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1500 questions
72
votes
18 answers

Problems with Party Formation: "You're the DM, you can figure it out."

Sort of related to Is it wrong to ask a player to justify their character's actions? Scenario Player 1 wants to be a male drow necromancer that reveres Kiaransalee. Player 2 wants to be a male human cleric that reveres Heironeous. Player 3 wants to…
Ruut
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6 answers

What makes grease a good spell?

I often see people list grease as good go-to 1st level spell. Why is this? The spell description lists 3 of its uses: forcing saves and slows movement of enemies, disarming enemies, and preventing grabs. To me these seem pretty situational. My…
Colin D
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12 answers

I gave my players far too much wealth and they have far too much power. What do I do to get things back on track?

Very recently I made a huge miscalculation during my D&D campaign. The players in my D&D campaign were chasing after several pieces of a broken magical item. They had been spending their time researching in the capital and were slowly finding more…
ElectroBro
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9 answers

The fastest way to remove bones from a man

I'm likely going to be playing a human necromancer in an upcoming return to our Out of the Abyss campaign. My character is morally "scrambled" at the best of times, and has no qualms about raising the dead. In particular, skeletons are useful…
Eidolon108
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71
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12 answers

What does "minmax" mean?

I've seen the term minmax used on several answers (relating to D&D), but nobody has elaborated and there's no actual answer to the question on this site. What does minmax mean and where did the term originate from?
Tas
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2 answers

Does Bard's Jack of All Trades grant them greater initiative?

Bards get the ability "Jack of All Trades" which reads: Starting at 2nd level, you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn't already include your proficiency bonus. Since your initiative roll…
GMNoob
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71
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11 answers

How can I invoke actual fear in my players?

I'm a DM that focuses heavily on story, description and setting. My goal is to send players home wanting — no, longing — to actually be part of the mythos I've created. The ultimate goal for me as a DM is to properly instill real emotions in the…
nopcorn
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5 answers

What was going on with D&D's leaked OGL 1.1 in January 2023? How does it affect me?

Most of the communities I participate in are currently ablaze with rumours and speculations about Wizards of the Coast's OGL 1.1 stemming from a leaked document. As someone that is on the brink of pushing to print something I've been working for the…
T. Sar
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8 answers

In a low-combat campaign, most PC abilities seem useless; what few fights there are barely use up resources. How do I deal with this as the DM?

As part of session 0, I discovered my group wanted a campaign with a heavier amount of intrigue, exploration, investigation, etc. Well, I did it. And I think the general perception is that it's going well. But I'm observing the following things that…
Gadianton
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13 answers

How to deal with a player who is a bad sport?

I have a dedicated gaming group that meets every Sunday. We have been playing regularly for over a year now. It's small, just 5 of us including the current DM. We all rotate DM position per campaign so that we can all have a chance to be players.…
user32584
70
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6 answers

How should the DM manage the discrepancy between the player's memory and their PC's memory?

It may happen that, during a session, players don't remember the name of a NPC that they met (or, more generally, information about something that happened) during the previous session. Obviously, their PC remembers that information. Conversely, a…
firion
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1 answer

Origin of the term "Splat Book"

Where does the term "Splat Book" come from? Roughly a splat book is any book not required to play the system. There is some debate over its exact meaning, but that is not the point of this question. Usage example: my gaming club has a guideline:…
Frames Catherine White
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14 answers

Are there any penalties for wearing armor all the time?

In our campaign we have several characters who never remove their armor. They wear it while adventuring, sleeping, swimming, bathing, etc. Are there any penalties for: Wearing armor while sleeping? Wearing armor while swimming? If there are…
briddums
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5 answers

What is the background of Christian resistance to role-playing?

While in high school, a classmate introduced us to MAGUS, a fantasy RPG popular in Hungary. We played a simplified version with no dice-rolling and stuff; basically it was one person telling a story and the others playing characters in it, with the…
marczellm
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12 answers

How do I indicate to my players that an NPC is no longer useful and that they should move on?

I am a rather new DM, still learning stuff. So I have noticed that my characters tend to talk too much with the NPCs, trying to get a lot of information, and probably even trying to 'cheat', thinking that the NPC should have info about everything.…
DoomCross
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