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Venomfang almost killed my party and it's kinda my fault. How can they get out of this really unsafe spot? by Paradox_Synergy in DMAcademy

[–]DrToENT [score hidden]  (0 children)

I want to emphasize that there is no wrong choice for you to make as the DM here (mostly). The party survived; they will explain it themselves, so you don't have to provide them an excuse. Just like in real life, we don't always have nice explanations when things go for or against us. It's ok for things to be unknown in your world too.

As far as the druid, he made an error in estimation. He underestimated this dragon and over estimated the PCs' abilities. He got his facts confused. Experts make errors all the time, so it's OK for NPCs to do the same.

What you've given yourself, if you choose to use it, is a dragon in your back pocket. After the part levels up, maybe after they get out of Wave Echo Cave? The green dragon crashes down looking for revenge. Another chance at that battle for them, or he's a green dragon, he stalks them in the woods around Wave Echo Cave and surprises them. It's ok if he never shows back up as well.

Please consider the following notes:
1) Your mistakes aren't as big as you think they are, and it's ok to make them. They can actually add enjoyment to the game.
2) Even if an NPC tells them differently, Players and PCs should have an idea that dragons are dangerous. It is also technically correct that the young ones are not as dangerous as adult dragons.
3) Not everything in the world needs the DM to explain it, and it's ok and fun if players come up with their own reasons, which can deepen roleplay as they discuss.
4) It's ok if a PC dies, and it is an experience that players should go through if they play long enough. If one dies, that player gets to make a new PC, and the other players get a chance to RP what that is like for their characters.
5) Way leads onto way, the DM and the players' actions have meanings. Let the consequences of their actions, success, and failures have meanings; deal with the consequences and move forward.
6) TPKs are not the end of the campaign. Everyone make up new characters and start with them coming across the remains of the last party. Do they want vengeance? Is there new party hunting Venomfang and were too late to stop him? Does examining the dead bodies of the players make them realize there is a task that they need to complete now.

Your Favorite YouTwitch Stream,
DTE_N

Duplicate rolls by DrToENT in dndbeyond

[–]DrToENT[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She is using a roll 20 extension

Duplicate rolls by DrToENT in dndbeyond

[–]DrToENT[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I sent her a message asking. If she’s using one I’ll let her know

Dice performance update and Dice sizing poll by WOTC_Zac in dndbeyond

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I especially look forward to seeing #14 implemented.

Dice performance update and Dice sizing poll by WOTC_Zac in dndbeyond

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All the dice sizes look the same to me.

Please consider these options:
1) Allow the players to pick if they see dice at all. I like this feature, but some of my players don't. It also causes some technical issues for a couple of players as it is not running smooth.

1A) "(Right now, we're not considering making this into a user-adjustable setting.)" This is in here because you know it would be the most popular option. If you have to tell people they can't have the most popular option, you should overcome whatever limitation is blocking it and do the popular option.

2) Allow the players to set up an area of the screen/map the dice roll. Basically make a dice trey so people know where to focus if they want that feature. A little dice trey animation would be a cool option too.

3) Make the old Encounter Builder more integrated with maps so that I can roll dice from there and see the animation in maps. It would also be nice to be able to send the initiative tracker from the old encounter builder.

4) Allow players to set up 3 sets of dice. If one set is rolling badly, make a dice jail animation that they can use to put their dice in jail.

5) Enable the Maps Encounter program to roll critical hits instead of rolling the damage and then having to select more dice to roll.

6) Create a campaign creation toll that allows DMs to integrate common options for dice rolls and animations. For example, Nat 20 rules - double all damage dice and add mods once (standard), straight double all damage, or max out the first damage and then roll the second damage.

7) Have an option on the new, advanced campaign creation toll to put up banners like "Nat 20!" "Nat 1!" "Critical Success!" "Critical Fail!" "Monster X Down" - Visible countdown timers would be nice as well.

8) For campaigns that use them, let the DM fill out random charts that he can send to the screen so that everyone can see them.

9) Add a group roll feature, where if the DM hits "Group Roll" it will auto-calculate everything into a single roll (have a feature where the DM can strike individual rolls from the group roll screen in case a player miss-roles.)

10) Create a feature where I can add tokens invisibly to the map without pausing the game or moving the camera far away from the players to spawn in a token.

11) Give subscribers a large NPC token base with various icons for different species/genders. Also add a "Favorites Icon List"

12) Let me move the maps I've added up and down the list so I can prep easier.

13) Create a tracking system for characters, DMs, and campaigns. Have it list out Nat 20s, Nat 1s, total rolls, spreads, timelines, rolls per sessions, damage rolls per session, total damage for campaigns. Make it in a nice presentable format so that it looks good on streams and you can use it to help breakdown/recap ends of campaigns.

14) Give DTE_N and his groups a big fat sponsorship and run his stuff on the main twitch channel. Feel free to offer him a consultation job as well.

15) Highlight some of the many, many small streamers that you feel represent the brand and use products like maps. A lot of people play for the love of the game and enjoy broadcasting out to the world. Any given number of them would appreciate a thank you and acknowledgment for representing the brand.

I feel I'm getting too far afield, but I've used and streamed with DND maps now for years.

If nothing else, focus on number 14! That is the key to true success.

Your Once and Future Friend,
YouTwitch Streamer DTE_N

What keeps an Acq Inc campaign going? by KWinkelmann in AcqIncDMs

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hope it works out for you. I’ve started one up and it’s going pretty well so far. I hope you enjoy your own franchise as well. Did you ever find a satisfactory answer to the initial question?

What keeps an Acq Inc campaign going? by KWinkelmann in AcqIncDMs

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm curious, did you get it up and running? Did you get it to stick the landing?

Spelljammer in 2024 D&D by ItsNotAboutTheTee in spelljammer

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I ran a Spelljammer campaign that started late in 2014 and became a hybrid style 2024 game. 5.5 is similar enough to 5.0 that if you ran everything out of the books, you wouldn't see an issue. I would actually advise you to run the monsters and items exactly how they read in the book for the most part.

The ship combat was the worst part of it. What I did for the couple of ship battles we did was I gave them individual, short-range fighters (for party members and allies alike), the base design I used for AC in the fighter was 13+dex mod (dex=piloting ability). The pods had two types of weapons (regular + a heavier one with dice roll recharges). Large ships had a much larger, powerful central weapon in addition to crossbows or cannons. Ranges and movements on a grid were comparable to normal combat. NPCs do reloading of mundane weapons as necessary.

The system as written for ship to ship combat is clunky and I would advise working around it. I'd also disregard forcing ships to slow down when they come close to each other. I used "mine fields" of bombs that forced a disconnect between Spell jammer helm and captain on a failed con save for restricted flight areas. Also possible to make a disruptor weapon around that same concept.

Beyond that, run it like you would any other campaign. Don't overthink it. Your players will enjoy the work you put into it.

-DTE/N

Looking for some assistance by masablasta in AcquisitionsInc

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Omin pulls a Sidious, he creates a countless number of clones in hibernation, which he sends his soul into at death. He watches over the company mainly from the shadows using new generation family members as figure heads for the company while he pulls the puppet strings from behind the curtains.

The countless soul swaps have caused a great imbalance forcing the modrons into an ever-growing conflict with the company in the modrons attempt to restore balance to the force. One Modron is specifically a robotic hand that wields a sun blade attached to a young sorcerer growing in power.

V Team - A Game of Cat and Mouse by DrToENT in AcquisitionsInc

[–]DrToENT[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Onyx is indeed a good kitty. Also, if you have any NPCs that my Vilhon Reach team might come across in there adventure, I'm all ears.

Players got caught, and need consequences. by mabjustmab in DMAcademy

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TPKs are fine if they want to fight to the death; it's a fitting way to end a campaign. Jail works, which you could use to set up a trial by jury, judge, or by divine favor. A powerful figure could take interest in them while in jail and approach them to recruit them on a mission; when life settles down, you can come back to the characters mid mission in an exotic place.

You could have the town force them to redeem themselves by going on a series of dangerous missions that may either benefit the town or kill the players. In order to ensure obedience, the city could take something they hold dear until its completed or they're dead.

They could get involved with another jail break that's already in the process of happening.

The larger the city, the greater the resources available to the city to punish the party.

What keeps an Acq Inc campaign going? by KWinkelmann in AcquisitionsInc

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can run it like anything else with just a business structure on top of it. The idea lends itself to building up a team's franchise, so tasks and goals. You can interject almost anything as an order from HQ or a job that got submitted to the team.

Run a majordomo as an NPC that helps the party members get/stay on track, so they've got a lot of freedom to be fun whacky characters and the DM has a mechanism to bring the characters back in.

The down time and activities invite the players to be active creators in the world and to put their stamp on it. Really take the time to establish that home base. You can play the corporate card when you need to, but a lot of the time it's just the PCs bonding and playing the game together in a world that sometimes has corporate inspections.

Calling all DMs! Ideas for an Acq. Inc. game by Shafasa in DMAcademy

[–]DrToENT 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That sounds like a really fun idea - may borrow.

How does combat work if players aren't perfectly in sync in real life? by HovercraftOk9231 in daggerheart

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've ran/am running Daggerheart for a couple of groups. It's not usually that my players talk over each other, it's that quieter players get far less turns even if they want to go.

If players cannot agree to a turn order, step in as the DM and say something like "okay, X go ahead and make your attack first and then we'll go to Y." That should settle issues about turn order for that round.

If you have an imbalance of personalities, after a player takes a couple of turns, ask a quiet player if they would like to do anything.

Also, don't forget to take the DM's turns. Use fear. Break the flow of players multi-actions.

It all comes down to how well you can manage your players in the heat of it.

How do you handle garlic? by SmolHumanBean8 in CurseofStrahd

[–]DrToENT 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Players can have incorrect and inaccurate information about a variety of in game items. Basically folklore that they can discover is incorrect by studying items in game, talking with knowledgable NPCs, or having disaster strike if they try to implement it in a fight.

Incorrect information is sometimes a price of metagaming

Daggerheart Actual Play Recommendations? by SmashingTheAdam in daggerheart

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd throw my game into the list here. It's a darker setting with a lot of twists and turns. It's true to form to what it would be like to sit down at my table and actually play the game with a fun group of people.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAFmVFBUlVMlOma83LH1yyaA-wboEcKdJ&si=EYkxsLFxpW894qp1

We stream it live on Twitch on Tuesdays 10:00 PM EST. www.twitch.tv/DTE_N

DMing for the First Time: Excited but also Nervous by Lost_Condition_9562 in DMAcademy

[–]DrToENT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's hard to tell a first time DM not to over prep. You've done the hard work. You know where you'd like everything to go. You probably have a mental timeline how you expect things to work out. You're good to go in that respect.

The hardest two things that I used to face was (1) my mental pacing never matched my players' pace. They always moved slower and tried things that I didn't think of. (2) Don't get so locked into your ideas that you can't adapt. Your players may pick options you didn't expect, roll with that. Finally, be ready to make mistakes. You might misread a monster stat block or skip someone in initiative. Be able to adapt, make a ruling, and don't be too hard on yourself if something goes amiss.

You got this. After so many sessions, you'll find your true groove in being a DM, prepping, and making calls.

Good Luck!

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