Michael E. Shea's Blog, page 9

Awarding Treasure and Magic Items in 5e

Looking for a good system for managing treasure in your fantasy RPGs? Use a mixture of random treasure and hand-selected magic items that fit the characters and their players' desires based on wish lists. Roll random treasure parcels and customize which parcels to offer and what's in each parcel based on what brings the most fun to the group. It's quick, easy, and provides a high value for our game.

How much treasure should you reward? A couple of RPG community members did great work breaking down how much treasure one can expect across a campaign. DM David did so in his article "What is the typical amount of treasure awarded in a fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign?". So did Paul Hughes and Andy Pearlman. If you want to dive deep into the math, these articles have you covered.

Like many aspects of 5e and RPGs, I argue it's better to hang on with a loose grip and not worry too much about the math.

How Often?

The breakdowns linked above, and books like the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide, and Level Up Advanced 5e's Trials and Treasure recommend offering one to three hoards per character level. That feels right to me too.

I like to prepare one hoard, with a couple of potential permanent magic items for each session. I may not give them out, but I like to have them on hand.

Drop in hoards when they feel right and when the opportunity arises in the story of the game.

How Much?

Chapter 7 of the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide has fine tables for rolling treasure hoards. Choose the challenge rating of the biggest monster defeated or pick a CR based on the overall danger of the quest (or even just an equivalent CR to the level of the characters if you have nothing else to base it on) and roll on the appropriate tables.

The equivalent random treasure tables in the Trials and Treasure book for Level Up Advanced 5e are better but adding all the CRs of the defeated monsters isn't as straightforward as focusing on the highest CR monster. You can half the CR values in A5e's tables and use them the same way as the DMG tables and things work fine.

Online random treasure tools often work better than rolling lots of dice. It's fast to roll a treasure hoard using tools like Donjon's Treasure Generator, the Level Up Advanced 5e Random Treasure Generator, or the Lazy GM's Random Generator (a reward for Sly Flourish Patrons). Because it's so fast, you can roll a bunch of hoards and pick the one that best fits the situation in the game and the fun of your group. Which random magic items look cool for the current situation? Does the hoard have too many or too few consumable magic items? Keep rolling until you like what you see.

We're not beholden to the results of such random treasure hoards. Roll again or roll on individual magic item tables to drop in specific items. Feel free to pick items directly for your characters if random rolls aren't bringing up things they want or can use. Sometimes, though, strange oddities can be used in interesting ways so it's ok to toss them into the pile.

Add Items from Wish Lists

Ask your players what kinds of magic items they're interested in for their character. Write this wish list down in your notes and review it when reviewing the characters for your next game (step 1 of the eight steps from Return). Then, if the time feels right, drop in an item for one of the characters, ensuring you're keeping track of who got what so no one's left out.

Add Story and Campaign Flavor

The "Special Features" tables on page 142 and 143 of chapter 7 in the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide offer fantastic ways to customize magic items based on the item's creators or intended users, history, minor properties, and quirks. These tables inspired my "condition", "description", and "origin" tables on page 6 of the Lazy DM's Companion and the "origin", "condition", and "spell effects" tables on page 13 and 14 of the Lazy DM's Workbook.

You can also build your own faction or origin table to flavor magic items based on the campaign world you're running ��� either homebrew or published. Here's an example of some factions of Midgard:

Veles the Great SerpentFreyr and Freyja, the Twin Northern GodsLoki the Northern Trickster GodSif the Northern Sword MaidenThor the Northern ThundererWotan the Northern Rune FatherKhors the Crossroads Lord of the SunLada the Crossroad Goddess of Dawn, Love, and MercyPerun the Crossroad God of War and ThunderRava the Crossroad Gear GoddessVolund the Crossroad Master of Fire and AnvilAddrikah the Mother of MadnessBoreas the Devouring WindChernobog the Black GodThe Goat of the WoodsThe Hunter, God of Relentless Pursuit, Skill, and Primal InstinctMammon the Lord of GreedMarena the Red Goddess of WinterVardesain the Ghoul-God of the Bottomless MawThe White Goddess of Bright Pain

When you're playing in a campaign world, build your own faction list like the one above to flavor your own monuments, one-use magic items, weapons, and armor.

Tie your custom magic items to your secrets and clues so your players discover more of the world around them while enjoying their new fine loot.

The Lazy GM's Random Generator

Sly Flourish Patrons get access to the Lazy GM's Random Generator. This tool is a generator for monuments, one-use magic items, treasure, quests, NPCs, and more. Each component can be flavored with over ten different campaign worlds and include spells from the 2014 Player's Handbook, Level Up Advanced 5e, and Kobold Press's Deep Magic books. It's a great resource to help you build fantastic situations for your games. Join the Patreon and get access right now.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Tier-Ranking D&D and RPG Campaigns and Building a Faction List .

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:

WOTC Announces the Upcoming Release of 2024 Rules in the Creative CommonsBlack Flag SRD Released Under ORCTales of the Valiant Released to BackersOracle Monster Generator by Nord Games13th Age version 2Nine Perfect Things for Your D&D GamesWhy Cults Are AwesomeWhy Open Licenses Matter to GMsPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Games Getting Too Complex Above 10th LevelGetting Players Excited for Homebrewed CampaignsWhat Drains Your Energy In Your Games?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:

Read over your material just before running your game. Give players plenty of time to build characters together at your session zero. Run one scene to pull characters into the campaign at the end of your session zero. Define clearly what sets your campaign apart to get players excited to play there. Give players a choice of their group���s primary faction or patron. Use ranked-choice voting to determine the preferred patron. Show pictures of important NPCs. Build plots and conspiracies through the actions of NPCs. Related ArticlesThe Stories of Magic ItemsPrepping a DungeonThe Eight Steps of the Lazy DM �����2023 ReviewGet 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 Is 5e?

The term 5e defines compatibility between the products of hundreds of publishers and the 2014 version of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game �����known as 5th edition D&D.

In early 2023, Wizards of the Coast, the current holder of the D&D brand and developer of D&D 5th edition (as well as 3rd and 4th editions) released the core rules of D&D 5e under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license in the 5.1 System Reference Document. I know it sounds boring as hell but it's super valuable and important for the whole tabletop roleplaying game hobby.

With this release, 5e became an open platform for roleplaying games. 5e is like Linux ��� a platform usable by anyone to build any 5e-based RPG game or supplement they want without needing permission from or paying royalties to Wizards of the Coast.

So now 5e means something different.

I argue the term "5e" no longer means "the 5th edition of D&D" but now acts as a stand-alone term defining compatibility between thousands of 5e RPG products.

For example, by early 2025 there will be at least four different core 5e systems:

2014 D&D by Wizards of the Coast2024 D&D by Wizards of the CoastTales of the Valiant by Kobold PressLevel Up Advanced 5e by EN World publishing

One could argue the excellent old-school-style RPG Shadowdark is actually a lightweight 5e variant (it references the 5.1 SRD in its core book). The French-produced Fateforge is another stand-alone 5e RPG. The Iskandar Player's Handbook by MT Black is a fully self-contained 5e player's guide for $4. I'm likely missing others.

D&D is the most popular version of 5e by probably two orders of magnitude but that popularity doesn't matter for you and your own game. You can choose whatever version of 5e meets your preferences, or mix and match from all of them to build the game you want to run for your players.

Beyond the several different core 5e systems, there are thousands of 5e compatible supplements with character options, spells, magic items, monsters, adventures, campaigns, world books, and alternate sub-systems produced over the past ten years. You can use these products to change your own version of 5e any way you wish, all built on this open 5e RPG platform.

You can also modify 5e yourself however you wish. Homebrewing is a time-honored tradition going back 50 years.

So what is 5e?

5e is your system. Use the vast library of 5e products to build your own version of the game and enjoy it as you wish with your friends around the table.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Choosing the First Adventure that Works and Horned Devil Bakis ��� Shadowdark Gloaming Session 28 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:

Shadow of the Weird Wizard Impressions by Gnome StewWOTC Stops Selling A La Carte Items on D&D BeyondBob World Builder D&D and WOTC Popularity Survey ResultsDelve by Bob World BuilderRegnum Rattus the Rats in the Cellar4,000+ DM Tips in the Creative CommonsThe GMs Miscellany by Raging SwanBeing a Good Steward of the RPG HobbyPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Should a New DM Run Fateforged?How to Expose Midgard and Big Campaign Settings to Players?Handling a TPK in WitchlightRPG 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:

At the end of your campaign, ask the characters to describe where their characters are one year later. Write down and share their stories. Ask players what they want and where they want their characters to go as you close out your campaign. Have players build characters together at a session zero so they can build their characters off of one another. Mash up multiple encounters into one big fun complicated scene. Build encounters around an interesting set piece or monument to define the physical location and give players something to play off of. Keep track of current and previous NPCs in a big list with a name and a few descriptive words. Roll a d20 to see how the lives of off-screen NPCs have been going. The higher the roll, the better things have been going for them.Related ArticlesWhat 5e in the Creative Commons Means to YouD&D Beyond, Wizards of the Coast, 5e, and YouMy 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.

Two Free and Fantastic Resources for Online TTRPG Play

Here are two free resources to help you run your games online.

Owlbear RodeoLevel Up A5e's Monster TokensOwlbear Rodeo

Owlbear Rodeo is my favorite virtual tabletop. It's lightweight, fast, easy to use, reasonably priced (including a free tier), and system agnostic. Players don't have to create accounts to join in. You can run it on a phone. It's quick to get a map up and running with a fog of war and some default tokens. It also works for any RPG, whether it's Shadowdark, Level Up Advanced 5e, Numenera, or Blades in the Dark.

Owlbear Rodeo switched from a more lightweight locally-hosted version 1 to a full cloud-based version 2. It can take some re-learning to make it just as fast and useful as it was in the old version but I believe it is just about as easy as it was once you get things wired right.

I recorded a YouTube tutorial on Owlbear Rodeo for Lazy GMs intended to help people get their hands around all the features and how to use them easily during play.

Owlbear Rodeo includes some awesome default tokens representing monsters and characters but you may want a better set of tokens to represent most monsters in fantasy roleplaying games. That's where this next resource comes in.

Level Up Advanced 5e's Free Monster Tokens

EN World publishing released a full set of monster tokens representing core 5e monsters from the A5e Monstrous Menagerie for free. It includes 178 tokens representing all the core monsters you're likely to find in the D&D Monster Manual or other 5e core monster books.

They work really well when imported into Owlbear Rodeo. In order to import them most effectively, however, you'll want to do a few things:

Create a new collection and import tokens into this collection so you don't flood your main collection with nearly 200 tokens. You can import the tokens all at once. If desired, set the default text of the token set to "Copy Image Name". It automatically removes file extensions so you'll get a nice token name like "Troglodyte" or "Demon, Balor" under the token. If you'd rather add the names yourself, you can skip this step.If you do decide to use token names, select the right font size. I like 36 so the name is easy to see.

This set gives you a huge collection of tokens for monsters in Owlbear Rodeo �����a collection you can use in any game you plan to run.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Choosing the Right 5e Stat Block and Myre Castle Ruins - Shadowdark Gloaming Session 27 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:

Roll20 and Discord IntegrationAlphastream on the Summit One Year Later Return of the Witch King Adventures for Shadow of the Demon LordKobold Press Offers Sourcebook Subscriptions on ShardTales of the Valiant Monsters Hitting Too Hard?Forge of Foes Monster Stats ToolUse an Oracle DiePatreon Questions and Answers

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

Managing One Year Later MontagesSticking With the City of ArchesHelp Players Tap Into Their EmotionsRPG 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:

Help every character shine. Lean into the characters��� BS.Focus on enjoying spending time with your friends. Run lots of monsters sub-optimally. Add flavor and story every turn in combat. Set up monsters to show off character abilities. Build awesome boss fights with a variety of monsters, waves of combatants, cool environmental effects, and wild terrain. Related ArticlesOwlbear Rodeo: A Simple D&D Virtual TabletopSeven Fantastic Tools to Play RPGs OnlineCrafting Lazy Monster Tokens for D&DGet 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.

The Heroic Spark

Here's an easy house rule to streamline the integration of a new character into an existing group. When the new character shows up, state:

"Looking into their eyes, you see their heroic spark ��� noting them as a stalwart and trustworthy fellow adventurer."

This statement bypasses 20 minutes of narrowed-eyed suspicion, threats, and in-world paranoia as your current characters decide whether to trust this new adventurer to join their group. You, as players, all know exactly why this character suddenly showed up deep in the dungeon.

Player characters are special. They have an actual human being behind them ��� one seeking to make their character the central focus of their take on the story. They're not just some disposable NPC or monster the characters happened across.

We can clarify the heroic spark and get back into the action instead of wasting time building trust in a group when we all know how it's going to end ��� of course we trust them. They're the player character of Pat, whose former character got thrown off of a 150 foot deep cliff into a pool of boiling mud. We know why they're here. Let's skip the trust building. You look into this new character's eyes and can see them as a stalwart and trustworthy fellow adventurer.

Unless everyone agrees, your game shouldn't hinge on these sorts of inter-party trust questions. If this sort of trust-building is part of the game, discuss it with your players during your session zero.

Seeing the heroic spark also doesn't bypass the need for the character to introduce themselves, talk about their background and goals, and give the other players an understanding of who they are and what they want. That's important too.

But let's bypass the tedium of taught bowstrings and intimidation checks and get the new character into the group.

Show characters the heroic spark of new companions joining their group and get back to your adventures.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on What Is 5e and Marin's Hold Bloodbath ��� Lazy RPG 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:

PJ Coffey's Crafting Heritages and Cultures CC-Released DocCampaign Builder - Dungeons and Ruins13th Age 2e PreviewSecret of Summervine VillaCynthia Williams Leaves HasbroBuild Your Resilient TTRPG HobbyMatt Coleville on Long-form versus Short-Form AdventuresThe MtG Hobby Compared to the D&D HobbyFantastic Short-Form Adventure PublishersPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Villains and NPCs Responding to High Level CharactersWarlords Are in 5eRepeating Descriptions and Getting Players to Pay AttentionRPG 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:

Skip scenes or locations if there���s no chance to learn something interesting or useful in them. Spend time building and planning your big boss encounters. Clarify choices. Use the opportunity at your game to step away from real life and enjoy tales of high fantasy with your friends.Drop in potions or concoctions that let characters receive the equivalent of a long rest. Challenge high level characters with waves of combatants ��� hordes of low challenge monsters, a few even-power monsters, and huge heavy hitters. Let players learn about changing circumstances through the dialog of their opponents.Related ArticlesBuild from the Characters OutwardsAsk Players to Describe New Character AbilitiesFocus Extra Prep Time on the CharactersGet 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 Adventures �����Mashups and the Undefined

Over the past couple of months I've written articles defining adventure types ��� how we prep them, how we run them, what pitfalls we might run into, and how to mitigate those pitfalls. These articles include:

Dungeon CrawlsInfiltrations and HeistsInvestigations and MysteriesOverland Exploration and TravelMissions and Quest ChainsDefenseRoleplay and IntrigueCombatMashups or the Undefined

Robin Laws's book Adventure Crucible ��� Building Stronger Scenarios for any RPG inspired my thoughts on this topic.

Know the Rules then Break the Rules

Now that we've defined adventure types, it's time to throw them away.

You see, these structures often don't line up with the actual adventures we run at our table. Our adventures might span across multiple structures, or they might not be defined by any structure at all.

Our romp through Ironfang Keep might feel like a dungeon crawl, a heist, or an investigation. Our traversal across the ghoul city of Vandekhul might feel like travel or intrigue. Our battle against Camazotz might start as a major combat session but turn into roleplaying.

Adventures just don't fit cleanly into any given adventure structure.

So why did you bother to read all those articles? Why did I bother to write them?

Because understanding adventure structures can still help us run awesome games.

Actual adventures and sessions might not fit perfectly into one specific adventure structure, but when we break down the elements of these adventure structures, they give us a possible framework to build off of. They help us identify pitfalls and mitigation strategies for the elements of our game that do fit.

Which Structure Best Fits?

When preparing or running our game, try to identify which structure or structures best fit our game and use the preparation, execution framework, and tips for pitfall mitigations that make sense for the adventure you're running. Dungeon crawls, heists, defense, roleplaying, and combat situations can all come up during our campaigns or even in the middle of a session. The structures tell us how we might switch modes and run that style of game.

If we're not sure what we need when prepping our game, we can ask ourselves which structure best fits what we're looking at and aim our prep around that structure. Sometimes finding a suitable structure means taking a fuzzy concept and defining it within the bounds of the structure. "This situation at the castle feels like both defense and intrigue �����let me look at those structures."

Absorb Adventure Types, Then Let Them Go

The more proficient we are running adventures, the more we can absorb the concepts for these adventure types and then set them aside when we're running adventures outside the bounds of any one structure.

Adventure structures help identify different modes of play in our fantasy tabletop roleplaying games. Like many generalities, they often break down when you apply them to the actual games we run at our table.

Yet we don't have to throw away the underlying adventure structure concepts in how we prep, how we run, the pitfalls we might face, and how to mitigate those pitfalls. Those concepts hold up even if the defined shapes of an adventure type doesn't perfectly fit the adventure we run.

Build Your Own Frameworks

These articles offer one perspective on adventure types. Through your own experiences you might find other adventure structures or choose to redefine them yourself. Your own steps for preparing, running, identifying pitfalls, and mitigating pitfalls might be far more useful to you than the advice in this series of articles. That's fine. That's awesome. Define your own adventure structures. Ask yourself what you need to prep, what you need to run them, what pitfalls you often run into, and how you can mitigate those pitfalls.

Find the structures that best fit your actual adventures and use the tools within to run awesome games.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Using the 8 Lazy DM Steps at the Table and Swamp King Fronk ��� Lazy RPG 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:

Robert Schwalb on La Taberna de RolDM David Compares MCDM, Daggerheart, and 5eWandering Tavern by Homie and the DudeInfestation at Devil's Glade by Jeff StevensRestless Encounters by Inkwell Ideas13th Age Megabundle on Bundle of HoldingDyson Logos Commercial Map PacksCairn 2 Character Builder Open SourcedReadings and Reflections with Sly Flourish PodcastJP Coovert's video on Indie RPGsSplit Up Your PrepPatreon Questions and Answers

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

How Often to Level Characters?What to Prep When You Have a Long Time Accounting for High Power Characters with the Lazy Encounter BenchmarkRPG 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 characters and players a warning when they���re facing a foe beyond their capabilities. Use rolls for distance and motivation to change up random encounters. Improvise connections between random encounters and the larger story through secrets and clues. Build your own 5e from the sources that bring you the coolest options for your game. Clarify options and choices. Print maps and write down one- or two-word descriptions right on the map. Build encounters, secrets, NPCs, monsters, and treasure from the characters outward.Related ArticlesRunning Dungeon CrawlsRunning Defense AdventuresRunning Roleplay and Intrigue AdventuresGet 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 Combat-Focused Adventures

This article is one in a series where we look at types of adventures and examine

how we prepare them.how we run them.what pitfalls we might run into.how we avoid these pitfalls.

These articles include:

Dungeon CrawlsInfiltrations and HeistsInvestigations and MysteriesOverland Exploration and TravelMissions and Quest ChainsDefenseRoleplay and IntrigueCombatMashups or the Undefined

Your own adventure types and how you run them may differ from mine. That's totally fine. There are many right ways to enjoy this game.

Robin Laws's book Adventure Crucible ��� Building Stronger Scenarios for any RPG inspired my thoughts on this topic.

For a far more in-depth look at running monsters in combat encounters, please check out Forge of Foes, our book on building and running fantastic monsters for your 5e games.

Understanding Combat Adventures

Good fantasy RPG sessions most often include mixtures of exploration, roleplay, and combat. Adventures or sessions focusing on only one pillar of play may bypass players' preferences for the other elements.

But, on occasion, we find ourselves with a session focused almost exclusively on combat.

Completely combat-focused sessions may occur when characters face a big battle at the beginning of the session and we know this battle is going to take up most of the session. Other combat-focused sessions might happen when the characters face a gauntlet of battles, one right after the other, whether they're exploring a dangerous dungeon, defending a location, or otherwise find themselves with a series of battles staged in sequence.

Combat-focused sessions should be rare. The best sessions include scenes and situations with opportunities for roleplaying, exploration, and combat. We want situations where the characters make meaningful decisions to move the story forward.

But combat-focused sessions do happen and thus are worth examining.

Preparing Combat Sessions

During prep, GMs can prepare combat sessions by

understanding how these combat encounters begin and where they occur.deciding on a style for combat. Are you going to run it in the theater of the mind, on a combat battle mat, or run abstract combat?choosing a goal for the combat encounter. Sometimes the battle isn't all about killing the monsters but achieving another outcome.selecting monsters for each combat encounter. Rich combat encounters often include two or more different monster types with some synergies between them�������big brutes up front and nasty ranged attackers in the back for example.choosing the environment surrounding the encounter. What larger environmental effects might be in play in the combat arena?selecting interesting terrain features the characters and monsters might use (see Anatomy of an Environmental Effect ��� Chernobog's Well)planning potential shifts in the encounter. What events might change the course of the battle?outlining the transitions between each combat encounter. What takes the characters from battle A to battle B to battle C?building out, drawing, or preparing your battle map ��� either digital or physical.gathering miniatures, tokens, or digital assets if you're playing online.Running Combat Sessions

For 5e games and other fantasy d20 games, combat tends to be the most well-articulated and refined style of gameplay. For combat-focused sessions, GMs need only start the session and get into the first battle. Between combat encounters ensure the sinew is there to connect one battle to the next. The rest falls on the rules of combat for our chosen system.

Depending on the complexity of the encounters, the number of characters, and their level, combat encounters may be easy or difficult to run. The higher level the characters �����the more power and capability they bring to the battlefield ��� the trickier it can be to maintain a consistent challenge. The dials of monster difficulty can help balance such a challenge.

When running combat, continue to draw the players into the fiction of the world. Describe the situation from the point of view of the characters. Describe what attacks and hits look like. Ask players to do the same. Reveal secrets and clues when appropriate. Include opportunities for roleplaying with NPCs and enemies before, during, and after the battle. Avoid getting lost in the mechanics of combat and remember the story going on in the world.

Pitfalls of Combat Sessions

Here are several potential pitfalls when running combat-focused adventures and sessions:

Too many hard combat encounters becomes repetitive and tiresome.Combat goals aren't clear. Players don't know why they're fighting.Combat focuses exclusively on the mechanics with little focus on the story or fiction.Combat encounters are tactically boring.Players resent encounters built to contradict their characters' capabilities.Battles take too long. Players who enjoy roleplaying and exploration miss out.Mitigating Pitfalls

GMs can help mitigate these pitfalls by

mixing up easy and hard encounters or waves within a single encounter. Let the characters shine while fighting weaker foes as stronger ones come on later.clarifying encounter goals. Tell players how things work in the encounter so they know what they need to do.continually describe what's happening in the fiction of the game. Ask players to describe their actions including attacks and killing blows.include different monster types and terrain features to keep encounter tactics interesting.include lightning rods ��� monsters intended to show off the powerful capabilities of the characters.include elements of roleplaying and exploration during combat. What do the villains say? What do the characters discover about the world and situation as they fight for their lives?An Uncommon Adventure Type

Combat-focused sessions are best held for big battles against boss monsters. Other session types in this series of articles offer a better balance of exploration, roleplaying, and combat. Combat-focused sessions are prevalent enough, however, for us to internalize what makes them fun and what we can do to avoid common pitfalls.

Build fantastic and intricate combat encounters and let the characters shine.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos including Build Your Own 5e and Add Black Flag's Luck to your 5e Games.

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:

Offer opportunities for roleplaying even in the depths of the darkest dungeons. Mix up battles with several smaller foes and fewer large foes. Build encounters first from the fiction. What makes sense?Add motivation and distance rolls to random encounters for unique experiences. Include interactive monuments in bigger battles. Write down connections between the characters and the next session you���re running. Single monsters are at a significant disadvantage against a group of characters. This disadvantage gets worse the higher level the characters are.Related ArticlesRunning Roleplay and Intrigue AdventuresThe Story Focus of D&DA New Dungeon Master's Guide For Building EncountersGet 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 Roleplay and Intrigue Adventures

This article is one in a series where we look at types of adventures and examine

how we prepare them.how we run them.what pitfalls we might run into.how we avoid these pitfalls.

These articles include:

Dungeon CrawlsInfiltrations and HeistsInvestigations and MysteriesOverland Exploration and TravelMissions and Quest ChainsDefenseRoleplay and IntrigueCombatMashups or the Undefined

Your own adventure types and how you run them may differ from mine. That's totally fine. There are many right ways to enjoy this game.

Robin Laws's book Adventure Crucible ��� Building Stronger Scenarios for any RPG inspired my thoughts on this topic.

Understanding Roleplay and Intrigue Adventures

In adventures focused on roleplaying and intrigue, the characters primarily talk to NPCs to accomplish goals or learn information. Intrigue adventures often overlap with Investigations and Mysteries with less of a focus on location-based clues and expanding the goals beyond uncovering mysteries.

Example goals in roleplay and intrigue adventures might include

convincing royalty to commit military forces in a war.exposing treachery in a royal court.saving the life of a condemned prisoner.pitting two enemies against one another.learning the location of a secret treasure vault.getting permission to enter a closed city.asking priests to hand over a powerful artifact.

Roleplay and intrigue adventures are often built around a set of linear or networked scenes. In these scenes, the characters talk to one or more NPCs learning something or attaining a goal that leads them to the next scene.

Preparing Roleplay and Intrigue Adventures

During preparation for roleplay and intrigue adventures, GMs can focus on

clarifying the goal of the adventure.fleshing out the backgrounds of notable NPCs.finding artwork they can show to players for each notable NPC.writing down what NPCs know and what they want.defining secrets and clues the characters might uncover when talking to NPCs.adding other adventure elements as needed from the eight steps.Running Roleplay and Intrigue Adventures

Roleplay and intrigue adventures can begin with a strong start to bring the players into the game, clarify the goals of the adventure, set the stage, and let the players begin interacting with NPCs.

During play, the GM thinks as the NPCs would think given their backgrounds and goals as they interact with the players. As the conversation goes on, the GM may decide how NPCs react based on what the players say or they may have players roll ability checks if there's a meaningful chance for failure that doesn't end the adventure in a brick wall.

GMs can use ability checks to determine how easily or how difficult it is to acquire information from an NPC or shift the NPCs attitude without shutting off entire paths if the adventure on a single bad check.

Other elements from typical adventures may come up in these sessions including exploring locations or getting into a fight, even if the overall focus is on talking to NPCs.

Pitfalls of Roleplay and Intrigue Adventures

Roleplay and intrigue adventures might suffer from the following pitfalls:

Players don't understand what they're doing or why.Too many roleplay scenes in a row can bore action-focused players.The characters blow important rolls or engage in the wrong approach and shut off critical paths for the story.Players don't understand how best to engage the NPCs.Characters have better social skills than their players have or vice versa.Avoiding Pitfalls

GMs can avoid or mitigate these pitfalls by

Clarifying the characters' goals regularly.Including other action-focused scenes in the adventure such as combat encounters or location exploration.Ensuring the whole story doesn't get shut down on bad rolls or poor approaches and instead leads the story down a different, potentially harder, but still interesting path.Use the result of a roll as a scale of how well or poorly something went instead of a hard success or failure. See 1d20 Shades of Gray.Offer suggestions to players who have a hard time understanding how to engage with characters. Don't let them make foolish mistakes their characters would know better than to make. Show them opportunities their characters would recognize.Use a high-charisma character's charisma as a baseline, recognizing that their character might be better at negotiating than the player is.Use a charismatic player's approach as a baseline even if their character has a lousy charisma. Don't always call for a roll.A Common Sub-Adventure Type

Roleplay and intrigue adventures might often slide into or be shuffled into other larger adventures. As one of the core pillars of roleplaying games, roleplay and intrigue scenes appear often throughout campaigns and can drive the story forward as much, or more so, than other adventure types.

Clarifying the goal, building rich reactive NPCs, creating interesting paths forward regardless of the outcome, and delivering the other elements of gameplay can make roleplay and intrigue adventures as exciting as the most explosive combat encounters.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Running Evil Cities and 175 Free Tokens for Owlbear Rodeo.

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:

Dungeoncraft on Getting Cheap MiniaturesMonsters of DrakkenheimCairn 2e Boxed SetTales of the Valiant WightWhy CR3 is the best CRNew Search Engine for Sly Flourish!The Two Different Games at the TablePatreon Questions and Answers

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

Lazy DM Steps in an Online VTT WorldHandling Failure at the End of CampaignsHandling Flying CharactersFeeling Bad After a Big BattleWhen to Give Out Magic ItemsRPG 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:

Challenge high level characters by attacking several points ��� AC, saves, death saves, exhaustion, hit points, cumulative -1 penalties, and so on. Build big arenas for big boss battles with interesting terrain and layers of monsters. Offer weapon enchantment gemstones any character can affix to a weapon or armor to make it magical. Let the characters glimpse their final villains. Make villains and boss monsters ever present. With six regular players and two on-call players, five people have to cancel before you can���t get four to the table for a game. Print maps, pen in one- or two-word room descriptions, and make a list of potential inhabitants. Roll up treasure horde parcels and jot them down in your notes. Distribute them when it makes sense. Related ArticlesRunning Defense AdventuresRunning Overland Exploration and Travel AdventuresRunning 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.

Running Defense Adventures

This article is one in a series where we look at types of adventures and examine

how we prepare them.how we run them.what pitfalls we might run into.how we avoid these pitfalls.

These articles include:

Dungeon CrawlsInfiltrations and HeistsInvestigations and MysteriesOverland Exploration and TravelMissions and Quest ChainsDefenseRoleplaying and IntrigueMashups or the Undefined

Your own adventure types and how you run them may differ from mine. That's totally fine. There are many right ways to enjoy this game.

Robin Laws's book Adventure Crucible ��� Building Stronger Scenarios for any RPG inspired my thoughts on this topic.

Understanding Defense Adventures

In defense adventures, the characters defend a location and its inhabitants from invaders, bandits, or monsters. This adventure type is structured similar to infiltrations and heists in that players spend significant time planning for the attack before the attack itself. I often refer to defense adventures as Seven Samurai adventures because of how well the model of Akira Kurosawa's classic samurai movie fits as a fantasy RPG adventure.

The typical scenario for a defense adventure includes:

The characters are recruited by townsfolk (or someone similar) to defend a location.The characters plan and prepare the location and inhabitants for the coming attack.The attack begins with the invasion of a large enemy force.The characters focus on their part of the attack while NPCs defend their locations off-camera. Things might change, forcing the characters to move around.There's an aftermath.

Defense adventures don't have to follow this model perfectly but this scenario is a common approach.

Preparing a Defense Adventure

GMs can prepare for a defense-style adventure by

defining the theme. Who are the attackers? Who are the defenders? What's the location like? What themes or flavor can we wrap around the adventure?finding or creating a suitable location for the defense and ensuring it has the right characteristics for a good defensible position.further defining the "villagers". Who asks the characters to defend them? What's their secret?preparing a menu of options the characters can choose to prepare the defense including training NPCs, fortifying defenses, spying on the attackers, preparing weapons or spells, or engaging in other activities to aid in the defense.outlining the villains. Who are they? Who leads them? Where do they come from? Where are they located before the attack? How many are there? How will they attack? Where do they reside before the attack?preparing the remaining eight steps as needed.Running a Defense Adventure

Like a heist adventure, the players plan their defense during the first half of the adventure. Give players time to plan their defense, talk to NPCs, scout the villains, and engage in other activities to prepare for the attack. Improvise ability checks to see how well their defenses hold up.

When the attack begins, focus the spotlight on the characters and their part of the battle. Describe the results of the larger battle based on the defenses the characters put up and how well they did on their checks but keep the spotlight focused on the characters.

Pitfalls of Defense Adventures

Defense adventures might suffer one or more of the following pitfalls.

The characters' defenses don't come into play ��� they wasted their time.The characters' defenses are so good there's no threat from the villains.The players don't know how to prepare the location. They don't understand how they should defend the location.The location is too hard to defend. It's too wide open with no good choke points or defensible positions.The characters split up instead of staying together making it harder to run the whole adventure.Avoiding Pitfalls

GMs can avoid or mitigate these pitfalls by

ensuring the characters' defenses come into play by improvising the descriptions of the villains' attacks.ensure there's enough variance to the attack of the villains to still make it a threat even with a very solid defense.ensuring there's a clear list of options the characters can choose from to build up the location's defenses.during prep, ensuring the location has clear defensible positions and choke points like ravines, rivers, swamplands, walls, towers, and other defensible positions.Push players to keep their characters together during the fight so you don't have to run split battles all over the location.A Fantastic Situation for Heroic Tales

Defense-based adventures stand as an excellent adventure style to give the players agency to shape their own story. It's a perfect example of situation-based adventures in which the GM sets up the situation and the characters navigate it. GMs and players play the situation out together, building a story at the table neither side could have guessed before it began.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos including a Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands Deep Dive and 5e Travel Systems.

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:

Jim Ward Passes AwayBob World Builder's Survey of D&D and WOTC PopularityLegos and Sneakers and Hawaiian ShirtsTome of Beasts 2023 on D&D BeyondThe SF Patreon Q&A DatabaseLarian says No BG3 Expansions or BG4Reach and Run Awesome Campaign EndingsPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Too Much Comedy and Joking at our Serious D&D GameHow Much is Gold Worth? Function Economies in our D&D GamesLazy Encounter Benchmark for Multiple Battles in a DayRPG 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 players the option to avoid monsters if desired. Test future boss fights with similar but reskinned interim battles. Think about the hooks between each character and elements from the next session. Give big monsters a way to threaten back-line characters. Give characters a painful option to break out of effects that take away their actions. Mix and match 5e elements from several published sourcebooks. Bathe your dungeon crawl in interesting lore. Related ArticlesRunning Infiltration and Heist AdventuresRunning Overland Exploration and Travel AdventuresRunning 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.

Running Missions and Quest Chains

This article is one in a series where we look at types of adventures and examine

how we prepare them.how we run them.what pitfalls we might run into.how we avoid these pitfalls.

This series of articles includes:

Dungeon CrawlsInfiltrations and HeistsInvestigations and MysteriesOverland Exploration and TravelMissions and Quest ChainsDefenseIntrigue

Your own categorization of adventure types and how to run them may differ from mine. That's totally fine. There are many right ways to enjoy this game.

Robin Laws's book Adventure Crucible ��� Building Stronger Scenarios for any RPG inspired my thoughts on this topic.

Understanding Missions and Quest Chains

In mission-based adventures the characters accomplish several goals across a series of scenes. The scenes may be linear or run in a network where players choose different paths leading to different future missions.

Often mission-based adventures take several sessions, perhaps an entire campaign, to complete. Each leg of the mission might be its own adventure.

Each mission or quest of the quest chain might be small ��� like killing a fire giant boss at a burned out watchtower, acquiring one of several needed items, or getting information from the shady vendor in the Lower Reaches. In a series of wartime missions, the characters accomplish specific missions while war rages around them.

Missions might also be built so the characters attempt to accomplish tasks before the bad guys, or the characters face a rival group attempting to complete the same or parallel quests. This competition results in an ever-changing situation as both groups follow their chains of quests.

Some example missions include:

Collecting three keys (out of 5) to open the vault of Ibraxus.Destroying the four sub-lieutenants of King Lucan the vampire lord.Disabling the four obelisks to prevent the opening of the doorway of the Black Cathedral.Conducting four missions to thwart the hobgoblin armies of Lord Krash.Recovering four powerful artifacts required to defeat Orcus, Lord of Undeath.Preparing Mission-based Adventures

GMs may prepare for mission-based adventures by

determining the overall goal of the mission or quest chain.building an outline or tree for the quests in the chain.filling out the adventure details of the next quest or mission in the chain with the eight steps such as locations, NPCs, monsters, and treasure.outlining which quests might follow the next one.determine the path and progress of rival groups following these same quests if any.Running Missions

When running mission-based adventures or campaigns, the GM should

clarify the goals of the overall quest chain.clarify the paths the characters can take and choices they can make when conducting their missions.run the current mission or quest as its own typical RPG scene or adventure.offer the choices for the next possible quests in the chain.Mission or Quest Chain Pitfalls

When running mission-based or quest-chain adventures, GMs might encounter the following pitfalls:

The choices aren't clear. Players don't know which mission to follow next.Players forget why they're following these quests.The mission paths don't offer meaningful choices. Characters just follow the steps in a predetermined order.Large chains of missions can be thwarted when only one mission is accomplished (see all or nothing collection quests).Avoiding Pitfalls

GMs can avoid these pitfalls by

regularly clarifying the goal of the mission or quest chain.clarifying the options the characters can take and ensuring each option is meaningful.not running too many missions.ensuring each leg of the quest chain shows clear progress towards the goal.ensuring the success of a single mission doesn't thwart the large plans of the villains or characters by using the three of five keys quest model.A Common Adventure Style

Mission-based adventures are one of the most common styles of adventures. Hopefully these guidelines help you keep your mission-based adventures on track with meaningful choices, clear options, and dynamic situations.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Roll Twice and the Elven Orb ��� Shadowdark Gloaming Session 24 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:

Dungeon Crawl Classics Humble BundleWorlds Without Number SRD in CC0WOTC's "Do You Like Me" SurveyHasbro's Chris Cocks on D&D and AIWOTC Partners with StartPlaying.GamesDaggerheart Open Beta AvailableLazy DM's Companion On Sale!Dungeon ChambersChallenging High-Level CharactersPatreon Questions and Answers

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

Getting Players to Speak Up During (Online) GamesStaying Excited about Long CampaignsRPG 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 players the results in the world of the choices they made. Show players how powerful their characters have become. Throw in lots of low CR monsters to fireball or turn or otherwise blow away. Always lean towards putting meaningful choices in front of the players. Clarify goals selected by the characters often -- at least once per session. Bring old NPCs back and show how they���ve changed. Mix your adventure types. Dungeon crawls, heists, and intrigue all work together into a unique mashup of an adventure. Related ArticlesRunning Dungeon CrawlsRunning Overland Exploration and Travel AdventuresRunning Infiltration and Heist AdventuresGet 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 Overland Exploration and Travel Adventures

This article is one in a series where we look at particular adventure types and examine

how we prepare them.how we run them.what pitfalls we might run into.how we avoid those pitfalls.

This series of articles includes:

Dungeon CrawlsInfiltrations and HeistsInvestigations and MysteriesTravelMissionsDefenseIntrigue

Each article describes one angle on these adventure types. Your own approach may differ and that's totally fine. There are many right ways to enjoy this game.

Robin Laws's book Adventure Crucible ��� Building Stronger Scenarios for any RPG inspired my thoughts on this topic.

A quick note ��� the Lazy DM's Companion, my book of RPG tools, guidelines, and adventure generators, is on sale for 50% off the PDF and 20% off the softcover and PDF package!

The sale ends 21 March so pick it up today at:

https://shop.slyflourish.com/products/the-lazy-dms-companion

Understanding Travel Adventures

For the sake of this article, overland exploration and travel adventures follow the characters as they travel from one place to another, usually over significant distances across the surface of the world.

Sometimes the characters know clearly where they're headed. Other times they might only be following vague rumors. The paths they follow might be well known or something they discover as they go.

Travel adventures might be run as hex crawls, pointcrawls, or linear paths of connected locations. They could be a quick journey during a single game or run over several sessions.

Resources for Travel

Your chosen RPG might include material for running travel scenes. Two books offer excellent guidance and systems for running travel adventures for 5e games: Uncharted Journeys by Cubicle 7 and Trials and Treasure for Level Up Advanced 5e by EN World publishing. Uncharted Journeys offers a solid system for travel and a huge range of potential encounters. Trials and Treasure includes excellent random encounter tables, character roles, weather options for various climates, and more. If you choose only one book, start with Trials and Treasure.

Preparing Travel Adventures

Preparing for an overland exploration or travel adventure might include

defining the starting point, the destination, the distance, and the path.understanding how you plan on running the journey ��� point crawls, hex crawls, a linear series of encounters, or a single encounter during the journey.defining potential paths.preparing a list of roles and activities the characters engage in during travel.preparing a random weather table.writing down potential encounter locations along the journey for each node in the pointcrawl or within one or more of the hexes along the journey.preparing a list of encounters ��� random, fixed, or a mix of both.writing down secrets and clues, NPCs, or treasure the characters might discover along the journey.Running Travel Adventures

Like dungeon crawls, travel adventures can follow a particular model of gameplay. This procedure includes

clarifying the starting point and destination for the journey.asking each player to select a role for the journey ��� scout, pathfinder, quartermaster, etc. Characters might instead choose to aid someone else.roll on a weather table each day to determine what weather the characters deal with that day.expend daily resources such as food and water.have the characters roll ability checks based on their role. A scout may notice creatures before the creatures notice the characters. A pathfinder may stay on course or get lost. A quartermaster may give the characters temporary hit points or lose resources.roll for monuments or other notable features as they travel or use one of your predetermined locations.roll for random encounters. Even if they don't encounter something, you might roll to see what came by recently or what might be coming. You might roll twice and mix two encounters together.move on to the next day.Pitfalls for Travel Adventures

Here are some common pitfalls for travel adventures:

Too much time is spent on travel when the real story is happening at the destination.Too many downward beats or hard encounters �����it feels like a slog.Travel feels like a needless chore or time-wasting filler.Travel doesn't offer meaningful choices or actions.Avoiding Travel Pitfalls

Here are some ways to keep travel on track.

Drop in relevant secrets and clues the characters discover during their journey to tell them about the world, its inhabitants, and elements of the larger story.Include interesting monuments to solidify specific locations and encounters and act as catalysts for secrets and clues.Include roleplay and exploration scenes, not just combat encounters.Run some easy encounters the characters can resolve many different ways.Let characters get the drop on monsters and give them the choice to fight them or not.If travel isn't interesting or challenging, shorten it or skip it completely and get to the more important scenes the players care about.A Bridge Between Other Adventures

Travel adventures are often a bridge between one part of the story and the next part. With careful planning and execution, travel can offer stories just as interesting as other types of adventures.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted YouTube videos with Thoughts on Obsidian for TTRPG Prep and the Lazy DM's Companion Sale.

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:

Last Week's Sly Flourish RPG NewsletterPlanestriderSurviving StrangehollowLazy DM's Companion On SaleNASA Releases a 5e AdventureChaosium RPG Design ContestTaking Notes During and After the GamePatreon Questions and Answers

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

Running City of Arches as an Open Table GameVillainous Plans and the Three of Five Keys ModelIntroducing New Players to RPGsSecrets and Lore as Character KnowledgeSecrets and Clues in Dark SunRPG 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:

Challenge high-level characters by attacking several vectors: AC, various saves, area attacks, advantageous terrain, flippable environmental effects, and so on.Benchmark encounters with the Lazy Encounter Benchmark: A battle may be deadly if the sum total of monster CRs is 1/4 the total of character levels; or half of character levels if they're 5th level or above. Tweak the Lazy Encounter Benchmark based on what you know of the characters. Really powerful? Pretend there is one additional character of the party's level.Warn players when they're going to enter a long fight. Change the fight midway and keep up the story to make long battles interesting.Include switchable terrain that works against the characters at first and for them later on. For example, an unholy effigy gives evil creatures advantage but gives characters advantage when turned into a holy effigy.Level characters after significant accomplishments in the story.Damage is the biggest threat a monster offers that doesn't take agency away from the characters. Want a bigger threat? Do more damage.Related ArticlesRunning Travel Scenes in 5eRunning Dungeon CrawlsThree Things to Do While TravelingGet 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.