Michael E. Shea's Blog, page 7

How to Survive a Digital D&D Future

The Kickstarter for my latest book, The City of Arches, begins August 6th! Sign up to be notified on the launch of this high-fantasy city sourcebook for Lazy GMs!

Hasbro may be hurling D&D towards a digital future but we already have everything we need to enjoy this game for the rest of our lives.

Hasbro is super-excited for a digital D&D future. They're tired of selling us, as Penny Arcade perfectly describes, a single hamburger we can share with our friends every week for thirty years. Hasbro wants subscription revenue from every player every month ��� not just the single purchase of a book you can keep and use for the rest of your life. They don't want to sell us a product. They want us to pay rent.

Chris Cocks, Hasbro's president and former president of Wizards of the Coast, is pushing hard for a digital future. He already said they're running experiments with artificial intelligence saying "D&D has 50 years of content that we can mine". The new head of WOTC is a former Blizzard executive who replaced a former Amazon and Microsoft executive. They put up a new D&D product architect job listing with a clear focus on a push for digital gaming and a new "monetization designer" which is as close to "professional enshittifier" as they're willing to come to in a job requisition.

So yeah, WOTC is really excited to charge monthly fees and microtransactions you never want to stop paying for.

But I have good news for you. It doesn't matter.

The big worry is that WOTC is going to stop producing physical books ��� some pundits say in two years. I seriously doubt they'll stop making books, but let's pretend that's true. I still say it doesn't matter.

Here are five reasons why:

The three D&D core books are the only D&D books that really matter and they're already physical books.WOTC almost certainly plans to release a physical D&D Starter Set for their new rules so they can put it on the shelves of Target and Walmart.WOTC promised to release a new 5.2 System Reference Document of the D&D 2024 rules into the Creative Commons so anyone can build off of core D&D 2024 rules in any format they desire.We have 50 years of previous versions of D&D we can play, multiple 5e variants from other publishers, and hundreds of other RPGs we can enjoy.You can play D&D on several digital platforms other than D&D Beyond.

Let's look at these reasons one at a time in case the list alone doesn't convince you.

The D&D Core Books are Physical and They're All That Matters

We know the D&D 2024 core books are going to be physical. People already have the D&D 2024 Player's Handbook in hand and the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual are coming out in the next six months. Once we purchase them, they're ours forever. These books aren't hobbled products that require some monthly subscription to keep using. You can whip up a character on a piece of paper in 30 minutes and play for a couple of years.

The core books vastly outsell other WOTC-published D&D books. Once people have the core books, they don't need much else. Big crunchy character option books like Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tashas's Cauldron of Everything are popular and change the game in fundamental ways, but they're not necessary. Other publishers also publish crunchy character books. WOTC doesn't have a monopoly on 5e character options.

WOTC owns the IP to worlds like the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Planescape, Spelljammer, and Dragonlance but they don't seem interested in publishing more than a single big adventure for these settings. WOTC not publishing more campaign settings doesn't seem to hurt the hobby. Roughly half of DMs I surveyed prefer their own campaign world anyway and there are other fantastic worlds being published by other publishers.

Once the physical core books are out, it doesn't matter if WOTC tries to digitize the rest of D&D. We have our books. They can't take them away.

WOTC Will Produce a New Starter Set

One worry is that WOTC will funnel new players straight to D&D Beyond and all those juicy monthly fees. Maybe. But they're still going to release a physical D&D Starter Set so they can get a box on the shelves of Target, Walmart, and other big-box stores. Those starter sets are likely critical to bringing new players to the game. Sure, they'll still push new players to join D&D Beyond with special offers and coupons but the old ones did too. That's nothing new.

WOTC Promised a New 5.2 SRD based on D&D 2024

In May 2024, WOTC promised to release the core rules of D&D 2024 into a new 5.2 SRD at the end of February 2025. This system reference document would open the updated D&D 2024 rules to other publishers who can fill in any gaps left behind as WOTC focuses on digital revenue. It means people can make alternative character builders, VTTs with integrated rulesets, new character option books, and so on. The only limitation is what people are willing to produce and whether they can get customers to support it. There's no WOTC monopoly at that point. WOTC isn't in the way.

We Already Have Old Versions of D&D and Tons of Fantastic RPGs

On my shelf and hard-drive, I have six older versions of D&D, all of which people still play in one form or another. My friend Chris is running a 2nd Edition D&D game in Dark Sun, for example.

There are millions of copies of the 2014 D&D Player's Handbook out there and ways to purchase all five previous versions of D&D as well. All these versions of D&D brought the same sort of fun to the table we enjoy today and all are still fully playable. It doesn't matter if WOTC wants to stop selling us a 30 year hamburger. We already have a stack of them.

Outside of D&D we have Tales of the Valiant and Level Up Advanced 5e which offer excellent updates to 2014 D&D. Shadowdark took 5e and stripped it down to the old-school feel of D&D from the 70s and 80s. There are tons of other excellent RPGs out there that aren't 5e-based like Dragonbane, Shadow of the Weird Wizard, 13th Age, Knave and more.

We have plenty of other systems to try. WOTC is trying to build a moat in the middle of an ocean.

You Can Play D&D on Several Digital Platforms

Hasbro is super-excited to get you to pay for D&D on D&D Beyond but it's not the only platform for this game. 2024 D&D will be available on Foundry, Fantasy Grounds, and Roll20 as well. Other 5e variants are already available on those VTTs and Shard Tabletop as well. EN World Publishing is building a free character builder for Level Up Advanced 5e. You can also play with physical books, real dice, and rules-independent VTTs like Owlbear Rodeo. With so many rulesets available under Creative Commons licenses, WOTC isn't in the way of people building tools other people want to use when they play.

It Only Matters to You And Your Group

Regardless of what's going on in the rest of the industry, the game itself is just you and a few friends sitting at a table (virtually or physically) to play. If you can convince your players to play a different RPG, it doesn't matter how popular that RPG is to anyone else ��� it's working for you. If six people anywhere in the world are playing a particular RPG, that RPG is still alive.

Finding good reliable players for RPGs is hard ��� likely the hardest part of this hobby. I don't think WOTC is making it easier or harder. It's hard to find reliable players. It can also be hard to convince those players to step away from the most popular RPG to play one they've never heard of.

But if your group trusts you, if they enjoy the stories you share, you can talk to them about trying other systems once in a while. It can take some work but WOTC's not in the way. Getting great players to your table regularly who are open to trying other systems isn't easy but we can get there. This is the main problem we should be working to solve.

And, of course, we can always play D&D. We can use our physical books and a resilient stack of software to play D&D however we want and no one can stop us.

We can't fix WOTC. We can't change their direction away from further attempts to monetize D&D. Like Penny Arcade says, we're not rattling sabers, we're rattling those little plastic swords used to hold sandwiches together.

We can only strengthen our own hold on the hobby. More than any other form of entertainment, the RPG hobby is incredibly resilient to the types of moat-building WOTC attempts as they move to their digital future.

The future of the RPG hobby is ours.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Why Open RPG Licenses Matter to GMs and The Forgotten God ��� Shadowdark Gloaming Session 38 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

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

City of Arches Kickstarter Next Week!Lots of D&D 2024 Info Next WeekSolodark Solo-play Video by Kelsey DionneWhen We Were Wizards PodcastNimble 5eCity of Arches Obsidian Skull WalkthroughHandling Questions of Morality in TTRPGsPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Players Suspicious of Potentially Betraying NPCsRPG 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:

Give character-focused options for downtime activities. Alert them before the session begins so they can think of what they want to do.Ask players to talk about what new features they got when they level up.Mix multiple random encounters together.Use a table-less oracle die for distance, attitude, morale, weather severity, and more. The lower the number, the less extreme.Draw quick maps on paper or dry-erase boards or mats to help players understand the situation.Add backgrounds and details to quest-giving NPCs like names, intentions, etc.Write down notes during the game to keep track of important information for your next session's prep ��� NPC names, where the game ended, and other details to help you prepare the next session.Related ArticlesD&D Beyond, Wizards of the Coast, 5e, and YouWhat Is 5e?What 5e in the Creative Commons Means to YouGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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.

Delving Into Shadowdark

The Kickstarter for my latest book, The City of Arches, begins August 6th! Sign up to be notified on the launch of this high-fantasy city sourcebook for Lazy GMs!

For the past few months, I've been running and enjoying the Shadowdark RPG by Kelsey Dionne of the Arcane Library. After a very successful Kickstarter, Kelsey delivered the book both digitally and physically within a year. The product quality is fantastic, as are its Cursed Scroll zines, its half-height GM screen, pre-generated character cards, and Shadowdark Quickstart booklets.

You can download the Shadowdark Quickstart PDF package for free. It's a great way to see if this RPG is for you.

Here are some key features of Shadowdark:

It uses common 5e conventions such as ascending AC, attack bonuses, the six core stats, advantage and disadvantage, and other familiar elements. If you and your group understand 5e, you'll pick Shadowdark up easily. The math is very flat in Shadowdark. Ability scores are 3d6 down the line which means ability bonuses are often flat, slightly positive, and commonly negative. Hit points only add constitution modifiers at first level so hit points are very low. During the first couple of levels, characters can often drop after a single hit.The core mechanics of Shadowdark are extremely simple. There's no skill list and no proficiency bonus. You can write a character down on a 3x5 card and roll one up in a couple of minutes.Talents replace feats and subclasses. You roll to determine your talent at certain levels meaning even character progression is random.The truly flat math of the game means a lot of weight is put on die rolls themselves. Damage dice really matter since you rarely add modifiers to them.Gameplay focuses more on player decisions and questions than rolling checks. Where 5e might have a Wisdom (Perception) check to find a trap ��� in Shadowdark, characters find traps if they carefully look for them. This style of play is a fundamental drive of Shadowdark and other old-school games ��� you rely less on rolls and mechanics and more on player questions, choices, and decisions.The writing is brief and focused. It's easy to pick up, read, and run.Shadowdark focuses on two gameplay mechanics to reinforce the dark and gritty feel ��� limited equipment slots and torch timers. Characters can't see in the dark but monsters can so torchlight is critical and lasts only one real-world hour. It keeps the pace moving fast.Likewise, characters have limited equipment slots so deciding what they can carry matters, including torches and rations.There are no spell slots. Spell attack rolls and opposed saving throws are replaced with a spellcasting check. If you make it, the spell works. If you fail, the spell fails and you lose access to the spell for a day. Failure can be a drag if you burn your only use of a spell the first time you try to cast it.There are no reactions, bonus actions, opportunity attacks, or multiple attacks on a turn. Combat is super speedy.The game uses abstract distances like close, near, double-near (my favorite distance name), and far.Monster design is simple. There are loose guidelines to compare monster power but you're not supposed to build "balanced" encounters. Let the world and the dice decide what the characters face.Who Would Enjoy Shadowdark?

My Sunday group loves Shadowdark. They're all experienced GMs and very experienced with D&D and other RPGs. The mechanics are simple, straight forward, and focus on player experience and decisions instead of continual skill checks. If you look for a trap the right way, you find it.

Those folks who yearn for the old days of D&D should appreciate Shadowdark. "Old-school gaming, modernized" is the core motto of Shadowdark and it accomplishes this goal. There are no odd rules from the past like saving versus wands, weapon speeds, and descending armor class. There are enough ways to customize your character and watch them grow to keep experienced players interested mechanically.

You might expect a mechanically-simple RPG to not work well for long campaigns but our campaign just crossed 37 sessions and we all eagerly await it every week. You can watch my Shadowdark game prep videos to follow along and see how I prep each session of the game.

Shadowdark is super swingy in its early levels because hit points are very low. Even 2nd and 3rd level characters might get dropped by a single good damage roll. Only when you reach 5th and 6th level characters can the characters hold their own against several successful attacks. Players need to be on board with this swingy nature to enjoy the game.

If you're looking for fast, simple, classic dungeon delving that feels like the D&D of the 80s without all the weird rules, Shadowdark is a perfect choice.

Who Wouldn't Like Shadowdark?

If your players are into building heroic characters up with a lot of mechanical crunch, there's not much of that in Shadowdark. If your players are focused on their own hero's journey, that's not likely to work out for them too. In 36 sessions, we've had only one character who survived since the beginning and she died in session 37. We were all distraught but the player leapt into her new character within 30 seconds. Most players are on their fifth or sixth character. Characters can die a lot.

Shadowdark also seems to assume you already know a bit about running RPGs and you'll likely have to fill in some blanks. There are some oddities like both leaning in on detecting traps through logical discussion but then giving advantage on trap detection checks. Which is it? You'll have to decide. How exactly does surprise work? You'll need to work that out. What happens if a character at 0 hit points takes damage? Up to you. If you're looking for a tightly defined ruleset, Shadowdark isn't likely the game for you.

I wouldn't call Shadowdark a "heroic" fantasy RPG. I'd put it in the category of a dark fantasy or fantasy survival RPG.

Tips From Over Thirty Sessions

I've run a bunch of Shadowdark and my group is made up entirely of other gamemasters so we talk about it a lot. All of us love it but all of us recognize things about how it plays that we either need to more deeply understand or just plain want to change. Here are a few of these observations:

With such a focus on the results of the dice, the game offers alternative rules that focus on luck points ��� re-rolling a d20 on a failed check. These range from super-hard-core "die at zero hit points" rules to pulp mode which gives players 1d4 luck points they can use for all sorts of things they typically can't be used for. Luck points might be more valuable than hit points which is why the game focuses on them for the feeling of the game. I've decided to give out one luck point at the beginning of a session and determined that luck points cannot be spent to change a monster's roll but can change any player's roll. It's often best used on a failed spell which is often a double-whammy of missing the spell and losing the spell.With characters dying often, you might start a quest with one character and then lose the quest when that character dies. Consider including a core faction the characters all belong to so that when they die, their new character joins in already tied to the same faction and is following the same quest.You'll have to decide how much treasure to give out and how often. The game has guidelines but you may want to speed it up or slow it down depending on how fast you want to level. The amount and quality of treasure characters need to level up continually increases so you need to consider how often you increase it as well.The game doesn't offer guidance for what level to introduce new characters. We decided to introduce new characters at the same level as their previous character with experience points reset to zero. There was definitely some gamification of putting characters up front who had just crossed a level and had few experience points to share but whatever. It was a small price to prevent characters from always starting at 1st level.Exactly how characters die when they're down to zero hit points also wasn't clear. You roll 1d4 when the character's turn comes up but what if they're hit in the meantime? We house ruled that if it was some type of passive damage, the number of rounds until you die goes down by one. If, however, a monster wants to kill you and succeeds on their attack ��� they kill you.Dyson maps are awesome for Shadowdark dungeons.GM Experiences

I found Shadowdark to be great fun to run. I didn't find it easier or harder to run than 5e, but prepping and running 5e is really streamlined for me after running close to a thousand games and writing a whole book about game prep. I probably spent too much time worrying about whether I was running Shadowdark right when I sometimes fell back to my 5e ways. I sometimes found myself getting hung up on trying to maintain turn order all the time and tracking rounds all the time. Sometimes I just like to roll with whatever the group wants to do and lose track of in-world time. So I just grabbed a die and rolled for random monsters when it felt right.

My best way of tracking always-on turn order was by writing all the character names in front of me on my dry-erase map and using a little token to keep track of whose turn it was so I know who went next.

The Best Intro to D&D?

Given Shadowdark's simple mechanics, I think Shadowdark may be an excellent introduction to D&D and RPGs overall. The math is very straightforward. Character sheets are super simple. I might give new players a break and start their characters off with max hit points and I'd still warn them their character can drop often but it's no worry to try another character. The Shadowdark Quickstart Set is awesome and affordable, reminding me of the original D&D white box. It's also available to download for free. If you're a fan of Shadowdark, consider using the Quickstart Set to teach people how much fun these games can be.

Recapturing the Purity of D&D

I love 5e. I also love Shadowdark. When I ran my yearly I6 Ravenloft game for Halloween, I ran it with Shadowdark and it fit like a glove. Ravenloft was scary again. Rounds moved fast. Characters explored and avoided dangers. Characters died. The 1st edition D&D math for monsters fit almost perfectly to that of Shadowdark. Not everyone loved it ��� some missed their more heroic 5e characters ��� but as a GM, I thought it fit perfectly and many of my players enjoyed it too.

Shadowdark isn't for everyone. The GM and players need to all accept the type of game Shadowdark is. If one is expecting more than the core mechanics of 5e ��� particularly crunchy heroic characters who have to take a good pounding to drop to zero ��� Shadowdark may disappoint them.

If one wants to recapture the feeling of the way D&D felt, or we imagine it felt, back in the 80s ��� Shadowdark is an awesome RPG.

I highly recommend it.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

I was away at a gaming convention so there was no Lazy RPG Talk Show or game prep video. I did post a video on Being Good Stewards of the Hobby.

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:

Give enemies a story they can share during combat.Expose secrets and lore through ghosts, visions, mosaics, carvings, inscriptions, lost tomes, and the characters' own knowledge of history.Give bosses a finite number of "dark blessings" that let them break the rules but only a couple of times per battle ��� like super-legendary-resistances.Let bosses pull their underlings into attacks.Give bosses abilities to threaten all the characters in a fight.Run fights with multiple bosses at the same time.Notify players of upcoming downtime scenes.Related Articles* [Notable 5e Products](http://slyflourish.com/notable_third_...)* [My Favorite TTRPG Products of 2023](http://slyflourish.com/favorite_books...)* [What Is 5e?](http://slyflourish.com/what_is_5e.htm... More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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.

Understanding 5e's Core Interaction

The Kickstarter for my latest book, The City of Arches, begins August 6th! Sign up to be notified on the launch of this high-fantasy city sourcebook for Lazy GMs!

The DM describes the environment.The players describe what they want to do.The DM narrates the results of the adventurers��� actions.

The above list is taken from page 6 of the 2014 D&D Player's Handbook. It's the core interaction of D&D 5e.

It seems simple ��� almost too simple to be worth paying attention to ��� but it's critical to the game and things can go sideways when we forget about it.

5e, and probably most RPGs, might be described as a large network of nodes, each node containing those three steps within them. An adventure or session is built from dozens of those three-step nodes. Each node leads to new nodes based on the results of the previous node.

And here's a key point to internalize:

*We don't know which path of nodes we'll follow until they happen.

It's folly for us to hang on to the idea that we know exactly what's coming — what the players are going to do and how the world reacts to their actions. We rarely do.

Adjudicating the Results of the Players' Actions

For GMs, the biggest step of the core mechanic is step three ��� narrating the results. We describe the situation, the character describes their intention, and we figure out whether they can do what they want, what other options we might present as alternatives, and what happens afterwards.

If their action is easy, they just do it. You don't need to roll to put your pants on. Not all GMs get this. A lot of player intentions and character actions fall into this category. The GM describes the situation, the player describes what they want to do, the GM determines if there's difficulty or risk, and the character does it if not. The situation resolves and we're on to a new node.

Sometimes players want their characters to do something risky or difficult. This situation is where ability checks come in. If something is risky or hard, the DM determines the difficulty and applicable ability or skill, and the player rolls a d20. Based on the roll, the GM adjudicates the result, leading to a new node.

Lots of other things can happen based on what the player wants to do. They could cast a spell or punch someone or do anything else. We adjudicate those actions too and the story moves on.

Studying the Basics

It's important to review the core mechanic from time to time. It's easy to get caught up in sub-systems or big world plots or detailed combat encounter building and forget what makes the game move forward. It also gives us a great reminder that the thing we should spend the most time doing is understanding what's going on in the world so we can describe it accurately to the players. When the game feels complicated, remember it's all about those three steps and the unforeseen network of actions and results that propels the story forward and makes our worlds unique.

Describe the situation.Let the player describe what they want to do.Adjudicate the results.More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Using an Oracle Die and The Death of Moragin ��� Shadowdark Gloaming Session 37 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

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

ENnie Voting Goes Live!Dyson Maps Bundle of HoldingLevel Up Gateway Online Character BuilderCity of Arches Kickstarter Coming August 6thTop Ten Lazy 5e TricksPatreon Questions and Answers

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

What Would I do If I Was In Charge of D&D?Magic Numbers to Keep In Your HeadRPG 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:

Shake up adventure types across your campaign: dungeon crawls, infiltrations, investigations, intrigue, overland exploration, and so on. Include upward beats in your dungeon crawls. Plant future adventure seeds in your existing session. Outline three possible adventure options revealed and decided upon before the end of your next session. Clarify where rests can take place and where they can���t. Show pictures of NPCs. Give characters a home base or common hangout. Don���t constantly threaten it. Ask players how much leeway you have to integrate their backgrounds into the campaign. Don���t change a player���s character away from their intent. Related ArticlesWhat Does Your Room Look Like?High Value PrepRunning Dungeon CrawlsGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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.

Getting Ideas for your RPGs

The Kickstarter for my latest book, The City of Arches, begins August 6th! Sign up to be notified on the launch of this high-fantasy city sourcebook for Lazy GMs!

Over at the Sly Flourish Patreon I get asked where ideas for our games come from. For me, great ideas come from great fiction.

Chapter 25 of Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master offers a list of fiction I found fueled my own GM's brain attic. It's been a few years so I extended the list with the one below.

These books, TV shows, movies, and games are sources of fiction that spoke to me. They may not speak to you. Instead, write up and share your own list.

BooksBloody Rose by Nicholas EamesEast of West by Jonathan Hickman Fairy Tale by Stephen KingGideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas EamesThe Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. JemisinTress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon SandersonTV ShowsAndorBook of Boba FettCastlevaniaDarkDracula by Mark Gatiss and Steven MoffatFor All MankindGood OmensLocke and KeyLove, Death, and RobotsMandalorianMidnight MassOne PiecePeaky BlindersThe ExpanseThe OutsiderThe WitcherMoviesAmerican Werewolf in LondonAvengers Infinity War & End GameBlade Runner 2049Clash of the Titans (the old 1981 one)Color Out of SpaceDoctor SleepDungeons & Dragons Honor Among ThievesDune part 1 & 2 (Denis Villeneuve)EternalsEverything Everywhere All at OnceHereditary It Chapters 1 and 2John Wick 1-4MidsommarNopePan's LabyrinthPreySnowpiercerTenetThe EndlessThe Green KnightThe WitchThor Love and ThunderWakanda ForeverGamesBaldur's Gate 3Diablo 4Elden RingHorizon Forbidden WestRemnant 2Other RPG Products

The amount of material published for fantasy RPGs is tremendous and it's all useful to fire up your imagination. Borrowing ideas for your game from published RPG material is a time-honored tradition. Wolfgang Baur, lead kobold at Kobold Press, said that people stealing ideas from Midgard and bringing them into their own world was his greatest hope for the setting.

For some excellent 5e-based products to boost your creativity, check out Notable 5e Products and Ten Notable 5e Products for 2022.

Shaking Up Your Brain with Random Tables

Another great tool to shake up your brain and generate some great ideas are random tables and generators. Whether it's a random monument, NPC generator, magic item, or something bigger like a whole world; random tables get your mind out of a groove and push it in a new direction.

I built the Lazy DM's Companion with this need in mind. It offers story-based adventure ideas, each with lists of twenty options for several variables to give you all new ideas.

It's Jaws but with a chaotic chimera awoken from a long slumber that sprays acid living in a volcanic cave protected by hags and hunted by greedy bandits.

Raging Swan has some awesome random tables if you're looking for random tables beyond those in the Companion.

Fill Your Mind Palace

Generating good ideas comes from all of the sources you let into your brain and the practice of transforming them into new ideas. Our favorite RPGs let us do this transformation every week if we exercise it. Watch some great shows, play with some random tables, and draw upon your own list of awesome ideas for your game.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Excellent Short-Form 5e Adventure Publishers and Ulgar ��� Champion of Ramlaat ��� Shadowdark Gloaming Session 36 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

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

City of Arches Kickstart Coming August 6th!The Negative Feedback of D&D Beyond's Exclusive OffersThe Lost Modularity of D&D and How to Get it BackIs Shadowdark the Best D&D Starter Set?The SlyFlourish.com Downloadable ArchivePatreon Questions and Answers

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

Lazy DMing with Virtual Tabletops (VTTs)How Do We Feel About D&D 2024?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:

Give two or three paths for longer journeys to adventure locations. Break up travel with interesting encounters at fantastic locations. Add interesting lore to typical random encounters.Stage random encounters at notable locations. Give the characters the latest news through town or city heralds. Let the characters see the long term results of their heroic actions. Give the characters a nice coffee shop they enjoy hanging out at between adventures. Related ArticlesGood Books of Random TablesWhat Is 5e?My Favorite TTRPG Products of 2023Get More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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 Your Own Vecna Campaign

The Kickstarter for my latest book, The City of Arches, begins August 6th! Sign up to be notified on the launch of this high-fantasy city sourcebook for Lazy GMs!

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on details but I wasn't a fan of the plot of WOTC's Vecna ��� Eve of Ruin adventure. Without spoiling, I'll say that the adventure hinges on one bit of deception that, when revealed, unravels the whole purpose of the rest of the adventure.

But fear not! We can build our own Vecna adventure!

This article contains a campaign outline you can use directly or use to inspire your own Vecna-based multiverse-spanning adventure. You can use it to refactor material from Vecna ��� Eve of Ruin or you can save yourself $60 and build your own Vecna-based adventure exactly the way you want it.

Here's one potential outline for your own Vecna-based adventure.

Vecna's Motivation

As a mortal-become-god, Vecna continually sought the one thing he wanted most ��� power. Until, at the culmination of his might, he realized his folly. In his quest for power, he lost his happiest moment forever ��� a moment side-by-side with his partner, Kas, before the two of them began their individual quests for power. This drive for power destroyed them, sending Kas to the domain of Dread known as Torvag after his betrayal of Vecna and Vecna on his insatiable quest for godhood.

Realizing his loss and recognizing he can never find that happiness again, Vecna seeks to undo reality. He wants to roll back the multiverse to the moment before he and Kas focused on power above all, leading to Kas's betrayal. In doing so, he will destroy everything and everyone in all worlds that followed after that one moment.

Thus, Vecna travels to Pandemonium to conduct the ritual of unmaking and it's up to our heroes to stop him.

Kas and the Cult of Vengeance

In their search for power, Vecna and Kas once stood side by side. Vecna forged a powerful weapon and gifted it to Kas, the legendary Sword of Kas. None know what led to Kas's betrayal. Some say the sword itself suggested it to Kas. But it's well known that in his attempt to slay Vecna and usurp his power, Vecna lost his eye and his hand while Kas lost his life ��� becoming a vampire trapped in the prison world of Torvag, bound by the chains of the Dark Powers.

Kas now believes he has escaped his prison world of Torvag not realizing the Dark Powers holding him there wanted him to escape. Along with his fanatical followers, Kas plots revenge against Vecna. He seeks the Rod of Seven Parts, spread across several worlds of the multiverse: Oerth, Athas, Krynn, Toril, Eberron, Barovia, and the Astral Sea. Kas knows only the rod, and the entity it releases, can give him the power needed to defeat Vecna. With the Rod of Seven Parts in his possession, he can call forth one of the most powerful horrors in the multiverse, Miska the Wolf Spider.

Kas's Cult of Vengeance spreads out across these worlds seeking the pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts.

Heroes of the Wizards Three

Our heroes begin by infiltrating a forgotten temple deep beneath Neverwinter where they face a powerful cult of worshippers of Vecna, including a lich in his service. After the lich's defeat, the characters discover that Vecna has begun a ritual of unmaking in the plane of Pandemonium. They are contacted by three wizards ��� Mordenkainen, Alustriel, and Tasha.

The wizards three know the only way to defeat Vecna is to gather the pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts which can pierce through his divinity and bring him down to his original archlich self. They are currently unaware that Kas too seeks pieces of the rod. The wizards aid the characters by discovering locations where the pieces might be found, teleporting the characters to those locations, and attempting to contact the gods for aid (which is unsuccessful ��� the gods simply don't believe them or the severity of the threat.)

Quests Across the Multiverse

The wizards offer three locations to the characters where the wizards know pieces of the rod might be kept. When the characters reach the second location, they run into members of Kas's Cult of Vengeance also seeking the pieces of the rod. The piece at the third location, the wizards discover, has already been captured by Kas's cultists. The wizards then offer the next three locations.

After the characters return from their fourth world, the cult of Kas has recovered two pieces from two other worlds, leaving a final piece in play. At this final location, the characters face the strongest followers of Kas and attempt to recover a fifth piece.

Final Confrontations with Kas, Miska, and Vecna

With their own pieces in possession and knowing that Kas has the remaining two pieces, they travel to the prison realm of Miska the Wolf Spider. There they face Kas, weakened by his lack of pieces of the rod, and Miska. Should they successfully defeat the two forces, the characters receive all seven parts of the rod.

With all seven pieces in hand, the characters assemble the rod and face Vecna himself in the center of Pandemonium. Their use of the rod makes the elder god mortal once again, though extremely powerful. If the characters succeed, the multiverse is saved. If they fail, all reality is unmade to a time thousands of years previous ��� the last happy moment for the archlich.

Level Progression

This campaign would begin at 12th level and take the characters to 20th level before they face Vecna. Adventure progression is as follows:

Defeat the Cult of Vecna �����13th LevelRecover the first piece of the rod �����14th LevelRecover the second piece of the rod ��� 15th LevelRecover the third piece of the rod ��� 16th LevelRecover the fourth piece of the Rod ��� 17th LevelRecover the fifth piece of the Rod ��� 18th LevelDefeat Kas ��� 19th LevelDefeat Miska �����20th LevelFace VecnaChoosing Locations

This campaign outline lets you choose which worlds you want to offer to the characters. You can choose whatever worlds are meaningful to you and your players. This way the players can choose which ones they want to visit. Let them know that they only get to choose two of the three before the piece of the rod at the third is taken by the cult.

You can choose one world for the final piece of the rod if you have a favorite.

You can add your own side-quests as well. Perhaps the wizards send the characters to worlds where Kas's cult already acquired a piece in order to learn more information. The characters might also go to Kas's former prison domain of Torvag. Perhaps the characters can unravel why the Dark Powers released Kaz in the first place. Perhaps those Dark Powers seek Vecna himself to add to their terrible menagerie of villains. You can expand this campaign wherever your shared story takes you.

Your Own Take on Classic D&D Worlds

This outline gives you freedom to build a flexible campaign for your players based on the material you want to run and your players' choices. Choose the worlds and sites you want to visit. Choose a map, select inhabitants, add some secrets and clues, reskin some monsters, and bathe it in the lore of these classic worlds to build awesome adventures for your group.

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Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Splitting Up Components of your Game Prep and Last Watch ��� Shadowdark Gloaming Session 35 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

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

Dyson's Delves Bundle of HoldingMonte Cook Games 50% off 5e ProductsD&D 2024 Class Videos2024 D&D Needed a DM AdvocateWOTC Says the Quiet Part Out LoudIs Tales of the Valiant the 2024 D&D We Want?Comparing Four Versions of 5eExpanding Tales of the Valiant's Doom PointsPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Running Games for Young Neurodivergent KidsComparing Monster Spellcaster StylesAsking Questions to Players Without Tipping Your HandTips for On-Call Players and Their CharactersTips for Evaluating Published AdventuresMissing Stat Block Info When Running MonstersWhy Are Gaming PDFs Crappy for So Many Devices? Publishers, Publish ePub!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:

If players have a name for an NPC different from yours, go with their names.Build NPCs from goals and motivations. Get into their heads and react as they would.Reskin monsters often to make each one unique. A simple skeleton can be a skeletal jailer with a cage over their skulls or a blackfire skeleton that does necrotic damage instead of piercing and slashing.Assume one scene for every 45 minutes of gameplay.Take breaks every 90 minutes or so.Leave time at the beginning and end of your game for chit-chat.Add environmental effects and options that showcase the characters and their abilities.Related ArticlesBathe Your World in LoreSpiral Campaign and World Building in D&DLightning Rods �����Showcase Powerful Character Abilities Get More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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.

Tips for Paper Character Sheets

This week Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master is on sale for 30% off the hardcover and 50% off the PDF and eBook package! Don't miss it!

Though the technology is 5,000 years old, there are new tricks we can learn to more effectively use paper character sheets in our TTRPGs. Using paper character sheets gives us a degree of flexibility and resilience we lose when relying on digital tools. Get used to using paper-based tools and find ways to make them as easy and fun as possible to use.

Why Use Paper?

With all of the awesome technology we have these days, why would we ever consider using paper-based character sheets? Here are some reasons:

Flexibility. Paper character sheets don't lock you into whatever a digital tool wants you to fill in. You can write anything you want, any way you want, on your paper sheet. It fits core rules, rules published by other publishers, or your own house rules. Nothing is locked in.

Disconnection. In our always-on digital world, sometimes it's nice to set our electronics aside and live in the moment with our friends and our physical character sheets. Even for the roughly half of surveyed DMs and players who play online, you can still enjoy using a paper-based character sheet and keep your online tools focused on communication instead of game management.

Resilience. Paper-based sheets can last a long time ��� far longer than electronic records, tools, services, or devices. If you care for them, your character sheets can last your whole life. You can also take pictures of them if you want online versions.

Independence. Removing your reliance on digital tools means you never need to worry what direction a particular digital tool takes. If you're comfortable using physical books and paper-based character sheets ��� nothing can change that situation. No one can remove or edit your existing physical books. If you rely on remotely managed digital tools, you must live with whatever the company running that tool wants to do with it.

Nostalgia. There's something fun about playing these games we love the same way people played them fifty years ago. Regardless of the technological advances in that time, we can still enjoy the game the same way it was enjoyed half a century ago.

Top Tips for Paper-Based Character Sheets

Here are some top tips for using paper-based character sheets.

Write Down Page Numbers. Write down page numbers of spells and class features on your sheet. Use your character sheet like a custom index of the rules in your RPG sourcebook you need to run your character.

Use Index Cards. Use index cards to track continually changing features like hit points, damage, short rests, luck points, spell slots, and other consumables. GMs can write down magic items and their effects on index cards or print them out on small pieces of paper you can hand out to players when they're acquired. Use paper clips to keep index cards organized.

Use Sheet Protectors and Dry-Erase Markers. Some players use sheet protectors to make their entire character sheet a dry-erasable white board. Others put pieces of packing tape or dry-erase tape over key areas of their character sheet like the hit point box.

Use Quality Paper. Print character sheets on good quality 32 pound paper. It's more durable and feels great.

Other Quick Tips

Here's a selection of other quick tips from players and GMs on EN World and YouTube:

Write lightly with a pencil so it's easy to erase.Use a kneaded eraser so you don't wear out your sheets.Transfer character info over to a new character sheet when your current one gets too messy but keep your old ones.Use different colored pencils or highlighters to note different features, abilities, or action types.Use a pen to draw boxes for limited abilities like long rests, short rests, or spell slots. Use a pencil to mark them off so you can erase only the checks.Track damage received, not hit points remaining. It's faster to add than subtract.Organize actions by action type �����actions, bonus actions, reactions, etc. Note action types next to abilities (Action, Bonus, Reaction, Move, etc.)Make quick-reference sheets or cards to remind you of your character's primary actions during the game.Draw pictures of your character. Let yourself be a kid again.Enjoy the soda stains, scribbles, and other bits of wear and tear. These marks make your sheet unique in the world.Enjoy Your Analog Game

Tabletop roleplaying games are so different from the digital entertainment that surrounds us. We control our games. We run our games. No one but us and our group decides what game to run or how to run it.

Embrace pencils, papers, and books. Enjoy the game using tools humankind has used for thousands of years and keep your game flexible, resilient, and fun.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

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Esper Genesis on Bundle of HoldingMagic Item Card Generator by Inkwell Ideas2024 D&D Core Book VideosD&D 2024 Monster Stat Block -- YuckThe 2024 D&D Players Handbook is the Only Book that MattersThe Specifics of D&D 2024 Compatibility with 5eMobile Character Builder for D&D 2024 on Roll20Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master On SaleUse NPC Archetypes from a Single ShowPatreon Questions and Answers

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

What Digital Tools Would Help Us?Managing Teleportation in CampaignsHow Would I Run Vecna Eve of RuinHow Do You Run Maps?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:

Know your players��� tolerance for tales of horror and gore.Ask yourself what worked well in your last game. What can be improved?Draw small maps on a dry-erase mat as players explore a dungeon. Shake up your ideas with random tables. Print and collect your favorite random tables from your most valued sources of such tables. Write down notes at the end of the game you know you���ll need in your next game���s prep. State clearly the goal and reward for the characters��� exploration.Related ArticlesWrite Down Page Numbers on D&D Prep Notes and Character SheetsUsing Maps for In-Person GamesTools of the Lazy Dungeon MasterGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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.

What Does Your Room Look Like?

This week Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master is on sale for 30% off the hardcover and 50% off the PDF and eBook package! Don't miss it!

Having your players build out parts of the world in which you play can seem daunting. The world's a big place! What if they take off in six different directions? You now have to tie these scattered ideas together and make them true.

There are, however, a few ways to draw on our players' imaginations to build out smaller pieces of the world.

"Describe your killing blow" is an easy way to draw players into the fiction of the game instead of thinking just about their mechanics during combat.

"Describe an interesting physical characteristic of this enemy" gives players agency over a small part of the fiction that also helps manage combat by giving unique ways to identify enemies. See .

Here's another one:

"What does your room look like?"

When the characters get some sort of home base, be it a room at an inn, a fancy manor, or a flying airship; give each of the characters their own spot in this home base. Then ask them "what does your room look like?"

It's like giving the characters a chance to build out their own dorm room however they want. Do they build a nest? Do they set up a secret passage to the cargo hold below? Do they adorn it with trophies of their defeated foes? Each character's room often matches their personality. Thus, as they describe it, you learn more about the characters.

Write It Down

Write down your players' descriptions of their new domiciles so you can draw upon them in later sessions. Don't put these areas under threat without careful thought. Bring up scenes in their rooms and recall what they described so they remember it and they know you paid attention. When you describe it, it feels that much more real.

Find ways to draw our players into the world �����even if it's just one small detail. When you tie those things to the characters, it strengthens the whole game. Players relate better to their own characters. You relate better to their characters. Their characters bond more with each other and the world around them. The whole bond of the game gets stronger.

Next time they're in their home base, ask your players to describe what their characters' room looks like.

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

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

Allowing Alternative Character OptionsUses for Generative AI and RPGs -- Is it Cheating?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:

End the current session after the characters have chosen a clear path for the next one. Prep one scene per 45 minutes of gameplay. Build scenes from fantastic locations, interesting NPCs, and intriguing secrets. Try to include one battle, one roleplay scene, and some interesting exploration in a session. Build secrets from the characters outwards. Ask players what their characters��� dwelling is like. Write down where your session ended and any major plot arcs or NPCs the characters met.Related ArticlesFocus Extra Prep Time on the CharactersBuild from the Characters OutwardsCalm Pre-Game Nerves with Session-Focused Character HooksGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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.

Running Hex Crawls for D&D, 5e, or Shadowdark

I've been enjoying running a lot of Shadowdark RPG games recently, the prep of which you can watch on my Shadowdark Prep YouTube Videos channel. During this campaign we began the process of crawling hexes through the Gloaming, the setting from Cursed Scroll 1. It's a lot of fun but I wanted to refine the process for more easily running the hex crawl.

There's many tools and processes for running hex crawls ��� and the whole topic is new to me. I wanted an easy and straightforward process for running hexes and here it is.

While I put this together in consideration of my Shadowdark RPG, these thoughts and steps can be just as easily used in a 5e fantasy game like D&D.

Planning a Hex Crawl

Here's my abbreviated list of steps for planning out a hex crawl. When prepping a hex crawl determine

the planned destination, direction, distance, speed, and terrain covered.the roles each character takes in the exploration.the risk and danger of travel.the weather.the possibility of getting lost.interesting monuments they might find along the way.potential random encounters.the expense of rations or other consumables.

Let's look at each of these as steps for our hex crawl.

Plan the Destination, Direction, Distance, Speed, and Terrain

Where do you want to go? What direction will you take? How far is it in hexes and how much does each hex represent? What terrain does it cover? How fast are you going to go? How easy is it to get lost?

We can offer meaningful choices here for the characters. Do they want the well-maintained road but run into gossipy or shady travelers more often or take the back paths and risk dangerous monsters?

You can usually determine the answers to these questions once for the whole journey.

Choose Character Roles

What roles do the characters take during the hex crawl? I like the following three roles, each which results in a potential ability check. Multiple characters can take on a single role, granting advantage to the character with the highest ability bonus for the check.

Pathfinder. Intelligence (History) or Wisdom (Nature, Survival). Characters taking on this role help ensure the group stays on track and heads in the right direction. They reference maps and physical distinguishing features to ensure the characters don't lose their way. The harder the path they follow, the higher the DC will be. Traveling along a road or well-known path is an automatic success but can become dangerous if hostile creatures control the road.

Scout. Wisdom (Perception, Investigation). Characters taking on this role keep an eye out for nasty creatures and signs of recent activity (or activities yet to come). They're watching out for trouble.

Quartermaster. Wisdom (Nature, Survival). Characters taking on this role ensure the health and well-being of the party. They make sure food stays unspoiled, enough water stays on hand, everyone's staying well-fed and well-hydrated, and everyone's socks are clean.

You can usually determine roles once for the whole journey.

Determine Danger

How dangerous is the path? In Shadowdark, the level of danger changes how often you roll for random encounters. You can do the same thing in your 5e games. The scout's job is to try to detect these dangers before they run right up and bite you.

You can usually determine the overall threat once for the whole journey unless you're traversing different biomes where the threat of danger changes.

Determine Weather

What's the weather like? You can use a simple table-less system of rolling a die. The higher the result, the more extreme the weather.

You could also come up with your own custom weather table for your particular region. The book Uncharted Journeys has a lot of outstanding examples of weather for different regions (as well as lots of other material related to making longer journeys across the land).

Determine weather daily.

Determine the Risk of Getting Lost

If the characters are going off the beaten path, your pathfinder determines whether you get lost or not. Depending on how nit-picky you want to be about checks, you can roll on behalf of the pathfinder so players don't know how well they did. If they fail, you decide which direction they headed towards instead or roll for it.

Determine the risk of loss once per hex.

Choose Monuments

If you want to fill in the hex with something interesting, you can drop in a monument flavored with lore from your campaign or world. Monuments are fantastic vehicles for secrets and clues and create a backdrop for any potential encounter the characters run into.

Select monuments once per hex.

Roll or Drop In Random Encounters

For Shadowdark you roll random encounters based on the danger of the situation and the time taken for travel. On a 1 on a 1d6, the characters face an encounter. You might instead determine that an encounter fits well for the pacing of the game and drop it in. You'd want to roll for or determine the distance, potential detection of the characters, and behavior as well. An easy table-less way to do this is to roll for distance (the lower the roll, the closer they are) and motivation (the higher the roll, the more hostile they are).

Even if the characters don't run into a random encounter, they might find indications of one ��� either one that already passed by or one coming soon. You can roll for two encounters and find the remains of the situation in which those two encounters clashed. Combining two encounters is a fun way to give the characters something to investigate without running an entire encounter.

Shadowdark has random encounters right in the book. If you want some excellent 5e random encounters, check out A5e's Trials and Treasure.

Determine random encounters once per hex. The more dangerous the terrain, the greater the chance based on your roll (1 on 1d6, 1-2 on 1d6, or 1-3 on 1d6).

Expend Resources

If you're tracking rations and other consumables, track expended resources daily. How many torches did it take to start a fire? How many rations did the characters need to eat to get a full rest? If you're looking to add resource management to your 5e games, Level Up Advanced 5e has a "supply" system for doing so.

If your game is more heroic, high-fantasy with all your goodberries and create foods and drinks, you may not need to worry about it.

Determine resources expended daily.

Summarizing the Steps

Here's a checklist for running our simplified hex crawl:

Each journey ��� determine the destination, direction, distance, speed, and terrain.Each journey ��� have players select roles ��� pathfinder, scout, or quartermaster.Each journey or change in terrain ��� determine the overall danger level.Each day ��� determine weather.Each hex ��� determine the risk of getting lost.Each hex ��� choose or roll for a monument if desired.Each dangerous period ��� roll for or select a random encounter, signs of previous activity, or signs of activity yet to come.Each day ��� expend resources.More Sly Flourish Stuff

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

Happy Pride MonthHow to Get More Engagement on YouTube!Roll20 Buys DemiplaneVoidrunner for 5e by EN World PublishingInfiltration of Bonespur KeepOrganize Your Gaming PDFsSearching PDFs on MacOSSearch PDFs with Finder on the MacAlfred for Searching PDFs on a MacSearch PDFs with Ripgrep AllPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Getting Excited for Longform CampaignsContingencies for TPKsRPG 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:

Build a resilient group by having six full time players and two on call players. Run with as few as four and it takes five cancellations before you can���t run a game. Build episodic campaigns like a tv serial so it doesn���t matter too much if a particular player can���t make it. Keep lair-style adventures on hand for side quests and improvised sessions. Describe, don���t define.Keep passive perceptions in front of you. Tell players what their characters see. Add healing potions to loot hoards generously. Tie NPCs the characters saved to more important NPCs so the players can see the benefits of their actions. Related ArticlesRunning Overland Exploration and Travel AdventuresExploring ChultRunning Travel Scenes in 5eGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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.

Using the Lazy DM's Eight Steps At the Table

Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master offers eight steps for game preparation to help GMs focus on the most valuable material one can prepare to help them improvise during their game. These steps include:

Review the charactersCreate a strong startOutline potential scenesDefine secrets and clues Develop fantastic locationsOutline important NPCsChoose relevant monstersSelect magic item rewards

Not all steps make sense for all games or all GMs, of course. They hopefully help GMs focus on the critical aspects we often need to run our games.

But how do we actually use these steps at the table? Preparing them is one thing �����how they manifest during the game is something else. Return discusses this topic too ��� and if you're having trouble, consider giving the book another read ��� but it doesn't focus on how we directly use these steps to run a game.

Prepping Dishes to Cook at the Table

I like to use the metaphor that using the eight steps during our game is like preparing ingredients ahead of time to cook at the table ��� like a big hibachi dinner. We don't cook the full meal and just plop it out. We have our dishes ready to improvise the meal as we go. It's not a perfect metaphor but it may help clarify that we prepare components to piece together during the game.

Preparing to Improvise

Often GMs prep scenes intended to be run one after the other. Each scene has all the components it needs to run like the location, NPCs, situation, monsters, and other stuff. This style doesn't lead towards the flexibility we often need when the players make a choice we didn't expect.

The eight steps don't help you build a procedural set of scenes run one after the other. Thus, the material you prepare doesn't fit perfectly into each scene of the game. Most of the steps give you materials you can drop in at the right time. Secrets, locations, NPCs, monsters, and treasure can come up at different times depending on how the game plays out. This lack of a clear procedural matchup between the eight steps and the scenes in the game we run can be hard to understand ��� but it's a feature, not a bug.

When do you typically use these steps at the table? Let's look at each step.

Review the Characters

This step often doesn't come into direct play at the table. Instead, this step helps you frame the rest of your prep around the characters. Reviewing the characters puts them into your mind so you can fill in secrets, NPCs, treasure and other components with direct character hooks. It helps you focus on the most important actors in the game ��� the characters.

Create a Strong Start

This step definitely has a clear place at the table. Once everyone's sitting around the table �����after you've asked the players to catch everyone up on what happened last time (or you've done it yourself)����� you jump into your strong start. Something happens. What is it? What can the characters do? What do they do? Make something happen and then put choices in front of the characters fast.

Outline potential scenes

Scenes are a catch-all for lots of different potential elements of our prep and our game. It could be a list of the five big scenes you plan to run or it could be a nest of scenes that might happen. It could be a strong start and a big catch-all like "explore Bittermold Keep". It might be a list of scenes and then three possible options you want to drop in at the end of the session.

Because it's a catch-all, outlining scenes could be used many different ways at the table. You might review it to know where to move to next after one scene is done. You might reference the three possible options for the next steps at the end of the game. It's mostly there to help you understand the framework of the game you're going to run ��� not help you run it directly.

Define Secrets and Clues

I often get feedback asking for better definitions on where to reveal secrets and clues but the answer really is "anywhere they make sense". During play, you may have them in your mind or in front of you in your notes. When the characters explore somewhere, discover something, talk to someone, or otherwise pick up a clue ��� that's the time to drop them in. Think of secrets like treasure you reward the characters for doing stuff.

Remember, you don't have to reveal all your secrets. I typically reveal half of the ten in a session. It's totally fine to only give out a few of them. Secrets serve you. You're under no obligation to use them or reveal them. They're there to help you fill in the lore of the game when it makes sense to do so. But it's still important to have enough secrets to fill in the blanks during the game. you may only give out half of your ten secrets but you don't know which half.

Develop Fantastic Locations

How you develop your fantastic locations and how you use them at the table depends on the kind of adventure you're going to run. A dungeon crawl with lots of rooms means you can focus on a map and add a few one- or two-word descriptions for each room. These short prompts give you something to riff off of when you're running the game. If your session focuses on a smaller number of more detailed locations, you probably want to fill them out with names and three notable features the characters can use.

At the table, you'll have the map in hand and use it to draw out or reveal rooms for a player-focused version of the map. Using maps at the table is its own challenge. However you use maps with your players, though, you'll still want your list of locations and notable features in front of you during the game. Use these maps and notes to help you fill out the room when the characters get there.

Outline Important NPCs

How you use this step depends on how much help you need when running an NPC at the table. Some GMs can get away with just a name. Other people need a list of appearances, mannerisms, goals, maybe even notable quotes they might say. I think it's worth getting better at improvising NPCs since you're likely to need to do it anyway. The most important aspect of an NPC you're going to need during prep and during play is the NPC's name. It's easy to forget names and they're really important. Write them down when they come up during your prep and write down new ones when they pop up during the game itself.

Like locations, you can reference your list of NPCs when it's time for them to step into the scene �����using any of the notes you find useful to flesh them out as you describe them. During your prep, consider what you needed to run the NPC during the game and what you ignored. Now skip the stuff you ignored.

Choose Relevant Monsters

You'll find a trend here. How you use your list of monsters depends on the sort of game you're going to run, but most often it's a simple list of monsters you think you might need and either links to digital stat blocks or page numbers to monster stat blocks in the books you plan to run. During your prep you might also use your list of monsters to select miniatures or prepare digital tokens. A set of generic monster tokens is a fantastic aid for improvising combat encounters.

At the table, you decide which monsters and how many monsters make sense for the situation. Then you use your list and references to look up the stat blocks and run them at the table.

Select Treasure

During your prep you might outline some interesting treasure and magic items the characters might find. Write down these parcels of treasure including links or page numbers where needed.

During the game, you decide if a situation warrants the discovery of treasure and use your list to drop in the treasure that makes sense. You can split up treasure parcels if it doesn't make sense for so much money to be in one place or to pick particular magic items that suit the situation.

Little Dishes of Flexible Prep

The eight steps from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master intend to help you get your hands around the most important stuff you may need during the game. They're focused on things to help you improvise during the game. You're not planning the game when preparing them. You're not building a story. You're setting up little dishes of pre-cooked food so you can improvise the meal at the table. Each of these items, and each of the lists they contain, are intended to help you quickly reference the stuff that's hard to improvise without putting in so much detail that improvisation is hindered.

Prepare what you need to run an awesome game.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Which Prep Steps for Which Situation and Nighthaven ��� Shadowdark Gloaming Session 31 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

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

Cover Art for 2024 D&D Dungeon Master's GuideSly Flourish and Elderbrain Video on Adventure DesignAre Actual Plays Building False Expectations?Dwarven Forge Virtual Tabletop BackdropsLeaving BlanksPatreon Questions and Answers

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

GM Tips for PlayersManaging Monster Stat BlocksIntegrating Prophecies and Fate into D&D GamesMedium-Length CampaignsPlayers Projecting Micro-AggressionsCommitting Time and Energy to Prep a GameRPG 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:

Show pictures of NPCs. Tie loot to the story of the campaign. Write down improvised NPC names. Note new character features when they level up. The smallest dungeon can have one open path and one secret path. Roll for a monster's motivation. Build handouts to focus both you and your players around the oncoming story. Related ArticlesThe Eight Steps of the Lazy DM �����2023 ReviewPrepping a DungeonHigh Value PrepGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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.

High Value Prep

"Get more out of your RPGs by preparing less."

This is the core motto of Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master which follows with eight steps designed to help you get the most value out of your prep.

There's a near limitless set of activities we could work on when prepping our tabletop roleplaying games. Yet all of us have limited time to focus on that prep.

Where do we focus that time? What activities matter the most?

The eight steps are my best take on the areas most vital for running a great game ��� and even all eight aren't needed for every game. See Choosing the Right Steps for a discussion about which steps help with which types of games.

Today, though, we're going to look at the question of high value prep from a different angle. I don't know that I can help overlapping with some of the steps from Return but I'm going to do my best to take a different look at the problem.

Where is your time best spent when prepping your RPG?

The Characters

Well, shit. I already failed. Reviewing the characters is clearly the first step from Return but boy howdy is it important! The characters are the focal point of the game. They matter because their players matter. No one really cares that deeply about any given NPC but characters are the players' representation in the world. They really matter.

So what should we focus on with them?

Their backgrounds and stories. Who are they? What do they want? Where did they come from? What matters to the players about the backgrounds of their characters? How can we know this? Ask your players. Run campfire tales. Or just ask them about their character and what matters to them. Write it down.

Their mechanics. What do the players enjoy about their characters from a gameplay standpoint? Watch their behavior and see. What do the players get excited about using? What sort of fun mechanical effects do they enjoy? When they leveled up, what new things did they pick up? What new feats or spells or abilities did they choose? Ask them and write it down.

Their treasure wishlist. What sort of loot are they hoping for? What types of magic items make their character complete? Write it down and think about it while prepping your session's treasure hoard.

Character-focused secrets. Yes, another tie to one of the eight steps. When we're thinking about the characters, we can gain some efficiency by thinking about what secrets tied to that character might be revealed in the next game. Character-focused secrets are a great way to make our session richer and tie the characters closer to the game at the same time.

The Hook

Ok, I'm cheating a bit here too. The "Strong Start" is the second step from Return and what is a strong start if not a hook to draw the players into the adventure. But we'll take a different angle on it here. Yes, you want to grab the players and draw them into the game but you also want them to get hooked into the adventure you have planned. Focusing on a strong hook isn't a railroad. They should have choices about how they approach the situation, but you want them to at least follow loosely to whatever you had planned for an evening of adventure.

Think about the hook. Think about where it leads. Think about how it draws them out of our real world and into our fantasy world. How can you tie the hook back to the characters?

The Situation

Situation-based adventures are just plain fun. Pick a location and a map. Add inhabitants. Give the characters a clear goal. Think about potential complications. Set the stage for the adventure and then let it play out at the table.

Situation-based adventures break away from adventures focusing on a story or plot. With plot-based adventures, the story goes in one direction. Character choices have small effects but not big ones. Situations change that dynamic. You don't have any idea what the characters might plan. You might have thoughts about potential directions but nothing concrete enough to write out in an outline or build scene-by-scene.

Setting up a situation also covers other steps from Return including the location, NPCs, monsters, and probably some secrets. In this case, though, we're munging it all together to focus on the overall situation itself.

Spending your time thinking about the situation in your next session is time well spent. The more details you add �����details not dependent on particular actions of the characters �����the better.

The Next Adventure

When you're planning this adventure, think about what you need to put in front of the players so they can select the next adventure. I like to offer three choices for where they might go next. We often want to put these in front of the players when they're done with whatever arc of the adventure they're currently on but before they leave for the night so we know what to prep next. I talk more about this advice in Two Horizons Out. What's in front of us now and what's over the horizon? Where are things going to go next?

What Do You Need for Your Next Game?

What do you need in front of you when you're ready to sit down for your next game? Sit down and think about it. If you can, sit down where you plan to run your game and imagine your friends around the table (physically or virtually). Visualize that game, think about what you wish you had, and work on those ideas. Focus on what you know your players enjoy, what makes your game run smoothly and what you can put down that empowers the players to make interesting choices and show off their cool characters.

Focus on what matters for your game.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Taking Notes During and After your TTRPG Session and The Vile Well ��� Shadowdark Gloaming Session 30 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

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

Iskandar Adventures Volume 1Torrents of the Spellhoarder by ElderbrainRob Heinsoo on Mastering DungeonsScroll for Initiative on Pass Without TraceBob World Builder on Gridded, Abstract Maps, and Theater of the MindNew Poll Results on Combat StylesThe Lost Art of Abstract MapsRunning a Quick Conclusion to a CampaignPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Are Secrets Always True?Upward Beats for DungeonsAppropriate Challenges, Quests, and Adventures for 1st Lvel CharactersTaking Away the Characters' StuffBuying Material Multiple Times on Different PlatformsRPG 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:

Leave blanks. Let your players fill them in with their imaginations.Describe monsters, don't define monsters. A hulking behemoth covered in rough tattoos wielding an axe the size of a carriage door is far scarier than an ogre.Sandwich mechanics with fiction.Write down ten fictional characters you dig. Keep them handy as NPC archetypes. Change appearances and genders to keep them fresh.Use a mixture of theater of the mind, abstract combat, and tactical combat. Keep all the tools in your toolbox.Try using backdrop pictures in your VTT instead of grid-aligned battle maps.Write down the factions of your campaign setting. Roll on this list to flavor items, monuments, encounters, NPCs, quests, or situations.Related ArticlesThe Eight Steps of the Lazy DM �����2023 ReviewFocus Extra Prep Time on the CharactersCalm Pre-Game Nerves with Session-Focused Character HooksGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books 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.