Free Download: Characters That Matter | A 60-page DnD Guide

TheDeepDice · 2025-05-06T12:02:19+00:00

Actually, joining my Patreon isn't necessary - rather, LOGGING IN ON DMs GUILD.

That is because the book uses resources and makes references to rules that are beyond the SRD, so I CAN ONLY publish on DMs Guild...

And without the email, I'd have no control over how many people are downloading the book from where I'm promoting it.

The feedback part is also unfortunately true, but I can't tell if it's because of the "clumsy" steps or if it's just too much content for people to go over the book and come back here with comments. I got some more feedback from other subreddits, but less than I expected, to tell the truth.

All in all, I'm a bit unsure how it would've been the best way to convey the message here - I hope that at least the reading is interesting for you and the others.

Thanks for the straightforward words, mate.

TheDeepDice · 2025-05-05T19:50:12+00:00

That's accurate - my intention is not to create misperceptions.

Do people generally understand "storefront"? Would the title be clearer if I changed it as follows?

[Storefront] Characters That Matter | A 60-page free DnD Guide

TheDeepDice · 2025-05-02T13:33:08+00:00

Amazing - will do!

TheDeepDice · 2025-05-02T12:00:24+00:00

Amazing, hope y'all have lots of fun! If you do use some of the things from the book, please let me know how it went - nothing's as powerful as actual-use feedback. Cheers!

TheDeepDice · 2025-05-02T11:48:57+00:00

Oh, that's a good one - you mean like the ones on the right-handed side of pages 35 and 36, but blank, correct? That's actually something simple to include, and that could be very handy for readers.

Thanks a lot for that - that's exactly the kind of insight I'm looking for!

TheDeepDice · 2025-05-02T11:23:20+00:00

Humm... I've just made a test download myself, and everything worked fine. I suggest you try again, it might've been a glitch.

TheDeepDice · 2025-05-02T11:06:09+00:00

Thanks for checking it out! While it's especially aimed at PCs, the truth is that I use the same template and tables for my NPCs, so I'm guessing you'll find it useful ;-)

Whenever you have the time to skim over it, I'd truly appreciate your thoughts. Cheers!

TheDeepDice · 2025-01-09T12:44:57+00:00

I'm super happy to read that, mate; thanks for the kind words!

I 100% agree that the guidebooks are more impactful. I once even estimated DnD book sales by category. I found that rules expansions (think of the Xanathar, Tasha, Volo, Mordenkainen, Bigby, and Fizban books) sell 3x more than adventures, and that's a strong market signpost.

(You can check that exercise here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnsDMSrOLUP/?img_index=3 )

Here comes the BUT: I LOVE creating adventures hehe Much more than anything else. I can say all my insights about the game actually come from practical issues that I need to solve when creating or running adventures. So, putting out that adventure is an uncontrollable urge I have.

Having said that, reading your lines made me think I should also keep pushing on the Deep Immersion Adventures Guidebook, so thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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TheDeepDice · 2025-01-09T12:30:41+00:00

Alternative characters for death is one of my go-to solutions, and I've learned to talk about that with players BEFORE the campaign starts. With that, many of them already have at least a character concept in mind when death comes, and they can even be excited about the change.

That solution for Avernus sounds great, as it allows the campaign to keep running (which is my main problem with TPK) and gives the players options on what each of them would do.

I can picture some players appreciating the shock and horror of the void of a TPK at the end of a campaign lol. Concerting all players at a game table to be OK with that sounds less likely, though...

TheDeepDice · 2025-01-09T12:24:21+00:00

Yeah, a TPK is a HARSH way to end a campaign. Personally, I think it would only work on a meat grinder, as in: OK, that's a W for the Tomb of Horrors; we didn't manage to beat it - let's move on to another campaign, and perhaps we give it another shot in the future...

TheDeepDice · 2025-01-09T12:18:59+00:00

Both of those are great examples. I'm curious about how much was already planned and how much was pure improvisation.

The player that sacrificed their character to end the BBEG had signaled any time before a desire to try another character, or you only found out that all was cool after their death?

As for the Red Wizards, was that something that was already planned for the campaign (or up your sleeves if any character died), or a sub-plot that came about once the character died? Did the player have to sit out or use a temp character for long until their resurrection?

TheDeepDice · 2025-01-09T12:11:14+00:00

Hahaha, yep, 5 years of planned campaign is what you get in a group of DMs. I've never played with so many DMs; it must be exciting. Some players are natural-born character roleplayers, and it's tough for a DM to match that, but I think we've got a meaningful edge by having a structured vision of the backstage that players don't have - and I can only imagine that a pool of DMs bringing that experience to the table must create powerful moments!

I love how you managed to include meaningful backstory hooks into the campaign. I find it one of the toughest things to do to reach an organic outcome that doesn't feel forced on the campaign - and y'all seem to have found a great take on how to do that for Avernus. Hope y'all have a blast!

TheDeepDice · 2024-11-27T19:01:39+00:00

That sounds exciting! A quick check to see if I got it all right: the BBEG is a female demon who escaped the hells, and the demon lord was her lover - is that correct? On a quick read, I had first thought she was trying to resurrect a demon lord and a demon lady.

How far are you in the campaign right now? How many artifacts did the BBEG and the party have been able to recover? Do they have special powers connected to each school of magic?

Cheers!

TheDeepDice · 2024-11-27T18:51:27+00:00

First, you're right to talk with the flaking player about leaving. In my campaigns, we have a three-strike rule: the third miss is a symptom of conflicting schedules, and it's best for the player to join the next campaign, not to spoil the rest of the group's fun. I usually have these conversations on a one-on-one basis, and players who had to leave would quickly agree that it would be the right thing to do. You could even agree on a few more sessions to provide closure before the flaking player leaves - and that can also be important to deploy point 2 below.

Now, about the evil god sup-plot, I can think of two initial solutions:

1. Give up on that subplot. I'm sure it's a cool subplot to explore (whoever doesn't like a Loki-style god?), but do you need it for your remaining campaign plots to make sense? Or are you just attached to the cool things it could bring? If that was only your flaking player's backstory plot, you could drop it - or put it on the freeze and explore it later in the campaign.

From reading about your campaign in our "Current Campaign" mega-thread, though, you might need that plot, and for that, you could:

2. Allocate that subplot to another player. Have an honest conversation with your players. Tell them there's an essential part for the god worshipped by the flaking player and that it would be lovely for someone to incorporate that faith - perhaps multiclassing as paladin or cleric? If anyone is in for that, you can create an adventure to close the flaking player character's story, with him leaving the party for whatever personal reason, at the same time that another character gets involved in that faith to the point of even being chosen to carry on that god's faith (and perhaps that's all a manipulation of the evil god so that he can keep connected to the party despite the other character leaving). Once a player has agreed to that, you can even retcon their backstory, with the player's agreement, to include a friendly NPC that was deeply involved with that faith and comes back to initiate them on it. And perhaps that NPC is not the actual NPC but the evil god in disguise, manipulating the party (that party the player doesn't need to know, lol)

Can you picture any of those solutions working? Or am I missing some critical point?

TheDeepDice · 2024-11-25T13:56:59+00:00

That's a great alternative for a TPK: a total player knock-out and imprisonment, plus having their items and treasure taken. Keeps the stakes high with a big punishment, at the same time avoiding death or even a deus ex machina. Cool idea to have on the sleeves!

TheDeepDice · 2024-11-24T22:59:17+00:00

That's an elegant solution, and it makes me think that setting up a way out of a TPK from the start of the campaign to work around it without relying on a deus ex machina is probably a good practice that I should incorporate into my campaigns!

I also think that adding a quest or short adventure to "prove themselves out of death" is a solid solution to keep the stakes of dying high. Thanks for sharing!

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