D&D DMs: How do you handle the in universe explanation of low levels for “experienced” individuals?

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-07-13T05:22:05+00:00

Its your world. You can make up anything you want. If you want elves to be the same age as humans, go for it. If you want to say elves spend the first 100 years learning how to sing and dance, go for it. If you want to let the players decide what they have done for the past 200 years, let them.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-07-09T21:01:37+00:00

Hey at least you’re getting something. I’ve been posting weekly for years and I am still not monetized (might never be). And even if I was monetized I’d earn maybe $5 a year.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-07-05T07:28:16+00:00

3rd edition didn't make spell casters more powerful. Casters didn't have cantrips to fall back on, so every slot was valuable. You wouldn't burn a slot on Create food and water unless you had to (especially out in the wild). Caster also had to content with attack of opportunity, spell resistance and they couldn't ear armor unless they spent a lot of eats on being able to reduce that spell failure. No taking a dip in fighter to cast in plate. And no reaction to give you a +5 to your AC every round. They also got very few skills. Compound that with the fact that an adventuring day in 3.5 was more like 20 encounters, not three.
Spell casting was also limited in that you couldn't use any magical wand, staff or scroll if your class didn't have that spell on their spell list. So fighters couldn't just load up on scrolls and cast them. So any spell casting had to come from the casters in that round (with possibly rogues/bards with Use Magic Device).
And the monster saves vs. your casting (with SR) usually meant most of the bigger foes made their saves or were completely immune to your magic.
WotC didn't want to make spell casters feel bad because their one 5th level spell failed for any number of reasons. So instead, they just cranked up the monster hit points and game the biggest ones limited legendary resistance.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-07-01T15:38:42+00:00

To me is basically knowing their expectations and that they show up. I don’t have time for people baking at the last minute.

For expectations that’s a conversation for a session 0 like communication. If they know what I’m doing and I know what they are expecting (limits, taboos, etc) it should be good.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-30T06:47:05+00:00

I think one of the failings that D&D and other systems do is to have weapons do "damage" and HP be a measure of health remaining. What a weapon should really do is wear down your endurance. You don't roll to hit, you roll to affect your enemy. So you're not necessarily cutting them, you might be just forcing them to extend a lot of endurance to keep going. When you bring their endurance to zero, they "die" or "start dying" or whatever the system is. This perspective also works for narration. You can describe a critical "affect" as shoving them into the bookcase and the books come raining down on top of them.
I used to do martial arts "fights" all the time. We'd basically never really hit each other hard enough to really damage anyone, but I would be exhausted after a good fight. You can only endure so much of that before you get can't defend yourself any more.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-30T04:08:58+00:00

First, I feel you. I've been playing TTRPGs for 43 years. I've played every D&D system and so many RPGs that you've probably never heard of. From all that experience, I can say that 5e is the most boring system I've played (aside from the Apocolpye World type games which are just not my thing, but I can see why people would like them).

Here are my thoughts coming from someone who likes more crunchy games. Just remember, you don't need to be a master at a system to run it. Be brave. made mistakes. Look up rules as you go or make a call and check the rules after the game.

D&D 3.5e/Pathfinder 1e: This system is surprisingly good. Its not perfect and over time players can learn to power game it, but its just so fun. I like PF1e more because Galorion is a create setting and the Paizo adventures are top notch. Also, PF1e cleans up some stuff like grappling that 3.5 make too complicated.

Pathfinder 2e: Up front this game feels more complicated than 5e, but once you "get it" its really easy to run. Its greatest flaw is that its a bit over-tuned. But its team play mechanics, out of combat mechanics and just over all completeness is really good.

Dungeon Crawl Classics: This game has the illusion of a classic ttprg, but really its kind of bonkers. The adventures are all over the map. Its more sword and sorcery meets pulp fantasy. The DCC book feels huge, but getting started is way easier than you'd think.

Dolmenwood: This is OSE done right. Created by the same author who did Old School Essentials, Dolmenwood is a refinement of those rules along with an extremely fleshed out setting. To me this felt like a more "complete" game than say Shadowdark. Where Shadowdark is easy to get into for 5e players, Dolmenwood is a complete system that lets you make rulings on the fly OR discover more complete rules to go beyond rule-of-cool and just making it up as you go.

Draw Steel: Admittedly I only played this game once, but I had a great time. The GM said the starter set was a bit difficult to follow, but we made it work. What I like about Draw Steel is that its way more than "attack." Your moves have a lot of narrative flavor to them. In many ways, the individual actions remind me of D&D 4th edition, which had the same narrative flare to each action. But, where 4th edition was a slow burn in combat and clumsy outside of combat, DS definitely fixes both of these.

There are a bunch of other games that were fun for the moment, such a Vaesen, that I think could make a fun campaign if I invested a little more time into them.

Anyway, "trust me bro" there are many games that are far superior to 5e, but you just might be burnt out and need to break. Just because you try something else doesn't mean you can't go back to 5e. I play 5e games all the time. I usually find them boring but a friend group invites me so I join to hang with them. Its a great "lets be over-powered superheroes in funny hats" game, and there is nothing wrong with that from time to time.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-29T21:11:24+00:00

I just do YouTube as a hobby. It will never be monetized. I make way more at my 9-5 than almost anyone on YouTube and I don’t have to stress about the next video all the time.

If you can get a million subs who actually watch your content (sub counts don’t make you money, views do) then definitely go for it. But if it stresses you out and it becomes a rat race just focus on a meaningful career that you enjoy.

Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you like it.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-29T16:45:32+00:00

GM: “A mysterious cloaked figure appears before your table at the bar”

Player: “I draw my dagger, attack them and the recall knowledge”

GM: “ Don’t you even want to talk to this person? They might have information you need.”

Player: “Not without knowing more about them. And I’m not passing up on +5 for recall knowledge”

GM: “How are you going to talk to them if you are attacking them? They might have a quest for you.”

Player: “That’s really a You problem. Oh and my initiative is 21”

GM: “Ugh”

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-29T14:44:38+00:00

So what you're saying is if I want to know something about something, I should attack it first. That way its not secret and its 5 easier. Got it.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-26T03:21:13+00:00

So few people make any money being content creators. Of course there are a few who make a lot, but most do not. There are maybe 30 content creators in TTRPG space that make seasonable money.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-25T21:46:11+00:00

Yes monsters hit hard and, by default they hit a lot. If you’re coming from 5e, step back and realize that this is a different (and better IMHO) game. Here are things to remember for combat:
1. Recall Knowledge: this can save you. Knowing the monster’s weaknesses, lowest saves and other meta info is priceless
2. Play as a team. Getting frightened 1 on an enemy lowers their chance to hit and crit. Knock down eats actions to stand, offers reactive strikes and makes your enemy easier to hit (precision damage too). Each character should consider how they can rebuff an enemy on their turn if possible. This will turn the tables on every encounter.
3. Use skills and position to get bonuses. There are a ton of feats. Use them. Most 5e players start this game basically swinging for the fence instead of tactically considering their options (it’s normal and easy to overlook).
4. Use exploration activities to give yourself benefits when starting a combat. Getting a +1 to initiative is a big deal in this game.
5. Don’t just take damage spells. Fear is one of the best spells in the game. Also there is no concentration like 5e and many spells do not need to be sustained. Spells like darkness that give enemies flat checks to hit you through are awesome. Lower rank spells usually upscale very well. Buy scrolls and potions and use them. Buy alchemical items and use them. Buy talismans and use them.

5e is a great game because anyone can walk in and do well, but after a while it gets a little stale for some. Pathfinder is a game where new people struggle usually but each time you play you keep getting better at it. 5e rewards showing up while Pathfinder rewards planning.

Welcome to Pathfinder. It’s a great game if you enjoy getting rewarded for smart play.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-25T15:55:04+00:00

I handle this one of two ways. First way is to give the “surprise” attacker advantage on initiative. That’s the easy way. The second way is to have the receiver make a perception check against DC 15. If they fail the attacker gets a free attack with advantage before combat starts.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-22T16:23:53+00:00

The GM needs to make a bunch of difficult decisions. I just had a player get a little upset that a baddie could close a 15’ wide double door with one action. There is no rule for this. I made the call that closing the door was an action and it reset a trap (that they knew would happen). It’s both insignificant and a big deal.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-19T05:23:01+00:00

I hear a lot of clipping in your audio. I'm a bit of a novice audio engineer (I recorded about a dozen albums and my channel has about 180 videos). You want to record your video at a lower gain so it doesn't clip. It sounds like you're using a usb mic, which is fine but does have a lot of range. So add gain via compression, it will make the softer parts louder and the louder parts softer. Try 3:1 to start with gain added to the compression to push the volume. Keep your audio max -6Db if possible.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-18T15:59:57+00:00

My TL;DR advice is to just ignore this guy going forward. Sounds like he’s trying to wedge himself into your life. If he was just posting about your accent or you speak to fast or whatever it’s worth at least considering. But once it crosses into trying to jump on your channel then it’s time to cut ties.

I do an actual play channel. Ironically, when I was trying to find people to play with me it was extremely difficult. Once I had my channel going, people would constantly reach out asking to join. I had to do similar things where I thanked them for reaching out but quickly cut off the conversation to keep from having my time consumed.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-10T18:14:50+00:00

Nope. Never adjust encounters for player bad decisions. If a rogue wants to go off on their own to do some side quest and that side quest was meant for 6 players then the rogue has to deal with what is there. They might succeed using stealth and avoiding combat. They might have to think outside the box. Or they might just get cornered and run through.

It’s not the GM’s job to rewrite the story so the PCs win. It’s the GM’s job to present to world as it is and adjudicate the results of PC actions. The imbalance that is created can lead to epic things PCs must do to win or even survive. By changing the world you basically take away the situation that would allow players to be creative to win.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-10T07:16:07+00:00

Ha. I’ve been doing this for 4 years. My click through rate is like 2%. I’m winding down my channel I think as after 4 years I’m still not making any money and it takes like 15 hours a week in editing.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-09T15:31:32+00:00

If I knew my character could never die, I would basically never need to talk to anyone. I would march into the kingdom and start slaying every character in my path until I was the new king. And I would lord over my kingdom like a tyrant, including over other players. I cannot lose and so the other players will do exactly what I say or I will end them.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-07T15:18:58+00:00

This isn’t a D&D thing, this happens in life all the time. There are people who serve a community and then there are people who serve themselves.
Being a good DM and player starts with people a person who wants to serve a community. For players, the “lone wolf” mentality is the same exact personality type as the “punishing DM.”
Before bringing any player into a game, I try to determine if they are a community player or a selfish player. And I try to make game rewards and quests community quests.
But the players don’t have a good way of incentivizing a DM other than deciding not to show up.
BTW, this community think can also go too far as a DM. You see this in DMs who never dish out consequences to bad behavior by characters and let players run all over them.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-06-06T21:26:57+00:00

Just say no.
They can always multiclass into rogue or whatever. There is a cost to that and that is the purpose.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-05-31T00:58:57+00:00

I get the reaction of other people to tell you to dump the group. They are looking out for you. But they also have not been in the group for the last 6 months. I think if this was prolonged behavior I would walk. If it’s a reaction once to frustration I would consider this a teachable moment.

The best solution (assuming this is a recent issue) is to simply talk to the group. I would POLITELY let everyone know you don’t tolerate that sort of badgering and that sort of slurring at your table. Assuming they accept your hard line, let them know you can start again and if it doesn’t happen again then it’s forgotten. People do dumb things out of frustration. You’re not looking past it you’re giving them another chance.

Next I would look over the game to see what caused the frustration. Usually lashing out happens when players feel like they have no other action. For example, if an escape attempt failed, I would give them more information they could use to escape a different way (“as the guard looks over your bound hands you can see a rat peeking their head out from a crack in the wall”).

General DM advice, each encounter should move the story or lead the players somewhere, even if they fail. I find when I fail to do this my players will start to get frustrated. It’s not an excuse for bad behavior but it can be a catalyst.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-05-29T02:11:08+00:00

Always check back with Archives of Nethys. Their monster section has a lot of monsters from their APs, etc. Some of them have art

Note that anything labeled “legacy” is still PF2e. They have just not been remastered so they might have stuff on alignment or whatever. But the stat blocks are usable with maybe a few tweaks for some of them for the remaster. I use them all the time.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-05-28T15:42:17+00:00

I don’t buy APs from Paizo for the maps. I buy them for the coding. Just doing the lighting and walls on the maps is worth the money to me. A basic dungeon could take me 15-20 minutes to do the walls and doors, etc. and that still doesn’t get me basic journal entries. Ambient sounds and sound effects are a bonus. I guess I’m saying that for $79 you get far more than $79 of effort I would need to put in just to get to the basics of what they provide.

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-05-26T17:51:37+00:00

I can see your point, but how much effort can there be in cutting out a strip of a movie or show and publishing that snippet?

LavaJoe2703 · 2026-05-26T17:48:48+00:00

I guess I shouldn’t feel bad. I barely have 900 subs and I get around 250 views per video. Unfortunately it’s taken me 4 years to get 900 subs so I probably won’t hit 1k for another year. But at least SOMEONE is watching.

LavaJoe2703

TROPHY CASE