Columns

ColumnsGM Tips & Tricks

How to create a/multiple sessions with interconnected stories

Thumbnail image from The Simpsons’ Trilogy of Error Episode Something I’ve got to do twice so far is creating a series of interconnected stories in my games. What do I mean by this? If you did ever watch the Trilogy ...
BackgroundsColumnsD&D 5ePlayer Resources

Exploring the Soldier Background

The soldier background in 5e offers a great opportunity to do some collaborative worldbuilding with your DM. After all, what is a soldier without an army? Here are some starting questions to help you build the organization before diving into ...
Campaign TrailClassesD&D 5e

Way of the Pugilist – Monk Tradition for D&D 5e

Monks channel ki, the magical energy that flows through all living bodies. In combination with martial training, ki can be harnessed to far exceed the capabilities of their physical body. I thought it would be interesting to create an old-timey ...
ColumnsGM Tips & Tricks

Tips on how to run great one on one sessions ...

Thumbnail image from Critical Role’s Stephen Colbert’s D&D Adventure with Matthew Mercer Lately, I’ve been creating a really interesting concept for a city, and when approached by my players to create a new D&D campaign online while we are doing ...
BackgroundsColumnsD&D 5ePlayer Resources

Exploring the Sailor Background

Hellooooo, sailor (background)!  The sailor background for 5e is a fun option, offering two useful skills and a great feature to find safe passage on a ship whenever needed. Your mileage may vary based on your campaign setting, but if ...
ClassesGM ResourcesPlanar Mysteries

“Shadow Pact” for the Endless Dark Patron

Riddle: It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter. What is it? Answer: ...
ColumnsGM Tips & Tricks

Let’s build a Beholder’s Lair + Advice on how to ...

Thumbnail Art by Aaron Ancheta Continuing my ongoing series on how to run some of the best D&D creatures comes the fan-favorite Beholder (or maybe DM’s favorite, as I think players don’t usually like them as much). They are great ...
D&D 5ePlaytestUnearthed Arcana

UA 2020: Psionic Options Revisited Breakdown

The WotC team plunges in again on psionics design, in the new UA release. Unlike a lot of UA documents, this one spends about a page discussing the winding path of psionic/mystic development in UA to date, including the official ...
BackgroundsColumnsD&D 5ePlayer Resources

Exploring the Sage Background

The Sage background in 5e is one of my favorites. It gives you access to a couple of knowledge skills and some extra languages, but what makes the sage background so exciting is the Researcher feature. You basically know where ...
GM ResourcesPlanar Mysteries

Creating a Pandemic for Your Game

With the COVID-19 pandemic continually in the news, I thought that it would be appropriate for us to look at how a worldwide pandemic might look like in a fantasy setting. Let’s define a pandemic as per Wikipedia: A pandemic ...