Michael E. Shea's Blog, page 7

Running I6 Ravenloft with Shadowdark RPG

Each year I like to run Castle Ravenloft, either through the original I6 Ravenloft adventure from 1983 or the updated Castle Ravenloft from Curse of Strahd. While I've typically run Ravenloft using 5e, in 2023 I ran it with the excellent "old school feel, modern sensibilities" Shadowdark RPG.

It was a perfect fit.

Shadowdark captures the feeling of dread and horror in Castle Ravenloft better than I've ever seen it. Shadowdark's rules almost perfectly match the mechanics and feeling of 1st edition D&D with a focus on darkness and lighting, flat math, high randomness, and a system of grim horror lurking just inside the surrounding shadows.

Patrons of Sly Flourish get access to a Shadowdark Ravenloft Lazy GM kit including

a one-page handout for players.ten pregen characters.a GM reference sheet to keep track of your card draws, character info, and quick monster conversion stats.printable i6 Ravenloft handouts.

Patrons can find the Shadowdark Ravenloft Lazy GM kit on your Sly Flourish Patreon rewards page under "Adventures".

Experiences from the Shadows of Ravenloft

Here are some primary observations from running Ravenloft with Shadowdark.

I used 5th level pregen characters from Shadowdarklings. They worked perfectly. The characters had enough resources to survive the night but just barely.I generated 10 pregens for five players. We used every one of them. We had a lot of deaths. New characters would pop in as lost adventurers in the castle as needed. I'd recommend not bringing in new characters in the final battle with Strahd. It's fine to bring in new characters everywhere else when they die.The characters definitely want to acquire magic items or use spells to make their weapons magical. Many creatures, including Strahd and other vampires, are immune to non-magical weapons. You might be kind and toss a couple of silvered weapons their way either in the beginning or during the game.I used my abbreviated Ravenloft adventure built for a single session. More on this version later.We used old-school mapping. I would draw a loose diagram of rooms and one of the players drew their own map to keep track of where they went and what options they chose. In more than 10 years of running Ravenloft, I'm still running into new rooms I haven't seen before.We got through a lot of chambers in the three hours of exploring the characters did. Shadowdark makes it easy to move quickly.The characters ran from a lot of encounters. That was a good idea given the adventure's lethality and the timing of the adventure.Introducing Players to Shadowdark

Before our session, I sent out a one-page Shadows of Ravenloft guide to help players understand how this game was going to work. It includes the following list to help 5e players understand how Shadowdark RPG differs from 5e.

The core mechanics and abilities of Shadowdark match 5e. Roll a d20, add a modifier, match a DC.Shadowdark embraces randomness. Die rolls carry a lot of weight. Ability scores are generated 3d6 down the line, and are thus much flatter than standard 5e ability scores. There are no skills ��� only ability checks.Characters have far fewer hit points than in 5e but so do monsters. Damage is a flat die roll, no ability modifier, so damage is lower and more swingy.There are no spell slots or cantrips. Casting spells requires a spellcasting ability check. On a failure, you lose the spell. Most of the time, if you succeed on the check, the spell succeeds ��� targets rarely get saving throws.Torches matter, equipment slots matter, and rations matter ��� Shadowdark has a much greater emphasis on the logistics of dungeon delving.Beware the dark! Torches burn in real time, for one hour. When they go out, the horrors lurking in the dark fall upon you.You���re always in turn order. We go through turns and rounds regardless of what the characters are doing. Spend too much time dorking around and wandering monsters fall upon you.The Rules of Halloween Ravenloft

Beyond using Shadowdark for the game, my single-session Castle Ravenloft game runs differently than a normal adventure. Here's a breakdown of how I run it.

The session is scheduled for five hours. This schedule gives us an hour to socialize and get acclimated before the adventure begins.The game begins with the characters in a carriage heading towards Castle Ravenloft. Madame Eva is in the carriage and does the card reading as in i6 Ravenloft.With the reading done, the characters arrive at the castle and in they go.The characters might meet with Strahd. He offers them the chance to escape Ravenloft with their lives and leave Ireena to him. If they take this deal, he laughs at them and says they'll soon get what they deserve (whatever they choose, he's still going to spend the evening hunting them down in his castle).With their meeting complete, Strahd tells them they may explore his castle with what remains of their lives and he will join them in X time. X being whatever time is left for the session minus 45 minutes.I set a timer for that amount of time and the time counts down. When the time runs out, Strahd appears wherever the characters are and starts the killing. This timer is separate from torch timers.The characters spend their time hunting down the relics of Ravenloft before Strahd shows up.Modifying I6 Ravenloft for Shadowdark RPG

I6 Ravenloft needed very little conversion to run with Shadowdark. Shadowdark's flat math and I6 Ravenloft's 1st edition AD&D rules work well together. Many monsters in Ravenloft exist in Shadowdark or are easily reskinned. Strahd zombies, for example, can use the normal zombie stat block but with twice the hit points and twice the attacks. The witches can use the acolyte or cultist stat blocks.

For Strahd himself, I used the standard vampire stat block. He was plenty hard. I didn't bother giving him spells but you can give him some mage or drow priestess spells to fill him out. Snuff is a great ability for him to use.

If you're being generous, you may want to throw in a couple of silver weapons early in the session so characters have a chance of hitting Strahd if they don't find the sunsword or any other magic weapons.

Modifications to the Relics of Ravenloft

The items in Ravenloft work mostly fine as-is except for the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind which is simply too powerful. If the characters have that relic, they can stop Strahd dead in his tracks without any effort.

Instead, consider having it impose disadvantage on Strahd's attacks, stop or break his charm, and prevent the regeneration from his blood drain. The vampire's blood drain is already a really powerful ability. I limited his regen to 2d6 per round instead of per hit or else he would have completely overpowered the characters.

Maps for Online Play

If you're playing online you can find these excellent Ravenloft battle maps on the DM's Guild.

You can use a lasso-style copy and paste utility to grab the part of the map the characters have seen and avoid showing rooms they haven't yet gotten to. With some practice, this technique is a fast way to show off parts of this massive dungeon. Owlbear Rodeo is another great option for a fast and lightweight virtual tabletop. With Owlbear Rodeo and the Ravenloft battle maps, I was able to get all of Ravenloft loaded up and ready to go in less than ten minutes!

A Fantastic Combination

I really loved running the classic Ravenloft with Shadowdark RPG. It was a perfect match for the old-school feeling of the adventure. I highly recommend it.

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Reiterate lines and veils if your game heads towards potentially sensitive areas like body horror or sexual intimacy. Peoples��� feelings may have changed since your session zero. Stay in turn order, even outside of combat so you give everyone enough time in the spotlight.Give players' roles including quartermaster, cartographer, scribe, and caller.Two key pieces of dungeon-crawling structure: what is the marching order of the characters and who's maintaining light?Build a faction list unique for your campaign including gods, factions, historical figures, and campaign icons. Roll on this list to flavor items, monuments, and NPCs.Roll on behalf of characters when their character wouldn't know if they succeeded or not.Offer multiple paths and decisions as often as you can.Related ArticlesRunning Ravenloft / Curse of Strahd in a Single SessionDelving Into ShadowdarkMy Favorite TTRPG Products of 2023Get More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books The 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.

Find Local Players for Tabletop RPGs

Finding and maintaining a great RPG group remains the biggest hurdle for the RPG hobby. It's the topic of memes all over the internet. With all of our technology and interconnectedness, it hasn't gotten significantly better.

But there's hope.

Today we're going to look at best practices for finding local players for your tabletop RPG. For those of you who play online, do not fret. I plan on a similar article for finding great online players. In the meantime you can read my article on Interviewing New D&D Players for Online Games. Online play is a fantastic way to enjoy RPGs but today we're going to focus on finding local players.

Many suggestions here came from some fantastic discussion on this YouTube community thread. I've consolidated the many responses I received when I asked how GMs best find players for local games.

Where to Find Players

Here's a list of common places people found players for local games:

Local game shopsColleagues at workFamily membersThe local libraryLocal meetups and conventionsSchools and universitiesAsking new friendsFacebook groupsMeetup.com (I don't know if this option is still a good one but it used to be)Local Discord servers or Reddit groupsLocal Adventurer's League meetupsLocal bulletin boards (actual physical boards)Local volunteer groupsRun Games

It's much easier to find players than it is to find gamemasters. GMs are still the rare commodity in this hobby, so if you're willing to GM, it's easier to find players. The last time I saw a poll on it, most GMs became GMs because no one else would take the role. So take it and you'll find it easier to find players.

Try One-Shots

When you're first finding people and inviting people to play, consider running single-session or short-run campaigns in public places. This trial run gives all of you an element of safety and helps you ensure you mesh with players before you commit to a regular game or a long-term campaign.

If you have the chance, you might meet up with potential players, either physically in a public place or online, just to see how well you get along before you sit down to a game but the real test will be gaming itself.

Focus On What They Want to Play

You might have a huge stack of different RPGs you want to play but new players don't know you at all yet. They might know what system they're already comfortable with ��� likely D&D. Start with something familiar to them. Run a few sessions. Show them what kind of DM you are and gauge what kinds of players they are. Once you've built some trust, you can talk to them about running other systems if you want or you might find you're enjoying the game you're running.

If you start off trying to bring players in for a lesser-known game system, it may be harder to find people. They don't know you and they might not know the system, so why jump in?

Worth the Effort

Finding a group to play RPGs is worth the effort. RPGs are important. They build stronger connections between us than most forms of entertainment these days. They matter to peoples' lives. It take time and energy and likely involves some false starts and frustrations to put together a great RPG group, but it's worth it in the end.

Be patient, be persistent, and be hopeful that you'll find an awesome group to enjoy your favorite RPG.

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Monuments of Power

Like the best lazy GM tricks, monuments serve multiple purposes in our fantasy RPGs.

A monument is a physical object sitting in the middle of a room, location, or scene. They draw our players' attention ��� making a location feel real. Monuments can act as vehicles for secrets and clues, markers to remember past locations, and artifacts of power to change up combat encounters.

Today we're going to look at the steps for building out encounter-changing monuments of power.

Step 1: Build a Monument

The best monuments are built from the context of the scene. See Chernbog's Well for an example of an in-world monument with some great environmental effects.

Here's a list of baseline monuments from the Lazy DM's Companion:

SarcophagusObeliskOrbBone pileSkullMegalithPillarsThroneStatuesWellOrreryEffigyArcane circleSpireAltarPitFountainArchwayCageBrazier

Random tables help us shake up ideas for monuments. Often, a monument itself isn't enough so we can tie it to conditions, effects, origins, species, gods, moments of history, and other potential variables. You can find useful tables like these in the Lazy DM's Companion as well. It often helps to build your own custom god, faction, or history tables for your own campaign setting and tie those aspects to a monument.

Step 2: Choose CR and Stats

How powerful is the monument? Use your same encounter benchmarks to determine how difficult a monument might be. You probably don't want a monument of a higher CR than the average level of the characters. It likely shouldn't be the most dangerous thing in the room all on its own. Smaller monuments have lower CRs.

Monuments of power may have different effects on the battle. If monument powers are mostly defensive, they might just make the battle longer. If they're offensive, the difficulty might be much higher and have a greater impact on combat. If they can be turned in favor of the characters, manipulating the monument might shift the battle halfway through.

When you select a CR for the monument, you can choose its AC, DC, and hit points from the Forge of Foes quick monster builder, available in the sample chapter. You also give the monument an attack bonus and damage per round if you need it for the effects it produces.

Monuments are immune to psychic and poison damage and probably all status effects. You might give them resistances, vulnerabilities, or immunities depending on the type of monument as well.

Some characters want to bash monuments in which case they attack its AC and do damage like normal. Others may want to perform ability checks to disrupt or turn a monument. In those cases, its AC can act as a DC.

For example, a CR 5 monument has a AC / DC of 15 and 95 hit points. A successful intelligence (arcana) check might inflict 35 damage. You may want to base the amount of damage the character does with an ability check on the damage it otherwise would do in a round. A 9th level character, for example, can likely inflict 35 damage in a single turn so that makes sense.

You might include multiple smaller monuments instead of one single big one. Reduce their CR appropriately for their number and effects.

Step 3: Choose Effects

Monuments of power radiate powerful encounter-changing effects. Here's a list of twenty potential powers a monument might have.

Offers advantage to particular creatures on attacks and saving throws.Increases damage to particular creature types.Reduces damage taken by particular creature types.Unlocks particular abilities of creatures.Gives access to particular spells they wouldn���t otherwise have.Obscures vision.Prevents or reduces healing.Prevents teleportation.Acts as a vessel for extra spell concentration.Has an ongoing protective spell effect.Offers regeneration.Animates dead minions.Grants temporary hit points to nearby creatures.Grants resistance or immunity to a specific damage type.Gives a +2 bonus to attack rolls to certain creatures.Adds damage to the attacks of certain enemies.Grants the ability to fly.Summons and controls a powerful creature.Offers legendary resistance and shrugging off other debilitating effects.Radiates damage.

Some of these monument effects can protect bosses. Others can throw out damage. You choose what power you want to add to a monument based on the in-world situation and what would be fun for the battle.

You can also tie spell effects to monuments. Here are a few spell effects that work well when tied to a monument:

Globe of invulnerabilityFire shieldSpirit guardiansSpiritual weaponDarknessStone skinProtection from goodGreater invisibilitySilenceAntimagic fieldStep 4: Ensure They're Fun

The line between a fun monument and a tedious monument is thin. The wrong monument with the wrong power can feel like a slog instead of an interesting tactical decision in a big battle. Ensure the monuments you create add to the fun instead of just slowing everything down. In particular, avoid monuments that take away agency. Monuments should add interesting choices to a battle, not take choices away. If a monument is too powerful, the characters have no choice but to go dork with it. But a monument that gives villains an edge creates a choice for the players ��� do they just bash the boss or go disable the monument?

One great trick is to let players reverse a monument instead of destroy it. Looking down the list of potential effects, ask if there's a way the characters can channel it in their favor instead of just destroying it.

Shaking Up Big Battles

Our 5e games remain interesting session after session because every battle is different. The environment changes. The mix of monsters changes. The situation changes. And with monuments in our bag of tricks, we can change them even further. Our bosses become harder. The characters have to move around. Extra variables create battles completely unique from one game to the next.

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Scenes ��� The Catch-all Step of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Back the Kickstarter for the City of Arches, my high-fantasy city sourcebook for lazy GMs! Check out the 42 page playable sample and support an awesome new book from Sly Flourish!

The eight steps for game prep from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master include:

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

Obviously, with so many different types of games and many different adventure models, these steps are intended to flex and shift as you need them.

One step in particular holds a lot of weight and contains a lot of flexibility: outlining potential scenes.

This step can act as a catch-all for many different things depending on what you need for your session. This includes:

Adventure hooks ��� what draws the characters into this session's adventure?Forks and options �����what paths might be open for the characters in this session?Five scenes ��� What scenes might happen in the game? You probably need about one scene for every 45 minutes of gameplay. Writing down this handful of short scene descriptions is the default use for this step.Potential shifts in the story �����where might the world move to in the short-term if certain things happen?Next steps �����what options do you want to put in front of the players this session to figure out where they're going in the next session?Steps required to accomplish a task ��� what do the characters need to do to accomplish a goal? This works well with the three of five keys idea.

You don't need all of these things for any given session, of course. Sometimes the hooks are already firmly planted. Sometimes there aren't clear forks or there are so many forks (like when exploring a dungeon) that you don't bother to break them out into scenes. Sometimes you know where the characters are going next so you don't need to outline the next steps.

A Flexible Catch-All

Use the "scenes" step to apply whatever glue you need to hold your session together and give you what you need to prepare the next one. There's no fixed format for this step (or really any of the eight steps). Like secrets serving you, this "scenes" step serves you to help you get your hand around the session you're going to run and helps you get what you need to keep your game going in the right direction.

And, of course, you can omit it completely. None of the eight steps are mandatory. Each step is there to help you get your hands around what you need to run an enjoyable session for your friends. If a step doesn't serve that purpose, skip it. If you feel like you already have what you need, toss out anything else.

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

The Flee Action ��� A 13th Age Rule You Can Use Today

Back the Kickstarter for the City of Arches, my high-fantasy city sourcebook for lazy GMs! Check out the 42 page playable sample and support an awesome new book from Sly Flourish!

13th Age is an awesome fantasy roleplaying game built by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet as their love letter to D&D. There's much to love in this book but today we're going to focus on one feature:

The Flee action.

Fleeing in D&D is a problem. Monsters get you locked down and by the time you know you should flee, two of your characters are down and the others are going to take a mountain of opportunity attacks if they try to run. Players already hate running from a battle, but often by the time they think they need to, they mechanically can't. By the time players realize they need to run, it's already too late.

13th Age has an elegant solution for this dilemma.

The Flee Action

Here's the flee action from the 13th Age SRD (known as the Archmage Engine):

Flee: Fleeing is a party action. On any PC���s turn, any player can propose that all the characters flee the fight. If all players agree, they successfully retreat, carrying any fallen heroes away with them. The party suffers a campaign loss. The point of this rule is to encourage daring attacks and to make retreating interesting on the level of story rather than tactics.

In short, if your group says they want to run, they run. They get away, carrying any downed characters with them �����but at a story cost.

This is an easy rule for handling retreats ��� something players surely want to avoid but one which doesn't penalize them for mechanical idiosyncrasies like being locked down by potential opportunity attacks or dropped to zero hit points. It isn't a matter of the tactics or mechanics that let them flee����� it's a matter of the story and what it means in the fiction.

The Cost of Retreating

Retreating has a cost. But we don't want this cost to be too severe or we'll still steer players away from the option of retreating. Instead, we want this cost to be interesting. We want it to move the story forward, just in a different direction. It doesn't end the situation, it begins a new one.

Here are ten example campaign shifts when the characters flee from combat:

A ritual succeeds and a portal to the hells is opened.An important NPC is killed and the politics of the city becomes chaotic.The villains acquire or complete the construction of a powerful artifact.An unearthly horror is released into the world.A new cult forms around a creature the characters didn't defeat.Armies of disparate warbands now convene around a central warlord.One of the two ships the characters had in their possession is destroyed.The characters find themselves in darker and danker chambers below the site of their exit.Prisoners the characters hoped to rescue have become thralls.The Cult of the Black Harbinger activates the obelisks and discovers the doorway of the Black Cathedral.Planning Costs Ahead of Time

When we're prepping a big dangerous battle, or a series of battles, we can ask ourselves:

"What happens if the characters lose this fight?"

It's one thing to assume the characters all die but what if they escape and the villain's plan moves forward? Fleeing from a battle shouldn't be the end of the story, it should be a new and interesting beginning.

Tell Your Players

The flee action isn't helpful if your players don't know they can do it. You may want to add it to your session zero checklist or your list of house rules and describe it as an option before the players need it. That way they always know they have this feature available to them if they want it.

If you don't think calling it the "flee" action will sit well with your players, call it the "retreat" action instead so they don't feel so bad using it.

An Easy Way to Focus Fleeing on the Story

This house rule for fleeing can be a great addition to our games. Instead of focusing on avoiding opportunity attacks or saving downed characters, shift the conversation back to the story itself. Let you and your players find a new path and a new angle in the ever-changing tales we share at the table.

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Track magic item rewards per character. Don���t let a character fall significantly behind. Let random treasure tools inspire your own parcels and rewards. Keep character names in front of you. Track turns even outside of combat. Keep the lazy encounter benchmark on hand to tell you if a fight is way too difficult or not. A battle may be hard if the total of monster CRs is greater than one quarter of total character levels, or half of total character levels if the characters are 5th level or above. Prep handouts and secret villain notes. Use them to keep yourself and your players focused. Clarify goals in open situations, heists, or infiltration adventures. Give characters a home base. Related ArticlesThe Heroic SparkTell, Don't ShowHigh Value PrepGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books The 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 Perfect Distance �����25 Feet (or 10 Meters)

Back the Kickstarter for the City of Arches, my high-fantasy city sourcebook for lazy GMs! Check out the 42 page playable sample and support an awesome new book from Sly Flourish!

"How close are the gnolls?"

"25 feet."

Understanding distance when running combat in the theater of the mind can be tricky if players have their heads still wired around 5-foot-per-square distances in gridded combat. It's hard to break this focus on spatial representation, so GMs often find themselves answering a lot of questions about distance.

How close or how far a creature is from a character isn't the real question they're asking.

"Can I get up the gnoll and hit it with my hammer?"

That's the question they're asking.

"Can I blast it with eldritch blast?"

Players want to know if they can do stuff. The distances don't really matter.25And we want* the characters to do stuff. So we have an easy default answer.

25 feet.

25 feet is a perfect distance for lots of things. It's within range of just about every ranged attack. It's within the distance of any character's move.

It's also not yet in melee. So characters can move without taking opportunity attacks. 25 feet is the perfect distance to give characters options for just about anything.

Next time you're running combat in the theater of the mind and a player asks you how close or far something is. Instead, think about the real question they're asking �����can they do the thing they want to do?

Yes.

How close are they?

25 feet.

For our Metric-Using Friends

If you're using the metric system for your game, treat 5 feet as 2 meters. It's close enough and as long as you're consistent across the rest of the game, the extra meter won't matter. Most characters, for example, move 12 meters in turn.

How close are the gnolls? 10 meters.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted the following YouTube videos:

City of Arches ��� The Obsidian SkullLet's Make a Character with Level Up Advanced 5eUnblurred 2024 D&D Player's Handbook Deep DiveLast 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:

Amazing Encounters and DungeonsThe Perilous VoidFollow-Up on Blurring 2024 D&D PHB VideosMike on Morrus's Unofficial Tabletop Podcast on Blurgate and Project Sigil - the D&D 3D VTTMore Character Builds with Tales of the Valiant and ShadowdarkWOTC Designers on Eldritch LorecastTales of the Valiant on Herolab and ShardBiomes of the City of ArchesPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Bifurcation of the Hobby Between 3d Online and Tabletop PlayHandling Simultaneous EventsIs a D&D Beyond Content Subscription Service Acceptable?Which To Buy ��� D&D 2024 PHB or Shadowdark?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 the characters and players clear goals and meaningful options in open-ended situation-based adventures. Gauge the types of interactions players are interested in while running situation-based adventures.Work with players to coordinate their activities in larger open situations.Prep a handful of solid NPCs the characters can meet in social interactions.Steer players towards the fun even if you have to just tell them where it is.Write notes during your game. Keep track of what's important to the players.After your game, evaluate what worked well and what could be improved.Related ArticlesHigh Value PrepHow to Survive a Digital D&D FutureBeing a Good Steward of the TTRPG HobbyGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterPatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books The 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.

Being a Good Steward of the TTRPG Hobby

Back the Kickstarter for the City of Arches, my high-fantasy city sourcebook for lazy GMs! Check out the 42 page playable sample and support an awesome new book from Sly Flourish!

On a previous episode of Mastering Dungeons, Teos Abadia and Graham Ward answered an excellent question about whether Hasbro / Wizards of the Coast was being a good steward of D&D.

Graham turned the question around, asking whether we were being good stewards �����a far more useful question. We can't control what Hasbro does with D&D. But we can influence how we promote our love of tabletop roleplaying games to others.

Embrace the Diversity of the Hobby

I think the most important thing we can do to be good stewards of the hobby is recognizing that there's no one right way to enjoy tabletop RPGs. Embrace the wide range of games we play and how we play them. Embrace the diversity of the people playing them. Embrace the breadth of books and accessories we have available to add to our games. Embrace the wealth of knowledge and experiences people in the hobby share. Embrace the different ways people come to the hobby.

Being a Good Steward

What are some specifics for being a good steward of the hobby? We each get to decide, but I'll offer some thoughts:

Welcome new members. Show them how awesome and important the hobby can be. Teach them how to play. Listen to them.Get to the fun fast. Lower the barriers to play. Start small and simple.Teach what players want to learn. If they want to learn D&D, teach them D&D. Don't steer them away from the game that drew them in.Show them the breadth of the hobby. Talk about different games. Talk about different supplements. Expose them to the many excellent publishers and products that exist in the hobby.Focus on what matters. Show people how these games help us enjoy a fun and creative time with our friends.Always be learning. Learn from players' new experiences. Expand your view of the hobby. Recognize when your preconceptions might be wrong.Things to Avoid

What are some things we can avoid so we're continuing to be good stewards of the hobby?

Don't gatekeep. Players and GMs don't need to prove themselves to enjoy the hobby. They can enjoy this hobby many different ways from our own. Don't alienate people who come into the hobby through avenues different than yours. Someone who starts playing because they love watching Critical Role or Dimension 20 isn't a tourist, they're a fellow member of the hobby.Don't bash other games. Don't promote one game by tearing down another. Let people choose the games that speak to them even if their chosen system isn't for you.Avoid alienating jargon. Describe games using real words people understand.Don't brag. Avoid throwing around how long you've been playing. Someone playing for only a few months is just as valuable to the hobby as someone playing for decades.Don't promote a single "right" way. There are many right ways to enjoy the hobby �����don't assume yours is the only right way.Keep an Open Mind

Recognize that the way we enjoy the game doesn't have to be the same as those we talk to. This hobby evolved continually over fifty years. People of all different ages, backgrounds, experiences, drives, and motivations come at it from all different angles. They enjoy different things. They have different experiences.

Learn from new players as much as you teach them.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos including Golgoron Rises ��� the Intro Scenario for the City of Arches, Let's Build a Character with the 2024 D&D Player's Handbook and the Temple of Saint Terragnis.

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!Victoriana 5e by Cubicle 7WOTC Made Me Blur My D&D 2024 VideosShadowdark Wins Four ENNIES!Survive a Future Digital D&DCity of Arches Campaign OutlinesPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Maps and Mapping At the TableWhat Makes the City of Arches Unique?Awarding Treasure to Specific CharactersRPG 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:

Even if characters chase a red herring, give them something valuable for their effort.If a character fails the save to fall a great distance, give another character a chance to succeed on a check to catch them before they fall.If you use music in your game, build playlists for relaxing, sinister, and combat music.Let your players know if they're at risk of missing something awesome.Add one secret tied to each character's story during your prep.Mix up monster types. Don't fill crypts with nothing but undead.Jot down three noteworthy features for larger locations. Use one feature for smaller rooms or chambers.Related ArticlesLetters to New and Veteran Dungeon MastersHow to Survive a Digital D&D FutureD&D Beyond, Wizards of the Coast, 5e, and YouGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterPatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books Lazy DM's Companion Forge of Foes Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Locations

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

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

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