Michael E. Shea's Blog, page 3

The Two-Word Cure to Overpowered Characters

Since the earliest days of D&D, we've seen RPG character builds that operate beyond of their expected effectiveness. Whether they inflict twice the damage of the next highest character build or have incredible ways to pin down and incapacitate enemies big and small ��� some characters are just plain overpowered.

There's a simple cure to overpowered characters. A two-word cure that ensures encounters remain appropriately challenging even when the characters coming to the table operate well outside of their normal power.

More monsters.

Add more monsters to your encounters and the threat goes up. There are more targets to focus on. It's harder to control them all. Each additional monster increases their side of the action economy. You also care less about these additional monsters so it's not a bummer when they fall early. In fact, sometimes you want them to fall early. This leads into the concept of "lightning rods" ��� monsters specifically designed to eat particularly powerful abilities of your characters.

If this advice sounds familiar, "more monsters" is one of the four dials described in Dials of Monster Difficulty.

More Monsters, Not Bigger Monsters

One might be tempted to use more powerful monsters to face overpowered characters but this change often doesn't help. Sure, bigger monsters have more hit points and hit harder, but they're often as easy to control as smaller ones unless you add in things like 5e's legendary resistance. Bigger monsters don't prevent your characters from focusing their fire. More monsters split their attention.

More Monsters Slow Down the Battle

The true enemy in combat in most tactically-crunchy RPGs like D&D or Pathfinder is time. We don't want our battles to drag on beyond the enjoyment they bring. Timing is an important consideration as you throw more monsters into encounters to challenge powerful characters. An easy way to manage the length of battles is to have your hand on the hit point dial. After the battle has gone on beyond the joy it brings, start lowering those hit points or let the next attack against a monster take it out completely.

What About Bosses?

Bosses are the true victims in most tactical RPGs. A big boss typically lasts seconds in a battle before it's pinned down, knocked prone, force caged, mazed, banished, polymorphed, counterspelled, or otherwise completely debilitated. So what's a lazy solution to help bosses stay relevant in an encounter?

More bosses!

That's right. Include more than one boss. Have a few antagonists ��� fancy named NPCs who all likewise throw shade in their introductory monologues. The characters may still focus on one villain but you might have one or two more bosses they can't focus on.

Adding monsters is my new go-to technique for a lot of high-level boss battles. Throw out waves of combatants including lots of small blast-worthy minions, a handful of normal monsters, some big brutes to control, and multiple bosses to spread the wrath of the characters around.

So there you have it.

Want to keep up the threat?

Add more monsters.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

TOV Article, Patreon Benefits, New GM Card, COA Updates, Shadowdark ScenarioFury of the Forsaken by Lazy Wolf StudiosHuge Pathfinder 2 Humble BundleSage Advice Column on D&D BeyondPaizo Flip Mat Basic Versus Chessex Battle MapPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Lazy Encounter Benchmark and Waves of CombatantsLeveling Up Villains with Forge of FoesManaging Real-World Time In-GameCharacter Motivation in Shadowdark with High PC TurnoverManaging Monster Difficulty in D20 / 5e GamesTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Gems of the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's GuideFury of the Forsaken KickstarterPathfinder 2 Asian Fantasy Humble BundleD&D 2024 Sage AdviceStaedtler 315-9 Medium Point Wet Erase MarkersChessex Battle MatChessex Battle MegamatPathfinder Flip Mat BasicLazy Encounter BenchmarkDials of Monster Difficulty

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Anatomy of a Situation ��� Red Eagle Tower and The Scholar's Path ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 22.

RPG Tips

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

Corrupted versions of good-aligned monsters are a good way to use those monsters the characters might otherwise never fight. On defeat, corrupted good-aligned monsters can reappear as friendly ghosts or become resurrected back to their friendly form. Roll random loot and add in or modify results to fit the characters. Add daily use spells to magical armor instead of plus bonuses to keep ACs reasonable but still provide cool effects. Check the damage output of published 5e monsters. 7 damage per CR is a good general benchmark. Reintroduce old friends. Let the characters see what became of the lives they���ve touched. Small three-room dungeons are a fun way to spend an evening. Every dungeon need not be a sprawling megaplex. Related ArticlesTune Monsters with Extra AttacksThree Reasons to Fudge Monster Hit PointsChoosing Monsters for your 5e GameGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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

Break and Prevent the Boredom Spiral

Ruins of the Grendleroot, ten fantastic underworld adventures for 5e, is on sale this week for $5!

I'm not a great RPG player ��� I'm much better in the GM's seat. When I GM, I'm fully engaged. I have to be. I'm managing the story, the game, the pacing, and the fun of the people around the table. I'm always on.

When I play, there are several other players and the GM. There's downtime between turns or between breaks in the conversation. I get distracted easily when it's not my turn and I'm not directly involved in the action. I want to stay engaged. Here are a few ways for players to stay engaged:

Take notes continually throughout the game.Pay attention to the story as it goes. Work to understand it even outside of your character's involvement.Pay attention to the other characters. What interests you and your character about them?Put yourself in the world and visualize it. What is it really like in those dank dungeon halls? How does it feel to be in the presence of a huge green dragon?

Even with these tricks, four hours is a long time and sometimes my mind just wanders. Gods help me if my eyes stray to my phone.

Then I face a problem. If my mind wanders for too long, it's hard to come back. The game moved on. A lot of what happened in the game slipped past me. I don't know where we are or what we're doing. I don't want to admit that I lost track so I try to catch up but then my mind wanders even more because I can't grasp what's going on now when I don't know what happened before.

That's the boredom spiral. As a player, your mind might wander off and, when you try to come back, you can't because the whole story moved on. You don't want to embarrass yourself by admitting you were off in never never land but now you're even less engaged and the spiral continues.

Break the Boredom Spiral

As a player, ask to pause for a minute and get a quick summary of where things are. Maybe try to catch back up on a break. If you have a chance, ask one of the other players at the table if they can catch us up. It's ok to admit that you mentally wandered off for a bit and get back on track.

What can we GMs do to help prevent the boredom spiral in players?

Restate the Current Situation

If we can tell one or more of the players checked out, pause and re-describe what's going on and where everything is. Where are the characters? What's going on around them? Remember, players only grasp about half of what you're describing so give them the information they need to understand the situation even if you feel like you already have. Be specific. Write things down on index cards and drop them on the table like the names of NPCs or the details of a location. Give players something visual and physical to hang on to.

Call for a Break Every Ninety Minutes

Pause your game regularly. Get people moving around. Grab another drink or go to the bathroom. Taking a break helps break up long narratives and splits longer games into shorter bits. Then, when everyone's back at the table, restate the situation and give everyone a new baseline.

Call on Players and Give Context

It's tempting to call on players who might have checked out but it can seem confrontational and rock them back on their heels. Instead, it's ok to call on quiet players but give them context about the situation and where their character is in the middle of it. Let them know what their character would know. Call on them, describe the situation, and then ask what they want to do. Reiterating the situation gives players time to check back in and pick up on the details of the story.

Describe Between Turns

If you happen to run combat in the Theater of the Mind, describe what's going on in the battle before each character's turn ��� building the context around that character. Describing the situation each turn gives players the context they need to make meaningful choices in a battle. The more you understand the player's character, the more you can tailor your description. Tell rogues about the cover they might hide behind. Tell mages the groupings of monsters for areas of attack. Tell paladins about the big hulking undead they might want to charge and smite. Describe the situation between each turn and tailor your description for the character.

Run Shorter Games

I think three hours is the ideal length for a game. Four hours is common, particularly in organized play sessions or at convention play, but three hours seems like the sweet spot for a meaningful session that's short enough to keep people engaged. If you find yourself or your players get distracted in the latter half of a game, consider shortening the game.

Recognizing the Boredom Spiral

Above all, recognize the boredom spiral, both as a GM and as a player. It exists and there are things we can do to mitigate it and move on so we can enjoy every minute we spend with our friends around the table.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Ruins of the Grendleroot On Sale5e Artisanal Monster Database Updated with D&D 2025 MM MonstersNew Articles and PodcastsKnock Issue 5 from Merry Mushmen5.2 SRD Released into the Creative CommonsWhat can GM's Do with the 5.2 SRD?A Look at Mike's Little Candles -- Is WOTC Being a Good Steward of the Hobby?D&D 2024 ErrataUsing Physical Books At the TableTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Ruins of the Grendleroot On Sale for $5Subscribe to the Sly Flourish NewsletterSupport Sly Flourish on PatreonBuy Sly Flourish Books:Knock Kickstarter5.2 SRD Page5.2 SRD PDFD&D 2024 PHB ErrataD&D 2024 DMG ErrataD&D 2024 MM Errata

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Avoiding Enspelled Items and Sunray ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 21.

RPG Tips

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

Drop in relaxed sessions where the characters can catch up with old NPCs, spend some time shopping, and maybe have a dinner party at their villa. Join two encounters together and let the characters navigate the conflicted sides. Roll randomly for three magic items for sale in larger towns. Use baseline costs for magic items but change them up or down based on each item's actual utility. Give meaty battles a good hour of allocated time. Always keep an eye on the clock. Manage your session's time. Let campaigns grow from each adventure and the choices the players make in between. Related ArticlesTell, Don't ShowDescribe your GM StyleRoleplaying Between SessionsGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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

Gems of the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide

Ruins of the Grendleroot, ten fantastic underworld adventures for 5e, is on sale this week for $5!

While 5e started off ten years ago as just D&D 2014, now several companies publish several versions of 5e. Kobold Press, who long wrote material for 5e, now published their own 5e-based system����� Tales of the Valiant including the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide. Today we'll dig into some of the most useful sections of this fantastic book.

First, a disclaimer. Kobold Press commissioned me to write some meaty pieces of the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide including encounter building guidelines, running minions, the use of secrets and clues, running combat in the theater of the mind, and some other parts. So I'm clearly biased in my excitement for this book.

Tab Your GMG

Get some reusable adhesive tabs and tab your game master books. Labeled tabs help you quickly get to the sections you need to help you improvise during your game. Here's a quick list of the sections I tabbed in my own copy of the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide:

Taverns and Landmarks ��� pg 36 Dungeons ��� pg 84Weather ��� pg 108NPC Names ��� pg 116Hazards ��� pg 137Traps ��� pg 146Dread Effects - pg 156Poisons and Rewards ��� pg 171Random Magic Items ��� pg 175Monster Traits ��� pg 212Monster Stats by CR ��� pg 235Random Encounter Tables ��� pg 246

I like to start my tabs from the back of the book to the front, starting tabs at the outside bottom of the page and moving up the page as I get closer to the front of the book. This way, when I'm done, I have nicely organized tabs from top to bottom and front to back.

Notable Sections of the Game Master's Guide

The sections I tabbed above are all notable and chosen for their usefulness during the game but there are other notable sections worth referencing during prep or to fuel your ideas away from the gaming table.

Advanced Combat. This section contains a wealth of information on running combat on a 5-foot-square grid, in the theater of the mind, or with abstract maps. I'm biased because I wrote the theater of the mind and abstract map guidelines and I always felt they had a place in a solid game master's guide. Here they are! This section also includes templates and tables to help you identify how many targets might fall into various areas of effect and diagrams to show you how zones can work. No other 5e game master guide includes such details for abstract and theater of the mind play.

Encounter Templates. This section offers several encounter templates such as "boss and bodyguards", "triple bosses", and "wolfpack", breaking down the number of combatants and their rough challenge ratings based on the TOV encounter building guidelines (which I also wrote). These templates are handy when you want to throw a boss and minions or three smaller bosses against your players.

Other notable sections here include large-scale battles, vehicle combat, fighting colossal enemies, running minions and hordes, multi-phase battles, called shots, and expanding the doom rules from the Tales of the Valiant Monster Vault.

Dungeons. The Game Master's Guide's exploration section includes a great dungeon builder with piles of random tables to build out dungeons or help you fill in a pre-drawn dungeon map. Some of the tables are too granular for me, like a 1d20 table on door details, but the tables describing the chambers of various types of dungeons is a fantastic aid to quickly fill out a blank Dyson map.

Advanced Social. This chapter includes excellent tables for generating NPCs ��� from villainous plots to the traits and bonds of any given NPC.

Adventuring Options. This section includes tons of curses, diseases, and hazards to spice up your adventures. It also includes a new set of dread tables, a replacement for the old 2014 "madness" tables.

Treasure Tables. I'm a sucker for great random treasure tables and the TOV GMG has them. Unlike the D&D 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, it splits up tables for consumables and permanent magic items, which I prefer. Unfortunately, the way the GMG handles treasure parcels doesn't work for me. Instead of offering per-session parcels I can prepare for each game I run, it offers big parcels covering roughly three levels. That's too much for me and gives me the extra homework of splitting up parcels per session. I suppose you can use it like a checklist but you'd still have to split up the money. It's not my favorite.

Here's a simpler per-session treasure parcel system loosely based on dividing the bigger parcels into smaller single-session parcels with an expectation of two parcels per level. It doesn't perfectly line up with TOV's rewards but I don't think it'll break your game either.

1st to 4th Level

250 gp in coins, gems, and artOne common magic itemTwo uncommon consumablesOne uncommon permanent magic item

5th to 10th Level

2,500 gp in coins, gems, and artOne common magic itemTwo uncommon or rare consumablesOne uncommon or rare permanent magic item

11th to 16th Level

11,000 gp in coins, gems, and artTwo uncommon, rare, or very rare consumablesOne uncommon, rare, or very rare permanent magic item

17th to 20th Level

45,000 gp in coins, gems, and artTwo rare, very rare, or legendary consumablesOne rare, very rare, or legendary permanent magic item

Patreons of Sly Flourish get access to a special Tales of the Valiant treasure generator based on these per-session parcels linked on their main rewards page.

Homebrewer's Toolbox. This noteworthy section peels back the system behind Tales of the Valiant to help GMs design lineages, heritages, backgrounds, talents, subclasses, magic items, and spells. It also includes an excellent section on creating monsters with stats by challenge rating, sample traits, and twelve templates to build unique variants of monsters. It also includes creature-type features with traits to build near limitless variants of new baddies.

Random Encounters. The GMG includes tier-based random encounters for fourteen different environments. I wish it had a "dungeon" environment but the Underground table serves well enough. These random encounters include interesting context such as:

A pack of four winter wolves prowls the area, hunting for prey, and they regard the PCs as a delicious alternative to moose and deer. If one of the wolves is reduced half its hit point maximum, its keening howl draws another two winter wolves to the area in 1 minute.

*Random Campaign Dressing. Though nearly at the end of the book, this section includes lots of random tables for building out towns and villages, magical curios, trinkets, things found in a castle, and a set of environmental encounters. Don't miss it.

Fantasy Inspiration. The GMG includes seven pages of books, films, television shows, games, and non-fiction sources to inspire your games.

A Truly Advanced Game Master's Guide You Can Continually Reference

The Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide is a book designed to help GMs flesh out their 5e games. It's a massive toolbox of re-usable material peeling back the underlying design of the game and shows you how to construct your own flavor of 5e, whatever actual ruleset you use at the table.

Whatever flavor of 5e you're running, the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide sits well beside your other GM books. Don't miss it.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

City of Arches, Latest SF articles and podcasts, new CC materialD&D 2024 5.2 System Reference Document on TuesdayWhy the 5.2 SRD Matters to GMsDo we Need a 5.2 SRD in the OGL? No!How to Play D&D 6E Today!Get Your Players to Play Other SystemsPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Getting Players to Search MoreGrim Portents and Focusing On Your Next GameRevealing Secrets Through SagesWhat Sections Are Missing From Most GM Books? MonumentsTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

City of ArchesD&D 2024 5.2 SRD Coming Tuesday13th AgeShadow of the Weird WizardNumeneraDusk City OutlawsLazy GM's Resource Document

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos: 2024 DMG Session Prep and the Lazy Dungeon Master and Let's Build an Adventure with the City of Arches.

RPG Tips

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

Throw two or three different monster types at the characters for big battles. Clarify how the characters can interact with objects in battle. Let your players know when they���re about to jump into a big two hour fight. Roll randomly to see which factions got the better of the others. Prep three future quest paths. Have players choose before the end of a session so you know what to prep next. Give the characters a chance to see old NPCs and what they���re up to now. Keep an NPC list handy of the current and previous NPCs in your campaign. Related ArticlesGems of A5E's Trials and TreasuresNotable Sections of the 2024 D&D Dungeon Master's GuideAward Treasure and Magic Items in 5eGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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

Use an Oracle Die

Ask questions. Roll a die. See what happens.

I first heard the concept of an oracle die from the excellent RPG Ironsworn but I expect it's been around longer than that.

The concept is simple. Ask yourself a question, assign a probability to the potential answers, roll a die, and see what happens.

You can use pretty much any die. A d6, d10, or d20 works well. Choosing odd numbers or even numbers gives you a 50% probability on any die. Odds, this thing happens. Evens, something else happens. Roll and see what happens. Make sure to assign the results before you roll of course ��� even if it's just in your head.

For more complicated situations, you can keep a table in your head. On a 1 or 2 on 1d6, a random encounter occurs.

An oracle die represents randomness in the world. Sometimes the weather is mild ��� sometimes it's severe.

The Table-Less Oracle Die

We don't need to have fancy tables for every roll. Instead, the oracle die can tell us the general severity, attitude, distance, or other factors just by how low or high the roll is. The lower your roll, the less severe the result. The higher your roll, the more severe the results. This severity works for weather, attitudes, behaviors, morale, and so on. We can also use it for distance. The lower the roll, the closer they are. The higher the roll, the further away something or someone is.

Other Oracle Examples

We can use our oracle die anytime we want to shift the direction of the game away from our own decisions and pass the decision over to the die. We can do so in the open too:

"On a 1 to 5, the guards check the room you're in. On a 6 to 20, they go over to another room. Melissa, roll for us."

Using an oracle die is a great way for the GM to become a player as well. We don't know what will come up. We don't know how the game will fork one way or another. The die tells us.

Here are ten other ways you might use an oracle die in your game:

Determining how alert some guards might be.Determining the path a guard takes through a dungeon.Deciding if a badly injured adversary runs or stays.Determining if a monster acts wisely or chaotically in battle.Determining which character a monster might attack.Determining if a servant is in a room or not.Determining if a wandering monster is looking one way or another and which direction they are moving.Determining the type or harshness of weather (the higher the stronger).Determining the time of day.Deciding if the object vital to the quest is here or has been recently moved.The Oracle Isn't Character Focused

Typically the sorts of things we roll for using an oracle die aren't character-based. It's not a replacement for determining a difficulty class. The oracle die helps determine what's happening in the world when chance plays a part. Characters don't affect the oracle. But the oracle can definitely affect a character.

Keep your oracle die handy and use it to shift what's going on in the world.

Ask questions. Roll a die. See what happens.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Jeremy Crawford Leaves Wizards of the CoastState of the OSR PodcastCity of Arches Available in Hardcover in US and CanadaSF Books for Friendly Local Game Shops through ACDRunning the D&D 2025 Monster Manual BeholderHow do RPGs Die?One-on-One Adventures in Dragon DelvesRunning One-on-One GamesPatreon Questions and Answers

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

The Lazy GM Eight Steps on Index CardsEncounter Building for Three CharactersAre 5e Systems Compatible and Which Would I Choose if I Had to Pick One?Talk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Jeremy Crawford Leaves WOTCState of the OSR Gencon Panel PodcastCity of Arches Hardcover available in US and CASly Flourish ACD Distribution for Local Game ShopsOne-on-One Adventures in Dragon DelvesTips for One-on-One play

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on D&D 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide Tips versus the Top Tips of the Lazy Dungeon Master and Graymist ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 20.

RPG Tips

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

Keep a handle on combat pacing. Don���t just run one hard fight after another. Have the characters walk in on the tail end of a battle between two other competing foes. Give characters an opportunity for a long rest or an equivalent magical restoration service like a healing fountain after several hard battles or a long dungeon crawl. Include multiple possible solutions to hard problems. Keep a general gauge of hit points to damage in mind. Roughly how many hit points do the characters have? For 5e it���s roughly 7 x level + 3. Include NPCs to roleplay with even in the darkest dungeons. Offer multiple paths and secret paths to navigate complex dungeons. Offer enough details so players can make informed choices. Related ArticlesAdvanced Random Encounter TricksLazy Monster Damage ��� Subtract 3, Add 1d6Understanding 5e's Core InteractionGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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

Build Characters Quickly in D&D 2024

The following guidelines help you quickly build a character using the 2024 D&D Player's Handbook. These guidelines modify the steps for character creation outlined in chapter 2.

DMs can offer these guidelines as house rules for your own D&D 2024 game.

Write Down Page Numbers

While building your character, write down the page number of every notable character feature on your character sheet. Write down page numbers for:

Class & Class FeaturesBackground InformationSpecies & Species FeaturesFeatsSpells

Treat your character sheet like a custom index of the book. Looking stuff up in the book isn't a failure and it won't slow the game down if you write down page numbers.

Be kind to your future self ��� write down page numbers for anything you may need to look up.

Simplify Ability Scores and Bonuses

Instead of taking ability bonuses from backgrounds, use an "all-in" standard array. The standard array is:

17 14 14 12 10 8

Put them in your preferred attributes. You can use the Standard Array by Class table on page 38 as a guide, adding +2 to the 15 score and +1 to the 13 score. Having a 17 in your primary ability means you can bump it to an 18 when you get a feat at 4th level.

Ignore the ability increases offered by a background if you use this all-in standard array.

Add Two Skill Proficiencies of Your Choice

When choosing skill proficiencies for your class, add two additional proficiencies of your choice. These extra proficiencies replace those associated with your background.

Add a tool proficiency if desired. You can select this tool later if you want.

Default to the Tough Feat

Include the Tough feat as a default feat, adding +2 hit points per level to your maximum hit points. This feat replaces that of your background. If you want to choose another origin feat instead, you can do so, but for a quick character build, default to the Tough feat.

Add a Healing Potion

Instead of choosing equipment associated with your background, add a single healing potion.

Choose a Background Based on Story and Flavor

Choose a background based on your character's story or make your own. Talk to your GM about possible backgrounds tied to the campaign. Ignore any background mechanical features.

Write Down Only Trained Skills

Only write down skill proficiency bonuses for skills you are proficient with. Save yourself the time of filling in the whole chart.

Quick Character Build Summary

Here's a quick summary to help you quickly build a D&D 2024 character.

Choose a classApply ability scores to attributes (17 14 14 12 10 8)Write down class traitsHit points (max at 1st level)Saving throw proficienciesSkills ��� when choosing skills, select two additional skills and an optional tool proficiencyWeapon proficienciesArmor trainingStarting equipment (choose A)Add a healing potion to equipmentWrite down class featuresProficiency BonusClass featuresSpells (choose defaults)Choose a species and write down species traits with page numbersSizeSpeedFeaturesAdd the "tough" feat (pg 202)Choose a thematic background of your choice or ask your DM for campaign-specific ones. Ignore background mechanical features ��� we covered them above.More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Scepter of the LightbringerChris Perkins Leaves Wizards of the CoastTariffs and TTRPGsBG3, Stardew Valley, and Thoughts About CopyrightLevel Up Gateway for Level Up Advanced 5e and the Current State of 5e Character BuildersBuild a D&D 2024 Character On Paper in Ten MinutesPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Managing Perception and Passive PerceptionDescribing Terrain Mechanics in Combat EncountersManaging Boring but Effective Character StrategiesIntroducing Old Monsters as New MonstersHow Long to Get a Feel for a New RPG?Talk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Scepter of the Lightbringer KickstarterChris Perkins Leaves Wizards of the Coast EN World DiscussionTariffs and TTRPGs EN World DiscussionStardew Valley, BG3, and WOTC DMCA Takedown Discussion on EN WorldLevel Up Gateway for Level Up Advanced 5eDungeon Master DiariesYour Ability Check ToolkitWhat Does Passive Perception Show You?

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on 2024 DMG Encounter Building versus the Lazy Encounter Benchmark and The Blackspire Heist ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 19.

RPG Tips

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

Tailor magic items for your characters. Boss monsters almost always need some minions. Assign hit points to detrimental monuments in complicated battles so they can be destroyed with either ability checks or raw damage. Each successful ability check inflicts damage to the monument. Keep the simple DC ladder in mind: easy 10, medium 15, hard 20. Offer multiple options for the conclusion of big battles. Do they re-bind the pit friend? Do they kill him and send him back to hell? Do they convert the hellfire into a radiant pillar of holy light?Don���t offer options you don���t want the players to choose. Plan one scene for every 45 minutes of gameplay. Related ArticlesAlternative Standard Arrays for 5e Ability ScoresWrite Down Page Numbers on D&D Prep Notes and Character SheetsLet Characters Automatically Succeed SometimesGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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

Gems of A5E's Trials and Treasures

With 5e having expanded beyond just D&D, we find ourselves with several game master guides including:

The D&D 2014 Dungeon Master's GuideThe D&D 2024 Dungeon Master's GuideTales of the Valiant's Game Master's GuideLevel Up Advanced 5e's Trials and Treasures

This article digs down into Level Up Advanced 5e Trials and Treasures and the gems contained within.

A5e's Trials and Treasures is fantastic. Like the three other game master guides, it includes advice for understanding types of players, building adventures, building worlds, session zero and safety tools, and other common advice to help game masters build their games.

The sections below I think are particularly noteworthy.

Tab Your Books

I'm a huge fan of tabbing your books ��� putting little reusable adhesive tabs to mark the parts of the book you're most likely to use at the table. Use the sections below as a guide for which sections to tab but also tab your own most-valued sections as needed. I like to start at the back of the book and work forward, putting tabs on the outside edge from the bottom to the top. This way, when you're done, your book is tabbed from top to bottom from the front to the back.

Encounter Building

A5e's Trials and Treasures pre-dates the Lazy Encounter Benchmark but the designers of Trials and Treasures use a similar and compatible system that works just as easily. You can find these encounter building guidelines on page 40. They include adjustments for building easy, medium, hard, deadly, and impossible challenges. The advice in this section is very good.

Encounter Elements

Page 48 begins a section on various effects you can drop into an encounter to make things interesting. Pools of acid, brown mold, crowds, extreme cold, and so on. The book includes five pages of such options and they're worth reviewing regularly so you know what you have.

Exploration

The exploration rules in Trials and Treasures, beginning on page 53, are my favorite from all four game master guides. They include advice for building travel encounters, a system for managing resources called "supply", and fourteen possible roles and activities the characters might take during a journey.

Random Encounters

Part of the exploration section includes 37 pages of random encounters for more than a dozen different regions with tables for each tier beginning on page 64. This section also includes "dungeon" tables often missing from books of random encounters. Each encounter section includes possible weather and changes to the various exploration activities. These tables include not just monster encounters but exploration encounters as well, tied to other sections in the book.

These random encounter tables also tie directly to the encounter tables in each monster in the Level Up Advanced 5e Monstrous Menagerie ��� a fantastic book of monsters for 5e that includes potential encounters at various tiers for most of the monsters in the book.

The book also includes d100 tables of social and travel encounters.

Exploration Challenges

Chapter 5 of A5e's Trials and Treasures, beginning on page 108, includes dozens of exploration challenges tied to the random tables in the exploration section. Each of them stand on their own should you want to improvise such challenges. These challenges include events like Bridge of Sorrow, Corrupted Druid Grove, Dark Allies, Endless Plummet, God Corpse, and many others. Each event runs as its own challenge with opportunities for the characters and ways to shake up other encounters. There are 50 pages of such challenges to dive into and choose from ��� way more than any other GMG.

Treasure

The Rewards chapter, beginning on page 171, includes fantastic tables for distributing treasure ��� the best I've seen for 5e. They're quick to roll on and provide useful context and value for the treasure parcels you give out.

Magic Items with Costs

Like other GMGs, Trials and Treasures includes piles of magic items ��� each with an associated cost. You can use these prices should the characters have the opportunity to purchase an item or a potential payout should they wish to sell it to NPCs. You'll have to decide which items work for your game and which are better left out.

Each item likewise includes components for crafting such an item. By tying specific components to the crafting of an item, GMs can control how easily a character can make such an item. This limitation is important to ensure players don't get every item they ever dreamed of ��� making any future rewards pointless.

A Fantastic Addition to your 5e GM Library

Whatever flavor of 5e you play, the Level Up Advanced Trials and Treasures includes tons of valuable resources you won't find in most other guides. It has tons of tools, tables, and concepts to fuel your game for decades to come.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Free5eAlien RPG Evolved EditionNew Miniatures for Sigil? Where's my Gold Dragon Docker??D&D 2024 5.2 System Reference Document Coming "Soon"Memoirs of a DracolichSlow, Medium, and Fast InitiativePatreon Questions and Answers

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

Promote Better Behavior for Online PlayChoose Your Gamemaster's GuideIncentivizing Movement for Ranged AttackersStealth and Hiding in D&D 2024Forge of Foes for Shadowdark?Lazy Encounter Benchmark for Tales of the ValiantTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Free5e KickstarterAlien RPG Evolved KickstarterD&D Mimic Miniature for Sigil5.2 SRD "Soon" Discussion on D&D BeyondGinny Di on Better Online BehaviorMerric Blackman on HidingJustin Alexander on Better Stealth RulesShadowdark Monster StatsCreating and Adapting Monsters for use in Shadowdark RPGThe Lazy Encounter BenchmarkComparing D&D 2024 to the Lazy Encounter Benchmark

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Avoiding NPC Betrayal and Path to Blackspire ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 18.

RPG Tips

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

Keep basic monster stats on hand to improvise monsters during your game. Simple 5e monster stats: AC / DC = 12 + 1/2 CR, HP = 15 to 20 per CR, Attack + Primary Save = 4 + 1/2 CR, Damage Per Round = 7 x CR. During prep write down the Lazy Encounter Benchmark for a potentially deadly encounter and the max CR for any single monster. Mix up easy combat encounters, roleplay scenes, exploration, and hard encounters. When time is tight, cut from the boring middle instead of the exciting conclusion. Bathe dungeons in multiple layers of history and purpose. Know your wall decorations: murals, mosaics, frescoes, bas-reliefs, friezes, wax paintings, gilded engravings, and marouflage. Related ArticlesNotable Sections of the 2024 D&D Dungeon Master's GuideChoosing Monsters for your 5e Game2024 RPG Gift GuideGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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

Shadowdark House Rules

I love Shadowdark. I ran a year-long campaign in Shadowdark and learned a lot about the system. The following is a list of house rules I've used that have made the Shadowdark experience more fun for my players and I.

Don't Lose a Spell Until You've Succeeded At Least Once

Instead of losing access to a spell when you fail a spellcasting check, you instead lose the spell only if you've cast it successfully at least once.

This rule is forgiving but it ensures a character gets to successfully cast a spell at least one time before they lose it.

One Hour Minus 1d12 on Torch Timers

The GM subtracts 1d12 from the torch timer so no one is quite sure when it's going to go out. This alteration adds a little fun variance.

No Torch Alarms

Players aren't allowed to use a timer to keep track of torches on their side. They can look at their watch or phone and note the time but they can't set a stopwatch or timer to keep track of torches for them.

This limitation puts more responsibility on players to remember to deal with their torches before they go out.

Lighting a Torch in the Dark takes a DC 12 Int or Dex Check at Disadvantage

Lighting a torch when you can see requires no check. Lighting a torch in the dark requires a DC 12 Intelligence or Dexterity check at disadvantage (since you can't see).

This check isn't exactly a house rule but it came up often enough that I'm explicit about it. Being in the dark should be really scary.

No Stabilization �����You have One Hit Point or You're Dying

Character's can't be stabilized at zero hit points. Characters either have at least 1 hit point or they're dying. Stabilizing someone can bring a character back to one hit point if you roll a 20 but otherwise they're dying.

This rule prevents players playing an unconscious character when they just want a new character to jump into the action. I've seen variants where characters who were stabilized return to 1 hit point after ten minutes �����just long enough to be out of combat. I don't hate this idea but I haven't tried it.

Start with One Luck Point

Characters start with one luck point at the beginning of a session and luck points generally don't come back. If, for some reason, they already begin with one luck point, they instead have two luck points. Luck points can be shared among players and can let them reroll any d20 roll but they cannot use luck points to force monsters to reroll.

No silvery barbs here...

Characters Begin with Max Hit Points

1st level characters start with maximum hit points and add their Constitution modifier if it's above zero.

I haven't used this one myself yet but a lot of people said it works well ��� just taking the edge off of the super-deadly nature of Shadowdark. I'm going to try it out.

The GM Rolls Death Rounds in Secret

When a character drops to zero, the GM rolls 1d4 in secret to determine the number of rounds before that character dies. Then the GM looks at the player, forlorn, shakes their head slowly, and forces a tear to drop from one eye.

[Editors note: facilitator for storytelling my ass.]

Lose One Death Round for Damage Taken

When a character at zero hit points takes damage, they lose one round on their death timer. Determined monsters can coup de grace a character at zero hit points if they choose, killing dying characters instantly. GMs should warn players if death is likely to happen given the situation.

More to Come

Shadowdark is a superbly hackable game so I expect this list to grow but, for now, I think these house rules add a lot of fun to the game. What are your favorite Shadowdark house rules?

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Delta Green, Dragonlance, and Kobold Press Humble BundlesZamanora Ballad of the WitchSigil's DemiseWhere's the 5.2 SRD?Shadow of the Weird Wizard Initial ThoughtsDefending Yourself Out of the FunTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Delta Green Humble BundleDragonlance Novel Humble BundleKobold Press 5e Player Option Humble BundleZamanora Ballad of the Witch KickstarterHas Wizards of the Coast Given Up on Sigil?Gizmodo ��� Hasbro Is Scrapping Dungeons & Dragons���s Ambitious Virtual TabletopShadow of the Weird WizardSoren Johnson ��� Players Optimize Out of the FunDungeon Master Diaries with Kelsey DionnePatreon Questions and Answers

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

Catching Characters Up to Higher Level AdventuresRunning Heroic Adventures with ShadowdarkWhich Monster Book Do You Reach For?Experiences with Level Up Advanced 5e

Last week I also posted a YouTube video on Pool Table Game Mastering.

RPG Tips

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

Try to ensure a single character doesn���t get pinned down and is unable to act in combat.Roll randomly for monster attacks when no path is clear. Also act towards the most fun for the entire group. Avoid picking on any single character in combat unless they���re really asking for it. Plan three options for the characters��� next quest. Offer them and get consensus on a single path before the end of your session. Always aim towards character decisions and actions. What can they do?Write down one way to connect each character into the next session. Focus adventures on goals, locations, and inhabitants. Make them direct, focused, and practical. Related ArticlesDelving Into ShadowdarkReplacing 5e's Inspiration with LuckThree Reasons to Fudge Monster Hit PointsGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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

The 3-2-1 Quest Model

Dragon of Icespire Peak in the 2019 D&D Essentials Kit has a wonderful quest model worth paying special attention to. I'm calling it the "3-2-1 quest model".

First, put three quests out in front of the characters. They pick one of those quests and go on the accompanying adventure. When they return, they find the remaining two quests still available to them. They pick another and go on that adventure. When they return, you throw out the final quest and offer three new quests for them to choose.

This model works well for a few reasons:

It always gives the players a choice among two of three quests.It gets rid of quests the players passed over twice.It wastes little of your prep since you're only tossing out one of three potential quests.You don't overwhelm players with too many quests. You're cycling out older quests in favor of new ones so they don't pile up.

Here are some tips to make the 3-2-1 model work well:

Clarify to your players how it works so they know one of the quests gets thrown out out of the three.Don't make players feel bad for skipping one of the quests. Characters shouldn't fail because they never chose the "right" one.Don't hang on too tightly. It's fine to change this model to better fit the story and the quests.

This 3-2-1 quest model is a solid way to keep quests flowing in front of your players ��� giving them choices about the direction of the game without being overwhelmed with choices ��� but don't be afraid to break away from it. Maybe that third quest doesn't disappear if your players are really interested in it but never had a chance to go on it. Maybe you have four quests because circumstances worked out that way. That's totally fine.

Here's another tip. During your prep, if the characters are close to the end of an adventure, prepare your next three quest descriptions so you can drop them in front of your players. You don't have to prep much. A single sentence will do ��� someone in need wants you to do something heroic somewhere fantastic.

Then, at the end of your session, put these quests in front of your players so they can choose one before the session ends. That way you know which quest to prepare for your next session. Even if the story hasn't progressed to the point where the characters choose a quest, you can ask your players to choose one so you know where they're going. This decision gives agency to your players to choose their path and also gives you a focus and direction for your prep.

Use the 3-2-1 quest model to keep fresh options in front of your players ��� letting them choose the quests they want to go on and skip the ones they don't.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Beyond the WoodsShadowdark Western ReachesShadowdark Price Ranges and FOMOWhere Shadowdark Sits Among 5e GamesHouse Rules for ShadowdarkCity of Arches Hardcovers and the Key of Worlds Scenario PathAdditions to the Lazy GM's Reference DocumentForge of Foes on AudibleTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Forge of Foes on AudibleBeyond the Woods KickstarterShadowdark Western Reaches KickstarterShadowdark Quick Start Free PDFShadowdark Quick Start SoftcoverCity of ArchesLazy GM's Reference DocumentPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Alternatives to CultistsSuggestions for Short Adventures and One-Shot Rewards

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Random Encounter Tricks and Shopping Cliffhanger ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 17.

RPG Tips

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

Can only a handful of players make your game? Run a one-shot game for a new system you���ve always wanted to try. Beyond challenge rating, pay careful attention to the damage monsters put out, especially at first level. Have six regular players and one or two ���on call��� players willing to jump in when there���s a seat free. Play with as few as three or four. Run games at the same time every week and play with whoever can make it. Draw small dungeon maps on a Chessex or Paizo battle map as the players explore it. Small fishing tackle boxes are a great way to store pencils, index cards, miniatures, tokens, and the other odds and ends you need to run a great game. Run online games with a stack of independent pieces of software and physical books so you���re not dependent on a single online platform that can go down or change in ways you don���t like. Related ArticlesTroublesome Quest ModelsThree of Five Keys: A Quest Design PatternTie Characters to FactionsGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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

Assign Player Roles

Before we begin, I wanted to let you know that our book for building and running awesome monsters, Forge of Foes, is now available as an audiobook narrated by Colby Elliot! Colby has narrated other Sly Flourish books and each recording is outstanding. Pick up the Audible version of Forge of Foes today!

Games that harken back to the old days of D&D ��� often called "OSR" games or "Old School Revival" or "Old School Renaissance" games bring up an idea from these hallowed times ��� player roles. The idea being that players take specific roles for the game outside of just playing their character.

These assigned roles ��� scribe, cartographer, quartermaster, and caller ��� offer great benefits to GMs, players, and the whole game. Old-school games embraced these roles once again ��� best articulated to me in the fantasy RPG Dolmenwood.

Like the best Lazy DM tools, assigning roles serves multiple purposes ��� they help players better connect to the in-game world, they keep players engaged in the game, they help GMs and players track events from session to session, and they build artifacts for the campaign that can be held onto long after the campaign has ended.

Here are some examples of roles we can ask players to pick up:

Scribe

The scribe is the official notetaker for the game with an intention of sharing these notes with other players and the GM. These game notes keep the notetaker engaged in the game (as do the rest of these roles and activities) and also bring solidity to the game overall. Events really feel like they happened when they're captured in notes. These notes also help the GM remember where things are headed and what stuff the players paid attention to. These notes also serve as a lasting record for the whole campaign at the end.

Scribes can share their notes in a shared file like a Notion notebook or a Google Doc or email them around to everyone. Even hand-written notes can be sent as images to the group. Ideally every player and the GM should have a copy and keep them together so they can have a full chronicle of the campaign.

Cartographer

Traversing a dungeon and drawing how it connects helps keep the group grounded in the events of the game. It lets players really explore the dungeon, knowing where they've been and what they've missed. Drawing maps helps them discover how the dungeon works. Drawing maps can be tricky, because often the player's version of a map doesn't match the GM's version but that's ok. One need not be an expert cartographer either. A stick and box chart works just fine. Drawing maps isn't as necessary if you're using a virtual tabletop but for in-person games or games where screenshots of rooms are shared, a player-drawn map can help everyone keep the layout of a dungeon in mind.

Quartermaster

Who's keeping track of the loot? Who's telling everyone the split of gold? Where's that all-important magic item again? The quartermaster keeps a full list, maybe even using double-entry bookkeeping to note what loot was picked up and who it was distributed to. Without a quartermaster, stuff gets lost. Even with a quartermaster, players should still keep track of their own loot and inventory ��� that's the second part of the double-entry bookkeeping.

Like the other artifacts of this job, a loot list is best if it's shared with the group. A spreadsheet in Google drive is a great way to share it but even a digital or handwritten list will do. Keep track of the date, the item, and who it went to. Ask the quartermaster to periodically remind everyone of unclaimed loot which their character might want to claim.

The Caller

The caller is a new role for me. The caller's job is to adjudicate choices of a group and give the GM a final determination. They are a facilitator for the group, asking people's opinions, taking votes, working through disagreements, and coming to an answer they can give to the GM.

This role, more than the others, requires a player who's able to facilitate choices ��� keeping in mind the players feelings as well as an in-world understanding of what's happening to the characters in the game. It's worth a conversation with the caller to understand the delicate nature of this skill. It's definitely a people-focused role to take but a powerful one when assigned.

Jobs with Multiple Benefits

Assigning these roles to your players serves many benefits. Each role helps solidify what's going on in the game. They keep players involved with the game and the world we're all sharing. They keep players busy and assigning roles gives them a responsibility to their fellow players. In a world filled with distractions, assigning player roles is a fantastic way to keep players engaged in the game we're playing.

Have a mid-campaign session zero and talk about these roles and how they can help all of you enjoy your games even more.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Mork Borg Bundle of HoldingPotbellied Kobold Bundle of HoldingDungeon Crawl Classics Humble BundleSecrets of Magic for FateforgeD&D 2025 Starter Set InfoWhat WOTC Products Matter for the RPG Hobby?Sci Show on Science of Scheduling a D&D GameBob World Builder on RPG KickstartersRPGs I Want To PlayThe Retreat ActionTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Mork Borg Bundle of HoldingPotbellied Kobold Bundle of HoldingDCC Megabundle Humble BundleFateforge Secrets of Magic KickstarterD&D Starter Set Video OfficialD&D Starter Set Demo at New York Toy FaireEN World ThreadSci Show on Scheduling RPG GamesBob World Builder on Crowdfunding Historical TrendsThe Retreat ActionPatreon Questions and Answers

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

How Does Fog Cloud Work with Advantage?The Eight Steps with Big DungeonsPlayers Forgetting Character AbilitiesDealing with Players Whose Characters Run AheadDM Screen on Small Table

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Two Bandits Talking About the Characters and The Sunless Stream ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 16.

RPG Tips

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

Increase combat difficulty by adding more monsters. Speed up combat by increasing damage and lowering hit points. Let boss monsters spread damage to minions or suck out their souls for temporary hit points. Expect and prepare for characters to focus on the boss in any boss encounter. Limit long rests when needed through nightmares, premonitions, and unholy auras. ���You won't find a long rest until..."Build dynamic dungeons where multiple factions battle each other while the characters explore it. Let them hear the chaos and witness the aftermath in other chambers. Flavor chambers with murals, frescoes, and bas reliefs revealing secrets and clues. Related ArticlesTwo Different 5e Games at the Same TableRoleplaying Between SessionsWrite One Page of Prep NotesGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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

Build a Campaign-Unique Faction List

Build a list ��� or several lists ��� of the gods, factions, campaign icons, and historical figures of your campaign world. Roll on this list to flavor items, monuments, NPCs, or locations. Use these factions to flavor your world as your characters explore it.

Without the unique story and lore of our game world, one game can seem much like the others. Lore sets apart one campaign from another. It wraps the framework of our RPGs in tapestries depicting many worlds beyond this one.

Such rich lore can get away from us, though. We can feel like we have to fill three-ring binders with ancient histories, deep theologies, and interwoven political factions without knowing how this lore manifests in our game.

One lazy trick to manage this lore is to build a faction list. A faction list contains major individuals or groups that matter to the world and to the characters. Often this list includes gods, historical figures, major political factions, and world-changing icons.

Like Secrets and Clues, a faction list turn our world's lore to specific things the characters interact with during the game. Faction lists turns fuzzy concepts into a practical list we can use in the next game we run.

Here's an example faction list from the City of Arches:

Arazuun, Fallen Prince of RevviaThe Black HandElvenya the Star's SongThe ArchkeepersGod-queen SettThe HungerIbraxus of ChoulKarigulon the Dread FangLady StraytheThe Lower TwelveMother AvantaThe Nameless KingPredalion, God of Travel and TradeSulin, Goddess of LightThe Three SistersVithra the Serpent KingVrys the FallenThe World's EndXereth ��� Oblivion's EndXrake Fiendblood

Whenever the characters stumble across a monument in the Endless Warrens, I can roll on this list to flavor the monument. Maybe it's tied to the Hunger ��� the ancient elder evil lurking in the deep lake to the north. Maybe it has a connection to Oblivion's End or God-Queen Sett. Suddenly those static monuments become something more ��� something drawing characters into the history and world of the game.

For other example faction lists, see my 1d100 Eberron Factions or my 1d100 Forgotten Realms factions.

Mix your faction list with more general lists of random items, magic weapons, monuments, locations, NPCs, and more. Faction lists stack onto these other lists to make them something else.

If you want something more detailed, break out your faction list into separate groups: gods, political factions, historical figures, and big campaign icons. This separation lets you decide if you want a faction with an older or newer history ��� something that makes more sense for the location or object you're tying the faction to. If it doesn't matter, roll to see which table you roll on or build one big table containing everything when it doesn't matter.

To make your faction list even more useful, note what symbol or icon the faction uses. A noted symbol makes it easier to improvise what the characters see when they look at the object tied to the faction. That bloody defiled fountain of Saint Cuthbert can be identified because of the etching of Cuthbert's starburst on the side of it.

Whether running a published campaign setting or building your own setting ��� write a numbered list of factions you can roll on to inspire unique creations in the world. Use this list to flavor the specific objects or people the characters run into so that unique flavor is always in front of them.

Bathe the world in fantastic fiction.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

City of Arches in Markdown and EPUBBlog of Holding Monster Manual 2024 Stats in the Creative CommonsChallenge Rating Deep DiveTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

City of ArchesBlog of Holding 2025 Monster Manual on a Business CardWhat Does Challenge Rating Mean in D&D 5e?The Lazy Encounter BenchmarkPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here is last week's question and answer.

Fantastic Locations in Contemporary Worlds

Last week I also posted a YouTube video on the Shrine of Isis ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 15.

RPG Tips

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

Don���t be afraid to have out of game conversations about in-game character dynamics and relationships. Let players retreat from battles gone wrong, escaping with any downed characters but with a potential story loss. Run easy fights. Use tools that help you improvise during the game. Build battles first from what makes sense in the situation. Tune them for the fun of the game. Have the outcome of a TPK in mind when running hard battles. Where does the story go if the characters all drop?Write a list of ten to twenty factions you can roll on to flavor items, monuments, and encounters. Related ArticlesTie Characters to FactionsAdvanced Random Encounter TricksBathe Your World in LoreGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

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