This is how I D&D
You cannot ask a question about Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) these days without clarifying what edition or hack you play.
And, I believe (and will hopefully show) that a lot of the misunderstandings (and prerequisite name-calling and bickering) between disparate D&D communities is due to not defining what edition they are playing and/or talking about.
Continue reading “It’s Not Just “Dungeons & Dragons” Anymore”
Recently, I posted a question on X/Twitter asking why sandbox worlds were so popular in the video game space, and quite frequently resisted or derided in the TTRPG space.
A lot of the comments I received were saying that it was too hard to create a sandbox campaign, it would take years, it would require a GM to dedicate months and years to creating the world, and so on.
But this is all incorrect.
Continue reading “Sandbox D&D Campaigns – Dealing With The Misconceptions”
One of the great things about the Dungeons And Dragons 3rd edition Monster Manual is the additional information they give you regarding monsters.
This includes the climate and terrain the monsters are found in, and their organisation (numbers appearing).
This blog post will focus on the latter.
Continue reading “Encounter Numbers – Using D&D 3e Monster Manual”
Reaction rolls are an old school mechanic in D&D that allows you to determine how an NPC or monster will react to the PCs.
This mostly forgotten mechanic (at least in the modern game) was a core rule in earlier versions of the game (OSR).
When the party came upon a random encounter with intelligent monsters, and the party decided to parley with them instead of attacking them, the GM would then roll a reaction check for the monsters.
What’s going to happen?
Let the simple D6 Mechanic decide for you.
This simple mechanic will allow you to add in some randomness to your Dungeons and Dragons sessions.
Instead of making decisions all the time, let the die decide for you.
All you have to do is decide on the odds.
A simple mechanic like the D6 Mechanic can be used at the table within seconds.
Let’s look at an example.
If you are not familiar with D20 Modern, it is a system that came out at the height of the D20 boom in the 2000s, which was powered by D&D 3rd edition.
Cashing in on the D20 craze, Wizard of the Coast released the D20 Modern around the same time as they released the D20 Star Wars RPG.
I never got into D20 Modern at the time, although I did have a copy which I skimmed through, but I managed to grab one off on eBay recently, and found some gems in there.
Here are my 8 take-aways from D20 Modern to use in my Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
Continue reading “8 Takeaways From D20 Modern To Use In Your Dungeons & Dragons Campaign”
Surprise in Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, as a rule, is okay.
Probably not as good as it was in 3rd edition, but it’s workable (I kind of dig the ‘surprise round’ concept or 3rd edition).
However, I think it would work easier if you simply made it a condition.
So, here it is:
Continue reading “Surprise As A Condition In D&D 5th Edition”
This is a bit of an on-going experiment, but I decided to strip Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition down to its core to see how close I could replicate the earlier editions of the game.
Or, in other words, make it more like an old school D&D or OSR (Old School Renaissance) game.
And surprisingly, it works pretty well.
Continue reading “How To Surprisingly Turn D&D 5e Into An Old School OSR Game”
I have been getting some feedback on my last article around making adjudications and using what I like to call the Common Sense test when making them.
Basically, the common sense test boils down to you asking yourself ‘does this make sense?’
And if it does, all good. But if it doesn’t then you are within your rights to change it. Or even disallow it.
Continue reading “Examples Of The Common Sense Test In Action”
Don’t be afraid of overruling the rules in Dungeons and Dragons.
You are the DM, which means you have final say. Even over what’s written in the books.
That’s not to say however, you should make up a whole bunch of random stuff whenever you feel like it.
There are some guidelines you need to stick to.
Continue reading “Overruling The Rules In D&D – With An In-Game Example”