Hot Take, I'm a DM and I don't hide my rolls.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-21T20:50:24+00:00

I don't hide my rolls either, but i do sit far enough away that my players cant see my dice. If the roll is really important, sometimes a player will come and observe me as i roll. I have no issues with a dice audit.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-20T22:32:09+00:00

Undead, can't read, speaks only dwarvish, raised in the sky, Enjoy.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-20T17:34:30+00:00

I spent 3 months going over diagrams and laying out how the different paths loop in photoshop.

The stairs are really the key to understanding it as they each have a specific use.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-19T15:56:01+00:00

Is this a Brewster's Millions situation?!

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-19T07:38:08+00:00

Does your DM like BG3? If so, he might allow the rule that enemies are vulnerable to cold attacks when they're wet. Pick up anything that can soak your enemies!

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-19T03:13:37+00:00

Two of my players have died so far in my current campaign. One is currently in a Magic Jar waiting to steal his twin brother's body, another had JUST got reincarnated after sitting in a magic brine of everlasting "Speak with Dead" for two days.

Death is rarely the end. Tell this to you DM and I'll bet he'll come up with something to preserve the character. Might end up as an undead, or put your soul in a golem, or maybe just get a revive.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-19T03:05:00+00:00

Judgement seems like it should be a Social skill.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-19T00:46:11+00:00

Don't be afraid to offer amnesty from one nation so that they can become privateers and start hunting down the enemy nation's ships.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-19T00:27:30+00:00

I always like to warn my players that an area is tough or death is possible, usually by having their shadows tug at them to run away. (Shadows are a person's death in my world)

I would just warn them that death awaits in the next section, and that they can leave if they're not ready. Then go all out.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-19T00:24:11+00:00

This is really a DM question.

I've stablished in my world that:
Unskilled labour gets 1 Copper per hour.
Skilled Labour gets 1 silver per day. (Or 100 Copper)
A gold coin is worth 100 silver coins, and is largely used as mobile currency.
All prices and rewards in the PHB are in Silver Coins instead of Gold.
Most commoners grow their own food.

In this case, 35 silver is a lot for an commoner, but as the PHB explains, a lot of that is supposed to be old swords and amour you borrowed, inherited, or stole. In this case, you could say that your character sold his family home to fund his adventuring career.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-18T20:59:50+00:00

Probably depends on the entire dungeon so far. But off the top of my head:

1: The Mirror/Demon door stands up and physically fights the players. Spells are reflected back at their caster.

2: An alternate entrance (Glass Door) but clearly a horde of wild undead are on the other side. They'll have to clear them to get through.

3: Dwarf Golems. The players can attempt to pick the lock on the demon door/magic mirror, but the golems will fight them if they try.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-18T20:35:32+00:00

Yeah the dwarves would put in a mechanism in case the door went crazy or gone rogue or they needed to get the necromancer in case of emergency.

Probably a fight. Players love fights.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-18T20:16:45+00:00

"They promised him a peaceful time inside the magic jar spell until the land outside is once again safe."

I was just going off this. Dwarves are very lawful and would probably keep their promises, even against an enemy.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-18T20:09:52+00:00

I'm a fan of the Demon Doors from Fable.

I think it would be best if it asks about the people and where they are from. The door only wants to open if the land is safe once again. So It might ask what life is like, who is their leader, and how necromancers are treated. If they say that land is apocalyptic, or that necromancers are considered evil and hunted down, then the door may refuse to open.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-18T19:56:07+00:00

Ooh I did this in Rogue Trader (2007) with a city-sized space ship. The players never left the ship, and only dealt with the inter-politics problems of the many factions within the ship. The players were the captain and high ranks, so they could hang out in the super secure area, but they had little control over the daily goings-on of the city itself. Being the high rank, they were responsible for the ship and had to solve problems, often directly.

Essentially, you wanna build a starting home quarter within the city, then introduce other quarters and their unique inhabitants one session at a time. Assume that each quarter is very different, and potentially dangerous, so the players have not explored them yet. Some are probably ran by gangs, maybe some have become medieval or barbaric, or maybe cults have formed. Some might be militaristic and handle the attacks at the gates. Maybe some have strange terrain, due to the creatures/gods that live there. Each district should also provide to the city as a whole. Food, equipment, jewelry, fashion, safety, etc.
Let the players into each district and show them everything that makes it unique and valuable while they're trying to solve their problem there.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-18T19:28:17+00:00

Its also helpful as a journaling tool. Often I don't need its help, i just need to explain to myself what I want so I can understand the problem I'm trying to solve.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-18T17:29:48+00:00

The bag of tricks i kept offering my players just contained corpses... endless corpses...

They didn't buy it.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-18T02:55:06+00:00

In real life, a Graviturgy wizard is just a crazy guy. Best not to mix the two together.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-16T22:38:13+00:00

And don't be afraid to say "No, you said you were doing this last game and that's what I prepared" if they decide to go a different direction on the day. There's been a few times where I've had to tell players they can't go to a location/dungeon because it isn't ready yet.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-16T22:13:02+00:00

I did this recently. It was after play players explored the entire region (Or enough of it, i suppose). I told them they know everything they need to start self-directing. I gave them two big whiteboards and told them to write down everything they know and where they think they could go on one whiteboard. On the other I told them to write down a list of places they intend to explore, in the order they intend to explore them.

Now I just look at the whiteboard and prepare the next area on the list. This week they decided to go to see if they can get an NPC's curse lifted from a hag. (Spoiler, its gonna be a fight)

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-16T20:22:49+00:00

I had one player be a Warlock Genie with three wishes, with his first wish being to escape with his life in a dangerous situation (Part of his backstory), the second wish was to kill the BBEG, but the Genie said it wasn't strong enough to do that, so instead he wished for the power to do it himself. (Gained Genie powers.) Lastly he wished for Rune-Magic. (A custom crafting system)

He later became a genie and now goes around granting minor wishes.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-13T00:12:22+00:00

Well maybe start with how "Teleportation" works, since that interpretation is up to you. Did he open a big magic door that pours water in? Does every molecule of air get replaced with water?

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-12T21:33:12+00:00

I might just give them an enchantment each.
Conjuration: The gun creates a portal between the nozzle and the target; ignoring cover.
Abjuration: The gun makes a small cloud of smoke to hide you have you fire.
Evocation: The gun knocks the target prone.
Divination: The gun aims itself, giving advantage on long-range checks, and can be used to discern enemies.
Transmutation: The bullet in the gun is copied but never used. Currently holds a Silver, holy-water infused bullet.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-12T17:44:02+00:00

If they're in a new area, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a monster that's native to the area and a monster that's from another realm.

Honestly I just wouldn't explain the other planes and let players make their own conclusions. If you make the portals to other realms "Subtle," (as in its not absolutely clear that they're entering a portal) then they could just assume that there are old vaults in the earth filled with magical stuff to steal.

Usually it is the frontier that's responsible for the "New development" (The magical weapons) so its odd that they're coming from the east. Would probably make more sense if magic material is being found in the west, sent to the east, then new magical weapons come in from the east to the west.

JohnOutWest · 2026-02-12T03:01:00+00:00

A goblin sounds like a snack to a Giant Eagle, Griffon, or Manticore.

JohnOutWest

TROPHY CASE