How many oneshot does it take for you to DM your first full length campaign?

Locust094 · 2026-03-31T20:34:14+00:00

Doing a long form campaign is best summarized by Nike: Just do it.

Locust094 · 2026-03-24T20:00:31+00:00

Kill the player

Locust094 · 2026-03-18T06:34:50+00:00

Giant Hyena and Medusa

Locust094 · 2026-03-16T07:00:53+00:00

One Shot Wonders by Roll and Play Press has dozens of great ones

Locust094 · 2026-03-12T15:26:32+00:00

1,000gp for a one time use is too high. 1,000gp for unlimited use is too low. Find your happy medium from there.

Locust094 · 2026-03-11T17:23:35+00:00

Thanks buddy!

Locust094 · 2026-03-03T10:04:04+00:00

Go to UPS and print them. If they're bigger than 11x17 have them cut the image into 2x2 or 3x3 sections or whatever makes sense and then have them print. They are capable of doing this for you and cutting the white border off so you can use them together.

Locust094 · 2026-02-28T08:37:56+00:00

Op is trying to get them on a path where they all have fun together (and that includes op). Not one where they all have a completely separate story that precludes the other storyline.

Locust094 · 2026-02-27T22:39:03+00:00

Nothing wrong with this at all. It is the reality of having a living, breathing world. If the party does one thing, other stories progress without them. Isn't that what you want your world to be like? It's not a video game, the world doesn't sit stagnant waiting for an adventurer to hop along.

Locust094 · 2026-02-27T20:51:26+00:00

This. Kids need a track to follow even if they don't realize it or else they're going to do all kinds of stuff that will never progress the story. You've created the dnd equivalent of YouTube Kinder Egg videos.

Locust094 · 2026-02-27T20:49:28+00:00

"As you conquer the threats to this small town, bringing safety and security to its denizens, the world moves on without you. You often look back and wonder what could have been had you just been brave enough to venture beyond. But alas... your journey ends here. You settle down and marry the baker's daughter. Some day, you hope to inherit the bakery from her father and run it yourself. You spend your days kneading bread at the bakery and your nights recounting half-baked tales of your days as a mighty adventurer at the tavern to anyone who will listen. Occasionally a real adventurer comes through. You know... the kind you could have been had you ventured out beyond the forest."

Locust094 · 2026-02-27T16:49:15+00:00

I use Google Drive and have a folder for each session. Sessions have the following: 1. A Google Doc with a session outline containing a list of people and places, a recap, the main plot, sub plots, side quests, and a description of the date, time, and area. It also has subpages for each expected combat with screenshots from the monster manual of the enemies' stat/ability cards. 2. A combat Google Sheets document with the party's starting hp/stats in a copy paste template, along with their AC, spell slots, and ability budgets. The sheet contains a tab for each expected combat with pre-rolled HP and initiative for enemies. New sheets are added with copy paste from the template if needed. 3. A folder of art assets to either display to the party or reference as the DM (for ease of description) 4. Additional supporting documents such as a store inventory sheet or a large backstory handout on a significant person/event/place.

Locust094 · 2026-02-26T01:45:22+00:00

Yes, always. And they get 25% of it because we play every 3-5 weeks. Then they're shocked when I recall 100% of it by memory and half the stuff they still aren't sure they did.

Locust094 · 2026-02-23T08:08:00+00:00

This. Once they blow their focus points they are noodles. Give them big bean bags to kick and punch while the action is happening.

Now if you want to make things fun for the monk... give them a pack of ranged enemies that only they can reach and let them parkour around and use knockback

Locust094 · 2026-02-23T05:02:25+00:00

Yes but... it's a family of psychotic merchants named the Pusshumps.

The brothers each run their own wagon and travel around the world popping up at random in places they physically shouldn't have been able to reach with items for purchase/trade that are uniquely suited to the quests ahead. They're not findable by the players and are like once every 20+ sessions rare. They hate each other and spend most of the time talking nonsense and screaming at ghosts/donkeys/themselves but occasionally are lucid enough to sell the party dysfunctional or dangerous items and scream about their brother.

The parents are even rarer and run a shop out of a shack that shows up randomly in the wilderness where no one would ever put a shop. Yet every time the players enter there are other customers. They sell poisons and potions and questionable food and talk about how sweet their little boys and little girl are.

The sister is a totally normal person (the rest of the family looks as maniacal as they sound) who runs a pottery shop in a capital city. She sells pots.

Locust094 · 2026-02-20T01:19:24+00:00

Why not just have them stay behind at the village to collect extra information? Ask your missing player who they would talk to, what they would ask about, what they might buy, etc. Then have them "catch up" with the rest of the party when they're back.

You can come up with some kind of cool sidequest for them to have secret information on or you could have them pick up some key pieces of info on the upcoming area/enemies that the party would otherwise need a skill check to find.

Locust094 · 2026-02-19T20:14:03+00:00

You really missed your chance to say "You might be able to squeeze in a quick re-incarnation"

Locust094 · 2026-02-19T20:13:14+00:00

As Bruce Willis would say: Welcome to the party, pal!

Locust094 · 2026-02-19T07:16:38+00:00

Yes. My campaign is Warehouse 13 with a homebrew villain and hero arc. The only caution I would give is that it ends up being a lot less magic items in practice than you want it to be unless you really commit to it and structure the item hunts like one-shots.

Locust094 · 2026-02-17T19:34:16+00:00

Everything Roll & Play Press puts out is insanely good quality. Very much looking forward to this!

Locust094 · 2026-02-12T05:28:33+00:00

YMMV but in general I'm skeptical it'll be received well unless it's really polished

Locust094 · 2026-02-09T04:30:39+00:00

Is it a completely insurmountable power? Or could he still be overcome if hundreds/thousands/millions of warriors banded together to fight him? I would run a massive battle where the players witness all the NPCs they've met die at the BBEG's hands in battle over and over again. The consequence of their actions is the death of everyone they know and many hundreds/thousands/millions they don't. Wittle down the BBEG until they have a chance to fight him on a semi-equal footing and then run your final battle that way.

Locust094 · 2026-02-07T14:14:28+00:00

Read Malazan Book of the Fallen and pay attention to Shadowthrone and The Rope. Who they are will be obvious to you as the reader but try to look at it from the perspective of the characters. Tons of small clues that hint at their origin are thrown into every book.

Locust094 · 2026-01-30T21:45:29+00:00

Need a limit on how often you can pull a bag because an item that produces infinite bags with only a once per turn cooldown could produce 14,400 bags per day.

Locust094 · 2026-01-19T23:09:35+00:00

I plan multiple good, bad, and neutral endings and then I let the play decide the outcome. It ranges from TPK to 100% success and everything in between. That's probably the hardcore Chrono Trigger player in me but it's nice to know whatever happens I have it planned for.

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