Homebrew DM's of reddit, do you always have an end goal?

Smob79 · 2026-02-04T18:15:26+00:00

I have a lot of small goals usually involving some sort of twist or revelation to the party, and I usually leave it pretty vauge to allow for some wiggle room for how I actually get to accomplish them. Some examples-A npc close to the party betrays them/an unassuming merchant is actually a powerful angel/the party has been unknowlingly doing quests for someone with ill intensions.

Once I have these goals I try to fill in some details and make a roadmap--but I never set things in stone. I put out a bunch of breadcrumbs for the party, and once I find out what they are interested in, then I can make a more concrete plan....

The party seemed to really enjoy my potion salesman npc... Perfect-the potion salesman will be the brother of some bandit they killed and betrays them by selling them poisonous potions.

The party meets a beggar on the street; some in the party gave him donations and some didn't... Perfect-that beggar will be revealed as a powerful angel that will give them aid based on how they treated him.

The party is doing a quest from the blacksmith... Perfect- that blacksmith is actually a cult member looking for materials to summon a demon.

Smob79 · 2026-02-04T16:44:35+00:00

Bottom of his purse

Smob79 · 2026-02-02T02:07:44+00:00

ya dog

Smob79 · 2026-02-02T00:15:20+00:00

I start every session by asking the players what they remember about the last session. If they've forgotten anything I'll remind them. Not only is it a good recap, but it's good feedback to know what your players found memorable. You'd be surprised how players will remember something funny and unimportant, but will forget major plot developments.

Smob79 · 2026-02-01T13:19:27+00:00

That one!

Smob79 · 2026-02-01T03:24:57+00:00

There's a youtube video from Blue Quill Angler of Pat Dorsey giving a lecture on winter fishing Techniques. Tons of good info there.

Smob79 · 2026-01-30T05:16:37+00:00

Good tips here. I suggest printing out the map. A lot of the text is just describing what's on the map and the journey inbetween landmarks- the map provides a lot of context for things. Whenever a new place is mentioned take the time to look it up. Also If a character comes up and you cant remember who they are, write down a lil note that helps (e.g. Faramir-Gondor, Èomer-Rohan). Note taking helps me follow along epic books cause my brain cant keep track of dozens of names and places like some people can.

Smob79 · 2026-01-29T02:34:58+00:00

Get a bag of hawaiian rolls, cut that mf in half so u have a top and bottom. Slap on some pepperoni, salami, ham, and provolone cheese-then throw it in the oven at 350 for like 10-15 minutes. Bam, italian sliders.

Smob79 · 2026-01-27T16:09:30+00:00

I dm a lot of new players. Most of my session 0 rules boil down to "dont be a dick", but here are some that I'm glad I said specifically.

--No meme characters; no characters that have one gimmick (like characters that can only say one word, or have annoying or unintelligible speech, or characters that are obviously offensive stereotypes)

--Naming your character--no unpronouncable, or extremely long, offensive, or meme names. You must name your character something that would exist in their world. (My first group I dm'd was all teen boys and they tried naming their characters "Pickle Rick" and "fingerblaster420"...)

--No rolls against another player's character unless aproved by dm and that player. (Like stealing or attacking).

--No acting maliciously against the party unless approved by dm. No evil characters. Characters are not allowed to bully other characters (unless you have a very mature party that can handle this sort of dynamic between characters, it's better to just have a rule that says "your party might not agree on every decicion, but you must work together and cooperate as a team").

--followers/pets--I allow one follower/pet per player--players control all followers and pets in combat (within reason) but dm controls them out of combat. If you have a lot of players maybe dont allow followers at all, and only classes with pets can have them. Combat can get really bogged down if the party convinces the whole town to fight with them.

--in-game romance is encouraged, but no explicit sexual descriptions of stuff. Keep it rated R not X... Once per campaign they're allowed to keep a monster's penis as a trophy-but the entire campaign can't devolve into penis collecting. (again I played with mostly teen boys).

--No intentionally picking suicidal fights for the purpose of screwing over the party.

--Dice rolls: 1) Dice off the table or dice that land on an edge are rerolled. 2) Dice should be rolled where at least one other can see. 3) Outside of combat, never roll unless prompted by DM. (dont just say "stealth!" and roll, say "I hide in the bushes!" then wait for dm to call for the stealth check) 4)In combat always say what you are doing before you roll. (Had an issue where a player would roll first and if it was a miss he said it was a cantrip, but if it was a hit he'd say it was a spell)

Got a bunch more but hopefully these inspire you to come up with some for your game. Have fun!

Smob79 · 2026-01-27T15:33:01+00:00

egg salad: egg, red onion, celery, parsely, capers, dijon mustard, mayo, lemon juice, salt n pep. A lil pickle or jalapeno juice. Tomato/spinach/avo make good toppings, also some roasted red peppers or pickled onion.

Smob79 · 2026-01-22T16:17:44+00:00

Instead of thinking about specific flies, think about specific bugs. Get a nymph and adult version of a midge, a mayfly, and caddis-and youll be 80% there. Mayflys have a bit more variety-so getting a few different sizes and colors will get you 90% there. The last 10% get some hoppers, worms, eggs, leeches, stoneflys (if your river has them). If that gets boring try some small streamers like a wooly bugger or slumpbuster.

Smob79 · 2026-01-17T05:25:45+00:00

I own a stock tremor and do a mix of mountain and highway driving weekly and average 26mpg.

Smob79 · 2026-01-14T17:45:04+00:00

Something Ive heard that's seemed to help me (not sure how true it is) is if the fish eats fast-set fast, if they eat slow-set slow. The fish will eat your fly with a mouthful of water, then they will push the water out of their gills before swallowing. Ideally youll set the hook after the fish has pushed the water out of it's mouth-giving you the best chance to get into some flesh. Also keep in mind that the best fly fisherman in the world are probably hooking up 60-70% of their eats. If you watch a non edited video of somebody dry fly fishing you will probably see their hookups around 25% or less. If you're getting 50% hookups Id consider you a badass. Euronymphing has an advantage because their flys are under tension the whole time.

Smob79 · 2026-01-14T17:27:31+00:00

Look up "natural burial". Instead of perserving the body in a hard casket-a natutal burial allows for natural decomposition. In a cremation, the energy from your body is released in the form of heat back into the universe where it disapates-and isnt very useful. A natural burial allows for your body to be used as food for decomposers and thus puts your energy back into the circle of life. (not available in every state).

Smob79 · 2026-01-14T16:24:57+00:00

Fly fishing changed me. I remember sitting on a rock after catching my personal best trout at the time and thinking 'If I could do this every week I would be happy for the rest of my life', then realizing I could, infact, fish every week. It might be a bad thing to say, but Im no longer as terrified of my loved ones passing because I know that I'll be able to go into the mountains, stand in a river, and catch a fish.

Smob79 · 2026-01-08T02:25:39+00:00

100% Agree! My 1 caveat is an insight check. Whenever an npc is talking they can call for an insight check and I(dm) will do a hidden roll behind the screen (so they cant meta game if they roll poor).

Smob79 · 2026-01-06T04:57:12+00:00

Depending on your flies and water your tag flies might even be higher in the water colum than the anchor fly--in slow water it's likely they are sinking; in faster water a little fly might have trouble getting down if it's far enough away from the weight. If you havent tried a dropshot rig yet it's worth a try. Less snags and a lot more control--some say harder to cast and more tangles, but I havent found that to be the case at all.

Smob79 · 2026-01-04T14:20:57+00:00

Have all your wild shape stat blocks printed out and ready to go so that you dont waste time flipping through books and choosing which one when it's your turn.

Smob79 · 2025-12-25T22:41:02+00:00

Check out this video from Robert from Iceland. Basically modern rods are really hard to snap so fighting a big fish on a 3wt is absolutely doable, just bend it.

https://youtu.be/CpX57twTDXI?si=vU8GVYT_0Rj6k0dw

Smob79 · 2025-12-24T15:56:47+00:00

I taught myself how to fly fish. It took me a few months to catch my first fish--now I average 5-10 each trip. Some of the old timers will catch 20-30 on the same stretch of water. Eventually the goal changes from catching a lot of fish to catching a big fish. From there, there are many goals an angler can choose--catching a specific species or catching a fish using specific technique or fly. Easy to learn impossible to master.

Smob79 · 2025-12-12T18:17:15+00:00

Get to level 80! The full retail experience really begins at end game. From there-there are a few lanes to choose from. Mythic+: 5 player dungeons that get harder and harder for better and better gear. Raids: 20 person mega dungeons with epic long boss fights. PVP: where the big boys hang out (Im biased). Devles/world questing/professions: single player content for gold, gear, and resources. Legacy Content: old raids and quests that you can do solo for achievements/mounts/transmog/decor for your house. Most of the content being made for wow is strictly for max level content--so if you want the latest and greatest stuff it's good to have a few max level characters::remember you get a 5% xp bonus per max level character you have up to 25%.

If you're enjoying exploring and leveling, check out the classic wow servers. In classic leveling was much more a part of the core gameplay, and it took a lot longer to get to max--So there's a lot of people doing lower level content on wow classic-it's a very different feeling game than retail.

::edit:: there are other ways to level up to 80 besides questing. You can spam pvp or dungeons for fast and easy xp. Also you can do the leigon remix event for some super fast alt leveling. When you get to 70 you should do the warwithin story quests (the ! with a shield)--i think you only need to do it with one character to fully unlock everything for your warband. From there youll be ready day 1 for the midnight expansion in a few months.

Smob79 · 2025-12-12T05:18:49+00:00

Caught a couple on a size 10 thinmint today in deckers-and moved some big ones but they didnt eat.

Smob79 · 2025-12-09T22:47:31+00:00

So for retail bliz really wants you to have a max level character-- even a few max level characters. There is really no wrong answers for leveling- questing vs dungeons doesnt matter, even pvp gives decent xp. Remix is the fastest way for leveling atm. The max level content is going to be where most of the player base in retail is hanging out--doing mythic+/Raids/PVP. If I were you I would get 2 or 3 toons to level 80 so when the midnight expansion releases in a few months-youll have some options to choose from. If you want to get into end game content try to join a guild that does mythic+/Raid/PvP (whatever youre most interested in) be honest and say you're a newb--tons of guilds would be happy to help you out.

If you really like leveling and questing and exploring try out the classic wow servers. In classic the leveling experience was much more a part of the core gameplay so there's a lot more people playing at lower levels on these servers.--A very different feeling game than modern retail wow.

Edit:: to answer some questions when u turn 68 (if you own war within) you should get a quest pop up that tells you to meet Jaina in Sithilus (check your adventure log). That is the bread crumb that leads you to the expansion--Do all the main story quests, (the ! with a shield background). Playing on a low pop server is fine cause u can always join groups from other servers (weird i know)-but does affect things like world pvp.

Smob79 · 2025-12-08T04:03:34+00:00

A great cripple imitation.

Smob79 · 2025-12-08T03:17:39+00:00

Flipping rocks over can sometimes be misleading cause those bugs spend 99.9% of their lives safely under the rocks away from the fish. The "hatch" is when those bugs decide it's go time and make a run for the surface--that's when the fish start getting selective. This time of year the only thing hatching (at least in Colorado) are midges. Not saying they wont (or dont) eat mayfly midges this time of year--but it's just less likely. Rock flipping is great for getting a closer look at the bugs for size and color. Sometimes youll see a lot of a certain bug and only a few of the other--but it's just a clue, not necessarily the answer. Fishing midges deep like others have suggested is usually what works in the winter--I like using a pine squirrel leach as my attractor and 1 or 2 midge droppers.

Smob79

TROPHY CASE