPG system. Developed by Paul Hughes of the Blog of Holding, the mathematics behind the monsters in the Menagerie is top-notch — far better balanced than what you'll find in the Monster Manual. The monster design leans towards complexity, so if you prefer simpler monsters, this might not be for you. Advancements like epic monsters gives you true powerhouse boss monsters sure to put your heroes on their toes. This book is absolutely packed with awesome monsters and gets my personal award for best 5e product of 2022 even though it came out in late 2021.

Path of the Planebreaker by Monte Cook Games

Monte Cook Games's take on worlds like Planescape and, to a smaller degree, Spelljammer; Path of the Planebreaker gives us a high-fantasy sourcebook with dozens of worlds the characters can explore along the path of a multi-planar moon crashing through the cosmos. Monte Cook Games's products are always exceptionally produced with amazing high-fantasy artwork, an excellent physical design and layout, and a wonderful approach towards indexing and cross-referencing that I wish every book included. My only complaint is that 5e design, both for monsters and magic items isn't MCG's strength. Often monster design is head-scratchingly bad and requires a lot of work if you want to use it. Easier is taking their story concepts and wrapping them around monster stat blocks from other producers. Regardless, Path of the Planebreaker is an awesome book with an awesome theme and one I highly recommend.

Planegea by Atlas Games

A massive 380 page sourcebook set in the stone age, Planegea shows us how far we can take 5e's design into campaigns and worlds beyond those published by Wizards of the Coast alone. Another "for GMs by GMs" sourcebook, Planegea includes awesome reskins of existing classes and races, a wonderful awe-inspiring setting, and tremendous artwork and design. If you're looking for a very different setting in which to run your 5e games, definitely give Planegea a look.

Southlands Worldbook by Kobold Press

Set in the south of Kobold Press's massive Midgard setting, the 300+ page Southlands Worldbook includes ancient tombs, powerful villains, old gods, detailed cities of intrigue, and vast histories. With a clear inspiration from our real-world middle east and Africa, three cultural consultants helped steer the Southlands Worldbook from potentially problematic topics such as racism and colonialism. The book's descriptions of slavery, however, warrant a solid discussion during a session zero. The Southlands Worldbook is an awesome spotlight and deep dive into a major region of Midgard — one that can lead to years of campaigns and adventures.

Tal-Dorei Reborn by Darrington Press

The latest refresh of the Tal-Dorei setting popularized by Critical Role, Tal-Dorei Reborn is an amazing and beautiful sourcebook of Matt Mercer's fantastic setting. The nearly 300 page sourcebook is packed with incredible artwork and a modern world design ripe for adventures. Clearly this book appeals more towards fans of Critical Role. It's a wonderful gift for a Critter whether or not they play D&D but for DMs it offers a wealth of ideas to either harvest into your own world or a whole world you yourself can set your adventures.

Tome of Beasts 3 by Kobold Press

Probably my favorite monster book to date, Tome of Beasts 3 is packed with fantastic monsters using the latest 5e design style of Monsters of the Multiverse. Unlike Multiverse, high challenge monsters in Tome of Beasts 3 have real teeth to challenge high level characters. A new set of NPC stat blocks offers tremendous reskinning potential and the rest of the 418 page book is packed with more than 400 monsters to drop into your 5e game and scare even the most grizzled veterans who can describe every feature of a shambling mound.

Venture Maidens Campaign Guide

Written by Celeste Conowich and developed for the [Venture Maidens liveplay game], the Venture Maidens campaign guide builds a high fantasy world of epic quests in a land where the borders of the world grow thin. The Venture Maidens Campaign Sourcebook includes all new character creation and mechanics for following the epic quests held in the hearts of our heroic characters. The book expands out into some excellent gamemaster suggestions sure to improve any game. It's a beautiful book encapsulating a wonderful realm of high fantasy and the heroes who walk within it.

Tremendous Books Bringing Life to D&D for Years to Come

Looking over these ten books I'm amazed by the amount of material we have for this game we love. Though we sit less than two years away from a new version of the game, we still have tons of settings, campaigns, and monsters to fill out our 5e games as long as we want them to run. Because may of these books focus on settings and campaigns, we can be sure to find value in them regardless of which system we choose to run.

Pick up one of these books, sit back, and fall into another world.

Related ArticlesNotable Third-Party Products for D&DYou, Me, and the D&D Open Game LicenseA DM's Reading ListWolfgang Baur on WorldbuildingHow to Read Your D&D BooksGet 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.

Feedback to WOTC on the OGL 1.2 Draft

Wizards of the Coast released a new draft of their "Open" Gaming License version 1.2 including releasing the core mechanics of the original 5e System Resource Document version 5.1 under a Creative Commons license. That's pretty great but it's still not as good as what we had and expected to keep with the OGL 1.0a.

Today they opened a survey for feedback and now is our opportunity to provide that feedback.

Most of us aren't lawyers or have any background (or interest) in contracts like this. So I've talked to a lot of people, including lawyers, to try to get a consensus of these licenses and the feedback we can provide to WOTC.

Thus, here's the feedback I plan to provide:

Don't attempt to "deauthorize" the OGL 1.0a. The best way to begin to repair the D&D brand is to not attempt to "deauthorize" the OGL 1.0a. It's not even clear it's legal to do so and it certainly goes against WOTC's original intent of the agreement we shared. WOTC's using a one-word loophole in ways several attorneys say is questionable or even unlawful.

Further, "deauthorizing" the OGL 1.0a has tremendous downstream consequences for publishers who trusted WOTC and used the OGL to share their own material downstream. If the OGL 1.0a is deauthorized, it means they can't share the material they intended to through the OGL 1.0a.

Don't attempt to deauthorize the OGL 1.0a.

Release lists of the names of species, spells, magic items, and monsters in the 5.1 SRD under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. WOTC releasing anything under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 is a huge step forward. It's a well used and well trusted license. In WOTC's OGL 1.2 draft they state their plan to release the core mechanics of 5e except for classes, species, monsters, magic items, and spells.

Include the lists of names of species, monsters, magic items, and spells. This is very likely material we could use anyway under copyright law but it helps if we know that WOTC agreed. Releasing these lists under the CC BY 4.0 helps considerably when writing 5e compatible adventures and campaigns.

Even better? Release the entire 5.1 SRD under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.

Use independent third party arbitration for hateful content. There's no way WOTC should have the sole right to decide what is hateful content. WOTC themselves had trouble with this within the past four months. There's no way WOTC should have full authority over what is hateful and no way that a licensed publisher should have no recourse to defend themselves. The world also changes. Material considered obscene years ago is now embraced and vice versa. This is such a complicated topic it's probably best removed completely.

Add "Royalty Free". The current draft OGL 1.2 does not describe itself as a "royalty free" license. The license should declare itself to be "royalty free".

Make it Truly Irrevocable. As written, the OGL 1.2 redefines irrevocable to mean that the license can't be revoked when applied to a product but not that the license itself can't be revoked. This license, on its own and applied to their system resource documents, should be irrevocable. This is the whole reason we're in this problem to begin with. I, for one, never want to have this conversation again.

Rewrite the termination clause. As written, the termination clause in the OGL 1.2 is far too wide. Who determines if a licensee has infringed on WOTC's intellectual property? How is that arbitrated? This whole statement over-reaches and can be used by WOTC to penalize just about any creator if they want to.

Rewrite the severability clause. As written, the severability clause in 9(d) almost certainly gives WOTC the ability to invalidate the license. Given that WOTC intends to attempt to deauthorize the OGL 1.0a on a technicality, I have no faith WOTC won't try it again here.

State that if any provision is ruled illegal or unenforceable, the remainder of the license's provisions remain in effect. Also if the agreement or any provision is ruled illegal or unenforceable in a specific jurisdiction (e.g. country or state) the license and those provisions remain in effect for all other jurisdictions where they have not been ruled illegal or unenforceable.

Other feedback:

Section 3(a) - Strike language prohibiting creators from seeking injunctive relief.

Section 6(e) - Strike or rewrite to account for international laws. A creator in the US can't be expected to abide by laws in other countries and vice versa.

Section 7(b)(ii) - Expand time to cure to 180 days and better define what actions are sufficient to cure a breach.

Not Covering the VTT Stuff

This feedback doesn't cover the VTT policies described in the OGL 1.2 draft which are significant. See the feedback provided by Foundry for a better understanding of how this affects virtual tabletops.

Related ArticlesYou, Me, and the D&D Open Game LicenseDnd Tip Tweet ArchiveRandom Trap GeneratorRandom Mundane Magic Item GeneratorWhat I'd Love from the Next Iteration of 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.

You, Me, and the D&D Open Game License

On 5 January 2023, Linda Codega of Gizmodo described a new leaked version of WOTC's Open Game License. This new license heavily impares third party publication of D&D compatible material. Worse, it attempts to "deauthorize" the current (and actually open) Open Game License almost all third party publishers of D&D-compatible material used for over twenty years. It's a complete fiasco. No, not the fun one.

Wizards of the Coast released a statement walking back royalties but saying nothing about the worst parts of the license: revocation of the 20 year old OGL 1.0a, requirements to register products, and the ability to change or terminate the agreement at their will.

For more details of the OGL situation; what it is, what it means, and what you can do about it; check out my Thoughts on the OGL.

But what does the OGL horror show mean for you and me?

D&D is Still Ours

I still love D&D. I'm hurt by WOTC's decision to cause so much stress and harm to the creators who pour so much of their time, money, passion, and energy into making this game so great. It's been an awful couple of weeks.

But I love D&D anyway. WOTC can't take D&D away from us. We own the books. We own our dice. We own our ideas. We can always play D&D. Maybe that D&D is 5th edition. Maybe it's Old School Essentials or Numenera or Shadow of the Demon Lord.

It's all still D&D to me.

You don't have to quit playing D&D. The custodians of the D&D brand have made good choices and bad choices for 50 years. 5th edition was a great new direction that brought D&D to the height of its popularity. The potential release of this new OGL is clearly terrible, alienating tens of thousands of D&D's biggest voices and biggest fans.

But we can still play D&D.

If you want to use this opportunity to help third party publishers and try some other RPGs out, now's a great time. Here's a list of some awesome RPGs — some similar to D&D and some quite different.

13th AgeBlades in the DarkFantasy AGEFate CondensedIndex Card RPGIronswornLevel Up Advanced 5eNumeneraOld School EssentialsShadow of the Demon Lord

Many of these systems offer free previews to give you an idea what they're like.

If you want to keep running 5th edition, here are my favorite third-party 5e products over 2022.

Crown of the OathbreakerDungeons of DrakkenheimGMs Miscellany Dungeon Dressing for 5eLevel Up 5e Monstrous MenageriePath of the PlanebreakerPlanegeaSouthlands WorldbookTal-Dorei RebornTome of Beasts 3Venture Maidens Campaign Guide

We can play a whole lot of D&D without needing WOTC's permission.

What About Sly Flourish?

I'm not sure how this affects Sly Flourish yet. So far, not much. I'll continue offering advice to help you run your games, D&D or otherwise. I'll still talk about D&D but I'll probably focus more on advice suitable for any fantasy RPG.

My books and the material on the Sly Flourish Patreon are all pretty system agnostic. Pivoting away from the OGL won't be hard.

The Lazy D&D Talk Show might change. I'll probably cover other RPGs more than I have and keep my focus on third party products you might not have heard of. I'll probably stop promoting WOTC books if they're not interested in others even existing.

I'm Here For You

I always focus my drive and attention on you, the GMs running games for your friends and family. You're the cornerstone of this hobby, whatever system you run and whatever products you use to support it. Big companies don't matter. Brands don't matter. You matter. Your game matters. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to run awesome games. I'm not veering from that purpose. WOTC chose their path — one of greed and hubris and condescension for their best customers, biggest supporters, and greatest fans. My path is not theirs and neither must it be yours. Your game matters. Not theirs. Whether you use their system or not. It's your game. And I'm here to help you run it.

Related ArticlesNotable Third-Party Products for D&DWhat I'd Love from the Next Iteration of D&DIdentify Good D&D Adventures and ProductsFour RPGs To WatchDealing with D&D Pre-Game NervousnessGet 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.

Three Tips for Being a Great D&D Player

Regularly on the Sly Flourish Patreon I get a question from DMs who find themselves in the player seat. There are many variants but it almost always comes out to:

"How can I be a good player?"

I offer three tips for any D&D player, DM or not, on how to be a great player. These come from my own experiences on both sides of the table and from hundreds (thousands) of conversations, posts, videos, and other sources of feedback on the topic.

Take Notes

By far, one of the best things you can do to be a great player is take notes. Whether it's by hand in a notebook or a note in your Notion notebook, taking notes keeps you engaged with the game. It lets you ask the right questions to your DM. It lets you share information with your fellow players. It gives you a diary of events so you can look back fondly on the details of your campaigns years later. Even if other players are likewise taking notes, there's no reason you can't take notes too.

Seriously, take notes.

Build a Character Around the Campaign

If you really want to help your DM out, build your character around the theme and story of the campaign. Before you fill out your character's backstory — thinking all about who your character is, where they came from, and what they want to do — talk to your DM about the campaign. Read your DM's campaign notes and descriptions. Play a game of "what if" with your DM, riffing back and forth with them until you have a character you love who's also wired into the story of the campaign. Even if you're already in the campaign, leave some blanks in your character's backstory to add new elements or new histories as you learn more about the story of the campaign itself.

Build a Supporting Character for the Group

I got this one from DM David and it's awesome. Instead of building a stand-alone character, build one intended to support the group. You can do this both mechanically and in the story of the game. Choose a class like bard or cleric and choose spells and abilities that boost up other classes. You'll make friends for life regularly casting haste on your paladin.

You can also support the group in the story of the game too. Listen to the stories of the other characters and see how you might fit in with a supporting role in that story. Talk to them about it. Think about how you might be connected. During the game, boost them up as they tell their own part of the tale. Be Robin or Alfred to their Batman.

Be a Part of the Group

It's easy to focus on your own character in a D&D game. You have a big pile of mechanics in front of you. You have a big story in your head. You want to focus on all that stuff but you're also at the table with a bunch of other people who feel the same way. The DM has a story they want to tell. Each of the players has a character they want to portray. Above all, work with these people. Learn their stories. Boost their characters. Take notes and share them. Support the story expanding at the table.

Related ArticlesBuilding a Great D&D CharacterCommon D&D DM MistakesReach Satisfying Campaign ConclusionsHow to Handle Missing Players in D&DUsing Notion.so for Lazy D&D Campaign PlanningGet 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.

Sandwich Mechanics with Story

Sometimes, when we're elbow-deep in the mechanics of our game, it's easy to forget that we're sharing a story. The more complicated the mechanics, the more tools or systems we use, the more we forget to stop for a second and imagine what's happening in the world.

When running your game, try sandwiching your mechanics with in-world descriptions. Begin by describing the situation going on in the world, then the mechanical situation or effect, and then the result back in the fiction of the world again.

You can often do this in one sentence. Here's a damage description for example.

"The ogre slams his club into you for 12 points of damage as your arm buckles under the blow."

Other more complicated situations might look like this.

"Bitter End hurls out a blast of lighting tearing through Aury, Intimidating Cake, and Tarch. Each of you need to make DC 15 dexterity saving throws taking 28 damage on a failure or 14 on a miss as the lighting blast hammers through you and into the back wall, racing along conduits of metal embedded in the wall."

Some DMs feel like such descriptions waste time. Combat can already take a long time, let's not bog it down with flowery narrative, they argue.

But this narrative is the point of the story. It's the result of the mechanics, not something to be tossed aside.

You might extend these descriptions to the beginning and end of each turn as well, narrating what's going on for each character from their point of view before their turn begins. This gives you a chance to reinforce things the player may have forgotten but the character surely hasn't.

The next time you're running your game, sandwich your mechanical descriptions with the narrative of the story happening in the world. It's a great way to remind everyone, yourself included, that our game is more than just dice rolls and math — we're creating worlds together.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

This week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on How Many Hit Points should a Monster Have and Chronicles of Eberron by Keith Baker.

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:

13th Age Bundle of HoldingHow to Skip Content you Don't Want to HearThe WOTC OGL 1.1 AnnouncementAlternate Objectives by Sneak AttackPressFavorite Product of 2022Patreon Questions and Answers

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

Connecting Published AdventuresWhen to Use Which Dials of Monster DifficultyThoughts on Owlbear Rodeo 2.0Making Failure Interesting with Ability ChecksPerforming Mid-Campaign Check-InsRevealing a Pointcrawl MapUsing AI Generators like Chat GPT and MidjourneyD&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:

Set up musical playlists based on relaxing scenes, sinister and suspenseful scenes, and action-packed combat.Don't forget what makes this game great -- spending time with our friends and family creating awesome stories together.Spend extra prep time on the characters; their gear, their hooks in the campaign, and the secrets they haven't yet discovered.Keep a set of generic tokens (either physical or for online VTTs) handy for improvised combat scenes.Common D&D tropes become unique and fantastic with the lore we wrap around them.Bathe in the lore of big world sourcebooks. Take the ideas you love and drop them into your own campaign.Customize your campaigns with a focus on particular character options.Related ArticlesBuild Cities Around the CharactersReinforce the Theme of your D&D CampaignWrite Down Page Numbers on D&D Prep Notes and Character SheetsTwo Years Playing D&D OnlineBuilding Stronger Friendships through 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.

A Simpler Checklist for Jaquays-style Dungeon Maps

Good dungeon designs include loops, multiple paths, multiple entrances, an asymmetrical design, secret doors, and short cuts. Keep these concepts in mind when choosing dungeon maps for your own games.

For a video on this topic, see Jaquays-Style Design for D&D Dungeons and Overland Travel.

Justin Alexander at [The Alexandrian] has an excellent series of articles describing and breaking down the "Jaquays-style" map. The concept comes from the D&D cartographer Jennell Jaquays who did the maps for a number of early D&D adventures. Justin [breaks down the principles of Jaquays's maps] into a large list of concepts including:

LoopsMutliple level connectionsDiscontinuous Level connectionsSecrets and unusual paths Sub-levelsDivided levelsNested dungeonsMinor elevation shiftsMidpoint entryNon-Euclidian geometryExtradimentional space

Not every Jaquays-style map includes all these features. These concepts focus on large multi-level maps. For smaller maps, we might focus on:

Non-linear asymmetric layoutsMultiple ways to enter the dungeonLooping paths throughout the dungeonMultiple paths to get from the beginning to the endSecret hallways and chambers to discoverShort cuts to loop back or skip rooms

We might use these concepts to draw our own maps except...

We Don't Need to Draw Maps Anymore

With so many maps available online, there's little need to draw our own. If you like doing it, go with the gods, but I doubt you'll come up with an idea so unique that Dyson hasn't already done something close in [Dyson's 1,000+ maps]. If you're [lazy], it's far easier to grab a map and reconstitute it for your game than it is to draw one from scratch.

A list of good map criteria doesn't just help you draw your own, it helps you identify good maps from bad.

An Example Bad Map — Isle of the Abbey

In 2019 I ran [Ghosts of Saltmarsh] and loved it except for one adventure: The Isle of the Abbey. I ran this adventure twice for two different groups and it sucked both times. After studying its design, I started to figure out why. You can [read my suggestions for running Isle of the Abby to learn more]. It wasn't just the design of the dungeon that sucked, but that was a big part of it. Let's look at the map for Isle of the Abbey.

First, this dungeon has one entrance and it leads straight into a big room with eight other rooms one door away. There's no other entrance a group might use to sneak into this place and no way the occupants in those other rooms won't hear you if you start a scrape in the main room.

Even if, somehow, you didn't alert the occupants in the adjacent rooms, going door to door to see what's behind them is boring. Jaquays-style dungeons are designed the way they are because it's entertaining to explore them. They surprise you and delight you when you figure them out. This is why the [level design in Dark Souls] is so interesting. It's a delight to realize that, after hours of crawling through the ruins of Lordran, a single elevator takes you to your home base.

Continuing with Isle of the Abby, after we clear out the eight rooms surrounding the central room in the first half of the dungeon, we're treated again to a single doorway to get into the rest of the dungeon known as the Winding Way. The Winding Way appears to have some elements we're looking for. It has loops, it's asymmetrical, and it has secret doors. In many cases, though, the loops are too tight. Having a hallway bend around itself in a 15 foot square isn't a loop. It's boring and uselessly complex. This part of the map could be a lot better if it was bigger and more spread out. It could also do with less traps. Winding your way around a long hallway only to find a dead end with a crossbow trap at the end isn't fun. This whole dungeon is a [series of downward beats] without any upward beats to offset it.

The intent of examining and contrasting Jaquays-style maps with maps like this isn't to turn you into an expert map designer but to help you identify good maps from bad. Luckily for us, Dyson knows their stuff when it comes to map design so we're unlikely to find a truly bad map; only one that likely doesn't fit our need.

Keeping an Eye Out for Great Dungeon Design

By keeping Jaquays-style dungeon design principles in mind, we can better select dungeon maps. Fun dungeon maps include an asymmetric design, multiple entrances, loops, multiple paths, secret doors, and shortcuts. Keep these criteria in mind while hunting down maps for your next D&D game.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

This week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on How Many Encounters per Adventuring Day and Session 10 of Lazy DM Prep for Scarlet Citadel.

Last Week's Lazy D&D Talk Show Topics

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

Rolling Lots of Checks with a Single D20Chronicles of EberronHow I Baseline D&D MonstersDesigning MCDM's Flee Mortals VampiresPatreon Questions and Answers

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

What Are My DM Weaknesses?Handling Pacing in D&D GamesDescribing Old School Essentials to 5e PlayersHandling Large Exposition and DescriptionsD&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:

Revel in the joy of playing a game with your friends and family. It's a rare and wonderful thing.Instead of building a combat encounter, think about what the enemies what and what the characters might learn from them.Push well-rested characters with waves of combatants.Give players options for magic items. A strand of the witch queen's hair might weave a ring of fire resistance, a suit of resistant armor, or a flametongue blade.Develop battles you know are going to happen and prepare to improvise those that may happen.What fantastic feature defines the town or city the characters visit?What locations in a town are most likely to interest the characters?Related ArticlesThe Only Dungeon Map You'll Ever NeedKitbashing DungeonsRunning a Dungeon CrawlThe Best Paizo Flip MatsBuilding Lazy DungeonsGet 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.