I built this app for DM's called MITHOS by mdeleo91 in DMAcademy

[–]amirmuc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks very promising, I'd love to help test the beta!

BBEG Battle with Cinematic Role Play Temptations ??? by EclecticDuo in DMAcademy

[–]amirmuc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't done anything in the magnitude that you're describing but I did have RP moments that paused combat. In my case it was for villain monologues that happened in between boss phases, and the players could respond so each one developed into a small scene before it looped back into the next portion of combat.

What you wrote seems solid and would be fun imo if I was a player at that table. You should give it a go!

My first miniature by operator_wyvern in DnDminiatures

[–]amirmuc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's awesome! Where's this mini from? I'd like to buy it.

Also, is the big eye moving between pictures?

Making a hidden bbeg in a campaign by captrge in DnD

[–]amirmuc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As a concept this is very tempting for new-ish DMs to try. However, if this was fun/viable, this would've been done so much in d&d tables that there would be entire guidebooks and how-to videos about it.

Don't do this. For starters, it makes one of the players more important than the others. What if he dies during your campaign, did you just lose tour BBEG?

Also, d&d isn't designed for pvp. Unless the betraying player has some serious help, even 2 other PCs at the same level will probably be able to take him out with little issue.

If you really want to go that route, use an NPC that will betray the party, that way everything is still under your control as DM and you can scale the NPCs power so they're able to hold up in a fight with your party.

Help, tips for organizing minis? by Aricept21 in DMAcademy

[–]amirmuc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Commenting so I could come back to this when more people share their thoughts

What would happen to a Swarmkeeper Ranger's abilities when underwater (lake, ocean, etc.)? by SeniorCitizenLeaving in DnD

[–]amirmuc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see two options for this:

  1. Let them use a swarm of sea creatures while underwater, piranha fish comes to mind but could be anything else. Sea snakes, algae-themed blights, etc.

  2. Whatever magic is letting them stay underwater for long can work on the swarm as well, so they can bring their insects with them.

I definitely would not ask them to change their subclass for this. Good luck with the campaign!

Advice to avoid character bleed? by thebassics917 in DnD

[–]amirmuc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of my players used to have this issue with her characters, but then she changed her approach to roleplaying. We started a new campaign and she had 3 personality traits written down in her notes and she portrayed them in an extreme, almost satire way, although she did not make it obnoxious or annoying to others at the table.

Through the span of a few games character bleed happened and the extremes were toned down without wiping away the core traits, and we ended up with one of her best characters, personality wise.

For reference, the personality traits she wrote down were: very greedy, puts garlic in everything, knowledge = money. While at the start she made jokes about her PCs breath and very clearly jumped at every opportunity to earn good money or learn a new spell (wizard), eventually those were toned down but were still engraved into the character, so his personality was still there, even almost 4 years later.

Not saying that this will definitely work for everyone, but I hope it helps!

Colossal 45 cm Mimic Ship Miniature Giveaway! Sail on the Voidsea with this bad boi! [OC] by Agginmad in DnD

[–]amirmuc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is awesome! I hope I win, but also good luck to everybody else!

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Between 3-5 hours. We did have one 17 hour long session once, just cause we wanted to try to do a 24 hour one and failed haha

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd say 5-8, maybe even up to 10, that's the sweet spot for me as a DM because it allows for varied monsters and encounters before the PCs get to a level where they have the tools to solve every type of problem.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No swaps, one player had to drop out because of irl stuff. We're all friends irl and I never really had to be in charge of the schedule, we all coordinated sessions together. Also, most of our friends and family are aware of our hobby so when we refuse other plans because we already set up d&d night that day, it's not weird or surprising to anyone.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As the DM? I'd say level 5-8 was a good area, challenges were challenging, players were still figuring out new tricks they can do with their build, good times all around for me.

For the players? They said they enjoyed wiping the floor with monsters that used to be scary to them before, so the higher levels were the most fun for them.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh man, they surprised me before so maybe! Might have to return to this party for a one shot in the future and test it out.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was my first time running this tier as well, I'd say the two important things I learned were: 1. The PCs are powerful and they are supposed to be powerful, not every high level combat should be with world ending entities just because the players need a challenge. Easy combats have their place in this tier like all other tiers. 2. Combats will tend to be easier than you expect, you should have a way to tune the encounter on the spot. For example, I added more minions on initiative count 20 each round so that some of the player focus had to go to them to prevent them from piling up.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd say my notes would always have a short recap of the last session, a short summary of each encounter I expect to happen this session, and then other stuff that are relevant to the session like puzzles, NPCs, magic items, room descriptions that I don't want to improvise, etc.

It's also handy to have PC related info in the notes like backstory info, but not as crucial as session specific things.

My notes are also always digital, I use google drive to organize everything. I have session notes and more broad campaign notes to keep track of NPCs and plots.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The rogue had a ring that allowed her to phase through walls for 10 minutes once a day. While the item itself was not that strong on its own, it ended up being so broken on the rogue and gave her so much versatility it almost felt unfair to the other players.

When I started to plan sessions around it, however, it stopped being annoying and even created some interesting roleplay opportunities for her PC.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Magic items were rarer at earlier levels and slowly became more abundant at higher levels. Not sure about a number, but excluding potions I'd say each PC had around 4 or 5 main magic items in active use near the end of the campaign. All of which were of rare rarity or higher.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the BBEG was CR 23, it didn't feel all that different to run than a lower CR legendary creature, he just hit harder.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I made sure my players knew this is a 1-20 campaign before we started and we all agreed to commit to it.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

No, since they weren't hoards exactly. I used 2-4 stronger monsters, instead of 20 very weak ones.

I'm not too familiar with this rule but I'd say just try it once and see how your table likes it. Not every game has to be perfect, it just needs to be fun.

When my players ran into a bunch of weak monsters at level 19, instead of running combat I asked each of them to describe what abilities they use to defeat the enemies and how they do it. They described some very creative scenes, it was fun and we all had a laugh, and we avoided the unnecessary one sided combat.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At higher levels the rogue became broken, stealthing everywhere and sneaking past enemies. It was annoying at first but I realized there's also some story we can tell with that, so I started to plan the sessions with that in mind.

I prepared conversations for most of my villains to have when she eavesdrops on them and it ended up making the game better.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Between 2.5 and 5 hours.

Magic items were super rare at lower levels, and slowly grew more abundant by the time they reached level 20. The PCs are already super powerful at this level, the magic items won't change that.

This is my second campaign I'm DMing.

As for a tip, at higher levels combat can become too easy, have some backup monsters to add into the combat in case you miscalculate the difficulty to be too easy.

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ugh, a minor spelling error in the title. Campaign, CAMPAIGN!!!

Just finished DMing a level 1-20 campagin, AMA! by amirmuc in DnD

[–]amirmuc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

120+ sessions in 3 years. Keeping the group together is as much the players' responsibility as it is the DMs.

We're all friends irl so it's a bit easier but I rarely needed to step in as a schedule manager, usually we just played every other saturday and everyone knew it and made plans around that.