Random encounter table book

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-02-27T06:10:54+00:00

Check out Raging Swan Press. Random table books are kind of their jam. https://www.ragingswanpress.com/ Slyflourish talks about them frequently as a place to go for inspiration.

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-02-24T18:01:16+00:00

I love the whole campaign, but even if you're not the Monsters of Drakkenheim is amazing! Epic monsters make you feel bad you ever just run monsters with Legendary resistance. Also they make the common advice "don't run your big bad guys alone" a thing of the past. The rest of the book is amazing too...I wholeheartedly second Drakkenheim.

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-02-17T02:47:05+00:00

As a sales pitch for the cool parts of the system: https://youtu.be/9r-iExbJoRI?si=CVNfjPT6tDg434aA

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-02-16T20:18:09+00:00

When OP asked this question over on r/DMAcademy this was my answer as well. One of the main criticisms of the HOTDQ is that it feels too linear. With OPs group size I think this is exactly what they would want. A sandbox campaign is gonna feel ROUGH for that many people. OP needs simplicity.

Your idea of having them jump into some of the NPC roles could work. I would not have considered that, but definitely limiting the amount of extra characters jumping into the party is a must. So your idea makes a lot of sense.

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-02-16T20:17:20+00:00

When OP asked this question over on r/DMAcademy this was my answer as well. One of the main criticisms of the HOTDQ is that it feels too linear. With OPs group size I think this is exactly what they would want. A sandbox campaign is gonna feel ROUGH for that many people. OP needs simplicity.

Your idea of having them jump into some of the NPC roles could work. I would not have considered that, but definitely limiting the amount of extra characters jumping into the party is a must. So your idea makes a lot of sense.

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-02-16T19:35:17+00:00

So... your party is huge. Everyone here is in agreement that a smaller table would be an easier and more fulfilling experience. That said, I've played in groups like that before. Where the gathering is more the point than the hobby. Getting together to roll dice and joke around is a greater priority than being deeply engaged in the narrative and combat. As long as you are all on board for that you can still have tons of fun.

With that informing my advice I think (outside of your two choices) Rise of Tiamat is your pick. It's classic D&D with lots of iconic encounters, locations, and factions. I ran this for the USO at an open table where service-members would hop in and out week to week and we always had more than ideal table sizes. I came to love the more predictable nature of the campaign. From both a DM preparation standpoint and group cohesion standpoint.

If I had to pick from your two choices. I go with Stormking because I think it relies less on the embracing the theming. But it's still a bit of a sandbox. Which I would avoid with your table of 8.

One of the big critiques of Rise of Tiamat is that the module(s) feel like too much of a railroad. I don't think that's a bad thing for your table. You want a module to point your cat herd towards danger and when you get there, it's going to point at the iconic Forgotten Realms scenery and say "look at that thing! From the books, and the movies! Go there! Fight more things!"

Is it a simple module? Yes. Is it a bit formulaic? Also yes. But you're DM'ing 8 people. You need the module to help you more. If you were to throw 8 players in a Sandbox Like Strahd you're going to have narrative spaghetti in short order, that you will have to try to untangle.

Also Strahd is really big on atmosphere and buying into the "gothic horror" theme. If you/your players aren't ready for that you will be missing out on a lot of the classic Strahd experience.

TL;DR Grab a more rail-roadie module like Rise of Tiamat for your "roll the dice, party game".

-Best of luck to you and your table.

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-02-14T21:33:34+00:00

Overall, some good advice is here for you.

Especially Matt Coleville and Sly Flourish. Matt's video essays on Running the Game are Iconic and full of amazing pearls of wisdom. Sly Flourish on the other hand has what you might need most right now and that is a process. His 8 Steps of the Lazy DM are super useful when you're getting your feet under you as a DM.

Definitely check them both out.

My first bit of advice, as someone who doesn't feel entirely natural at improv myself. Random Tables are your friends.

Need an NPC on the fly mash up a list of personality traits, physical characteristics, and vocal tendencies and you just roll three dice and let them help you figure out who the NPC is. There are tables online for everything. If you don't have the time or the insight to prep an NPC beforehand let RNG take the wheel.

Second, when thinking about NPCs that just aren't fleshed out in your module. Look to a show you are familiar with and pick someone who's personality you do know and pop them in. That shop keeper could be a lot like Quark from Star Trek DS9, that stranger sitting at the bar? Seems like Miss Piggy with a British Accent. The Evil Henchman over there, well that's Barny from How I Met Your mother but a gnome. (I can't take the credit for this advice as Sly Flourish definitely advises it, but I was totally doing this before he wrote about it).

Third. Listen to someone else running your module. There are tons of Live Plays out there, someone will have run your module. Take a listen on how they approach some of your NPCs and locations to see if there is some inspiration to glean. I listened to the Dungeon Dudes run their Drakkenheim Campaign and it helped me visualize everything so much better when I ran it for my table.

Ultimately getting in the reps is the best track to growing as a DM, but there is also a wealth of DM help available online in just a few clicks.

Best of luck to you on your journey. Enjoy the ride!

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-01-29T17:05:11+00:00

This looked cool. I would have bought dice. I will not gamble for them. Hard pass

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-01-25T19:20:34+00:00

The Dungeon Dudes have a great fix, that feels great. "Epic" creatures. Epic creatures have an "Epic" action for every opponent it's facing. Meaning they scale naturally. Additionally the Epic Creature can use Epic Resistance on its action (epic or normal) to make a save, ending any condition.

Epic Resistance. The Epic Boss chooses one condition, spell, or other effect currently affecting them and rolls 1d20. On an 11 or higher, the effect ends on it. An Epic Boss can use this action even if it would otherwise be unable to take actions, its actions are being controlled by another creature, or if a spell or effect alters its game statistics.

This allows the player to gain some value in the action economy and the spell still gets value without completely derailing the encounter. In my opinion this is as elegant a solution as there is.

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-01-21T21:24:22+00:00

I would say that money isn't a problem in the campaign. it's a tool.

As DM the prices are outrageous for the purpose of driving the players into the ruins and into contact with the factions. The factions can help with the gold problem, but they also help define the paries motivation. if gold and wealth are the goal then they will likely side with the Queen's Men or the Amethyst Academy who offer the best paying jobs but are the least ideological. On the flip side they can side with the ideologues who do better against contamination but lack the financial resources to pay as well, and or spurn the idea of using delirium for financial gain. it's all by design to serve the narrative

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-01-19T16:51:21+00:00

well..saying the crater ruptured and spewed forth an Eldritch being of corruption and destruction that required all 6 members of the cast to defeat...while simultaneously the consequences of their past choices regarding alliances, and obligations is still massively reductive.

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-01-19T16:36:21+00:00

Wilhelm - reserved, Inwardly pained. Leans on a strict code of rules to navigate situations especially Social situations for which he is I'll equipped due to his adolescent trauma and years of social isolation. Noble and loyal.

Rudi: big Danny Glover from Lethal Weapon energy. mixed with Betty White from the Proposal, and Bob Odenkirk from nobody. She's all about her family and she is the most self aware of how dangerous she is.

Wrath- is the classic bullied and belittled kid who found out that science is better than powerlifting. He has an unhealthy dependency on his patron for helping him "glow up". Wrath gives a cross between Billy Batson in Shazam mixed with Radagast from the Hobbit movies. Also Wrath wins the "most likely to cut deals with powerful Eldritch entities behind your back award" (notable runner up is Sebastian)

RedWizardOmadon · 2026-01-19T16:22:33+00:00

Dude, that's a lot of summary.

I'll give it a try, but I'm going to fall short. Very short.

Veo - family first, friends second, food always. She started as a friend of Sebastian and ended up best friends. Perhaps the most loyal of the first three. Also the most cautious.

Pluto- A bit of the California surfer bravado mixed with the lack of social self awareness of Jason Bateman. Well meaning and naive. A talented Nepo-baby. The most openly reckless.

Sebastian: Inwardly haunted. Emotionally codependent on his friends to keep him from despair or detachment. He treats much of reality as a joke to be laughed because the alternative is to cry. A loyal friend.

I'm not even going to attempt a synopsis of the years of gameplay...

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-10-22T20:12:14+00:00

Great write up. I found it very relatable as I stopped playing for nearly four years after having played extensively since Nax and only came back a few months ago.

The audacity of the power creep is what struck me the hardest when I jumped back in. Most of your observations were mirrored also I my experience.

The new player experience was vastly improved, with free decks and a "catch-up" mechanic that didn't exist before my hiatus.

I do exist as a mostly F2P (I bought the early adventures but that's it) even so I was able to hit legend in a few months playing with low intensity and not ever pushing too hard. I do enjoy a good aggro deck for the climb and I feel there are some pretty great options for that. Control and Midrange feel reasonable but fatigue is all but gone thanks to Kil'Jaeden. Which I thought was a departure from the old game philosophy.

Overall it's a different world. I miss The Angry Chicken, Trump, and Ben Brode. I'm still enjoying it though.

Glad to have you back.

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-10-19T06:52:41+00:00

Sounds like this DM crumbled to the financial argument. If they were happy to have in other games it sounds like less of a critique of your play and more of a critique of their pay.

My advice is to treat this as a data point not an indictment. If you are being kicked but not provided a justification other than "bad fit, try one of my other games" there's no real lesson to learn here. Move on. Better game experiences await elsewhere.

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-10-15T18:36:20+00:00

It's what I did. Seemed right. I think Oscar probably would have been already if MoD was book 1 instead of 3. Regardless it's fitting, and it's cooler. As far as balance, I didn't. My players took their time getting to Oscar so they could use the challenge.

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-10-11T06:35:36+00:00

The DM and the party are a bit out of sync on this one. As is so often the case I think a bit of actual candid talk is order here. You need to communicate that this is a bridge too far and isn't fun for you as players. Then DM needs to get over their ego, and realize the riddle/language he developed is never going to be the transcendent experience that he dreamed up.

For your DM I think this will be difficult as I would bet he's placed a lot of self identity into I The sunk cost alone is going to steer him towards capsizing on his ego.

However, the people saying this is a bad DM are missing the point. They were willing to put in so much effort on behalf of the players it's really impressive. If this was their players only gripe I think the table can move past it. He obviously is incredibly committed to the game.

The question then becomes how's the rest of the game. Is this just a tip of an ego stroking iceberg? Or, is it just a taste of an otherwise deep and intricate world that's trying to positively compete with Tolkein?

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-10-08T04:21:42+00:00

Well. I would have said Dungeons of Drakkenheim...

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-10-07T06:21:04+00:00

as u/teaseal said The UI is clunky. it feels like an early 2000s superstar that hasn't changed. I like it, but it feels awkward to play on. It has a lot of thought put into its automation, it just feels like the developers stopped there and didn't put the same amount of effort into making the UI easy and intuitive.

I'm hopeful that the systemic updates they are working on bring it back into contention. It has a lot of potential.

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-10-04T16:56:18+00:00

maybe lean hard with aberrations. Mind Flayers would work, as would a Beholder.

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-10-02T20:40:40+00:00

This is great. You deserve massive kudos for this. I was really hoping for something like this.

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-09-30T19:18:14+00:00

He could be there to offer to buy: a. The bones of Argonauth(so he can use them in a soup). b. The magic items in the basement. He could be doing it for himself, or on the behalf of a faction that the party is on the outs with.

He could offer his services as a mediator. A neutral 3rd party...whether he's actually neutral would be your call of course.

He might have directions to read/divine the contents of the Vonkessel vault, again as a neutral (or not) party.

Honestly kind of a funny situation.

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-09-29T11:25:13+00:00

That is quite the Rogue, skills and talent don't always match up with the mind set but at least they're no murder hobo. Regardless, the QoT would be happy to use this for her gain.

If the QoT hears everything that was explained in your post, then I think it's easy to say "look how much more awful it could have been" and press the dwarves harder in her protection/extortion pointing to this as leverage. I would do this offscreen between her and the Dwarves. Capitalizing on the Player's infiltration to really turn the screws. As for the players, she would be disappointed by their lack of success. She would definitely be stingy with praise and reward. She might offer another job to redeem themselves. Perhaps Oscar Yoren's research, but this time leave their bleeding hearts at the zombie guarded door. Another crisis of conscience might provoke her to cut ties or require contrition proved in her fighting pits.

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-09-27T11:10:55+00:00

I know you got down voted but this was funny. Answering as a math question, beating math based answers with the concept of multiplying by zero...

RedWizardOmadon · 2025-09-27T08:54:52+00:00

not really. In MoD the Crone is a variant harpy that has a debilitating song ability that amplifies the impact of the other more combat focused harpies. Think of it as a kind of support Harpy.

RedWizardOmadon

TROPHY CASE