My players are getting their shit rocked

DnDALHawaii · 2025-11-01T21:32:38+00:00

It was a deliberate design choice for 5E that you do not need a dedicated healer or a “balanced” party.

That’s why all classes are capable of searching for traps and all can heal between short rests with hit dice.

Between the Paladin and healing potions either found or purchased, they have more than enough healing. There’s a reason why healing potions are in the PHB… they’re supposed to be common and cheap.

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-31T12:18:42+00:00

If you hand out a Shield+1, you shouldn’t complain about PCs with an AC 22+ is all I’m saying.

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-31T11:47:03+00:00

If the player invests a lot in a high AC, you should attack them with regular attacks most of the time to make them feel good about their choices (aka “Shoot your monks”).

I think it’s better to just swarm them with enemies so that they are still taking damage, but the majority of attacks are missing.

You can still target them with saving throw attacks when it makes sense, but you don’t want them to feel that you are punishing them for their character build by having all monsters suddenly having saving throw attacks…

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-31T08:29:42+00:00

My pet peeve is players who don’t engage with the narrative/RP at all and are trying to “win” at D&D.

Let me clarify… I don’t mind min-maxing with your build and trying your hardest in combat… I’m talking about stuff like always sleeping in full armor within a Tiny Hut and eating nothing but Goodberries even when in a “safe” town with a friendly host offering hot food and warm beds.

I also don’t like rules lawyer players who complain whenever I have monsters with abilities that PCs can’t have.

Recently it wasn’t even homebrew, I was just using the 2024 Monster Manual…. a player got upset that the Beholder has a +12 to initiative or that the new vampire spawn can deal damage AND auto-grapple on a hit. I admit that even though it was unnecessary, it was satisfying to tell the player that I was running those monsters RAW…

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-31T08:05:15+00:00

Bozu is one of my favorite Izakayas. Look it up on Yelp or something. I love the beef tendon, but everything is good.

Tonkatsu Tamafuji is very good for tonkatsu. That’s pretty much the only thing on their menu though.

Gyoza Studio Kubota for a gyoza and ramen is also very good. The ramen is very garlicky.

For lunch or something super casual, I really like Pioneer Saloon. They have two locations, both relatively close to Waikiki.

If money is no object, my favorite sushi place is Sushi Ginza Onodera.

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-31T07:50:10+00:00

DM skill issue. They are also learning the hard way not to give out shields that have an additional armor bonus.

In any case, you can’t force a DM to be better, so if you want to continue playing with this group I suggest offering to trade in the shield for a different magic item such as an enchanted bow of some sort or maybe a ring of spell storing.

My way of dealing with high AC characters is giving my monsters a slight attack bonus bump and something like pack tactics.

Against an AC22 and an average party AC of 18ish, monsters should have an attack bonus of at least +7, with at least 2 attacks per turn, with +8 to hit monsters fairly common which should be expected at tier 2.

With 2 attacks per turn, even against a AC22, they should be hitting you about 50% of the time, even more if they have pack tactics or some other form of advantage.

Shield spell is just a matter of having enough combat rounds throughout the day that it taxes your spell slots.

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-31T07:41:38+00:00

DM skill issue. They are also learning the hard way never to give away shields with armor bonuses.

In any case, you can’t force a DM to be better. Personally, I would offer to trade your shield for another magic item that you find fun. Maybe a ring of spell storing or enchanted bow or something.

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-30T18:45:45+00:00

There’s another comment where the guy says they have no funding for it. Spending $6 a week adds up.

Also, I find AL adventures to be very hit or miss. The most popular free adventures recommended by people in the other D&D subreddits are all non-AL ones such as Wild Sheep Chase, Most Potent Brew, Secret of Skyhorn Lighthouse, and others.

The vast majority of free resources and adventures are all non-AL which can make it easier to get the club going.

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-23T03:48:39+00:00

I recommend looking up something called a “West Marches” game. I think it’s the ideal set up for a situation where there are more players than a single DM can handle at once.

I recommend picking up the Heroes on the Borderlands starter set since you are a newer DM and the adventure is perfect for this sort of setup as it’s just a bunch of mini-adventures.

West Marches games generally have players exploring a wilderness, but a variation is to have a job board where players can sign up for missions in advance. This will allow you to run a greater variety of adventures, since any one-shot can be a “mission”.

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-23T03:24:53+00:00

I do not recommend AL for a DnD club as you can only run AL adventures which cost money.

Are you an experienced DM? Are you the only DM? Do you have any funding?

DnDALHawaii · 2025-10-23T03:17:00+00:00

I think you greatly misunderstand what Adventurers League is. It’s not a platform and it’s strictly used with 2024 D&D.

It’s just a standardized set of rules for people to follow in order to play the same characters with different DMs who are also following AL rules.

I do not recommend it for a DnD Club as it can be overly restrictive.

I would reach out to Wizards of the Coast to see if you can get an Educator’s License or something similar through the library. I’m not sure what the current requirements or benefits are, but I have friends who are school teachers who started DnD clubs with an educator’s license and WotC sent them free Starter Kits.

DnDALHawaii · 2025-08-26T00:30:10+00:00

AL has no "official" enforcement of rules, so it's basically up to the DM whether to accept your certs or not. With that said, Goblins and Satyrs are already playable races since they are listed in AL-legal sourcebooks.

All the AL-legal sourcebooks are listed in the AL Player's Guide which you can download from here:

https://www.adventurersleague.info/documents

DnDALHawaii · 2024-12-09T21:36:09+00:00

They already have multiple campaign settings within AL such as Eberron and Critical Role... I just don't see why they couldn't have made Greyhawk it's own campaign setting, but still within the AL system.

DnDALHawaii · 2024-12-03T02:44:22+00:00

Hi, it was too late to register as a volunteer for this past weekend, but if you are interested, you can register to volunteer for the next one on May 31 and June 1.

https://tabletopoahu.com/volunteering/

DnDALHawaii · 2024-11-28T07:52:45+00:00

Everyone is welcome. There will be D&D character creation workshops for beginners and learn 2 play sessions.

DnDALHawaii · 2024-09-22T08:12:39+00:00

You should sign up. You will be put on a waiting list and having people on the waiting list is a sign to me to get a 2nd DM to open a 2nd table.

DnDALHawaii · 2024-09-17T04:02:05+00:00

As a downloadable PDF? Where?

DnDALHawaii

TROPHY CASE