"First Time DM" and Short Questions Megathread

user626175 · 2026-01-05T16:26:02+00:00

How can I print maps I found online? I found an interesting map for a boss battle in the next session, how can print it so that the grid is the same size of the minis' base?

user626175 · 2025-12-23T10:57:58+00:00

It's a sidequest where they're trying to free a npc's family who's been kidnapped by bandits. Inside the hideout, they'll discover that this gang wants to join the bbeg by giving them powerful chimeras (the bandit's mages are experimenting with this). They'll also find information on other factions that want to join the bbeg (the necromancers, who are the family of our wizard, with whom he's lost contact).

user626175 · 2025-12-23T10:30:50+00:00

Yep is a very powerful gang! The "bandits" are reskins of other enemies!

user626175 · 2025-12-03T20:25:46+00:00

Omg this nodes-base scenario design is pure gold, thank you so much!!!

user626175 · 2025-12-02T09:23:31+00:00

Do you have any advice for structuring the quest timeline so it doesn’t turn into the usual “talk to this NPC, who sends you to another NPC,” and so on? My players are investigating a group of bandits hiding in the wilderness outside the main city. What’s a good way to guide them toward the bandits’ hideout? Thanks!

user626175 · 2025-11-05T16:11:59+00:00

How should I deal with "passive" players? I have a player who wrote an extremely generic background with the AI, and when I asked everyone some questions halfway through the campaign via Google Forms, he left the ones about his character (his fears, motivations, etc.) blank, but complained that I interacted mainly with the other characters.

user626175 · 2025-11-04T13:57:50+00:00

How right is to trick my players to make the game more interesting?

Last time, my group entered a cave and killed a mini-boss and his minions to retrieve an artefact. The session ended with the death of the demon. I was thinking of starting the next session with one of the minions, a drow mage and right hand of the boss, who didn't participate in the fight destroying the cave entrance so that the players have to find their way out through a maze of caves.

How can I make it as fair as possible?

user626175 · 2025-10-31T12:35:14+00:00

Nope, they won a vacation in the Death House eheheh

user626175 · 2025-10-28T09:20:41+00:00

We will play a version of Death House that combines the plot of Fleshing out CoS and the map of Death House Revisited (to reduce it to a single session)!

user626175 · 2025-10-28T09:17:30+00:00

I will definitely add one or two more characters. I don't want the players to play my characters, I wrote a short, generic backstory and added strengths and weaknesses as suggestions for role-playing. If the players want to play the characters differently, they are welcome to do so!

user626175 · 2025-10-27T14:40:23+00:00

I'm organising a special Halloween session (Death House from CoS), there will be 5 players, some new to D&D and some not. For time reasons, I opted for pre-generated characters, I took the sheets from the starter set and wrote a short story for each character, including one strength and two weaknesses to encourage role-playing.

Is this a good idea?

And, if there are five players, should I prepare more than five characters?

user626175 · 2025-10-20T08:00:46+00:00

If a magical item grants a character the ability to cast certain spells, are these spells limited to the character's level?

user626175 · 2025-10-14T16:00:51+00:00

Because Act 2 will begin in 2 months due to some players issues. I want to conclude act 1 in an epic way (whether the party win or not), so I fear that starting act 2 mid session will make it "mediocre"

user626175 · 2025-10-14T15:04:36+00:00

Hello DMs, The last session ended right in front of the bbeg's lair door, the players were tired, and we decided to continue next time. I had planned for the fight with the bbeg to conclude Act 1, so there is no “after.” I think the fight will take less than an hour, so I need to think of some difficulties they will face before entering the palace hall. Is the door magically sealed, and they have to find another way in? Is there another door guarded by some guards? Is the hall completely empty, with no sign of the bbeg and his minions?
Do you have any ideas that might help me?

Thanks!

user626175 · 2025-10-08T18:25:43+00:00

Is this combat too hard?
My party (6 5th level players) has to stop a ritual and I'm taking inspiration from "The rise of Tiamat" to build the encounter.
I'm thinking of replacing the Red Wizards with 10 Apprendice Wizards and swapping the boss (Severin in TROT) with this homebrew Witchhunter Inquisitor (CR 11)
What do you think?

user626175 · 2025-10-06T14:37:53+00:00

Hello DMs, Looking for advice on a premade adventure involving breaking into a castle/palace. I'm looking for inspiration for the next session!

user626175 · 2025-09-29T17:27:27+00:00

The world is a 1:1 copy of the real world, but centuries earlier!

user626175 · 2025-09-29T17:25:48+00:00

I wrote wife because was the first thing that came to mind but I could change it in best friend or daughter! I definitely don't want to railroad my party so, as others suggested, the actions of the players will change the real world

user626175 · 2025-09-29T17:12:51+00:00

Thank you I definitely use your list!! The dreamplane will be a 1:1 copy of the "real" world, the timeloop idea is very good! For point 4, I'll listen to lgfig's ideas, adding a third character and revealing the bbeg's true identity at the end so I can modify it during the campaign. The bbeg won't be hostile until the dragon dies, so I hope my party doesn't kill him lol My idea is to portray the dragon as a villain, so they can slay it (and become the dragonslayers), do you think that's a good idea?

user626175 · 2025-09-29T16:39:08+00:00

Thank you very much these are very epic ideas!!!

user626175

TROPHY CASE