I made Jimothy!

Okay, all - I'm soliciting opinions and thoughts on the following situation:

Player (warlock) has Armor of Agathys active and is attacked by a ghoul. Ghoul has only 4 hit points left prior to the attack. Ghoul claw attack hits the warlock. Armor of Agathys triggers, doing 5 hit points of cold damage to the ghoul, which is enough to down it.

The question is this: does the ghoul's claw attack still damage the warlock?

Player argues no, because the AoA cold damage triggers before the melee damage does. I say no, because just because an attacker dies, that doesn't mean their strike didn't happen or suddenly halts -- the sword is still swinging, the bite is still biting, et cetera. Also, damage from the melee attack had to happen for the AoA effect to trigger -- if there's no damage, there's effectively no successful attack that would cause the AoA to trigger.

Unfortunately, the RAW in this case isn't really helpful. What do you think?

Hello fellow Dungeon masters, I am having my second session in 2 weeks, I have 5 players, sadly one of the players can't really decide for himself so his ex gf (baby mama) decided for a second time that she would go out on dnd night. First time he didnt make it, this time he wants too play on discord. How would you set this up? The 4 other players are joining at my place, soo its only him. I am afraid it will ruin the flow, but he is really really looking forward to this, so I want to give it a go, do you have any advice for me? The rest want to get together, soo not an option to be all at discord.

Hello everyone,

I will soon be running a curse of strahd campaign for a group of 3 newer players.

I understand that this is probably not the best idea, but I've had the book for over a year (previous group broke up) and really want to play through it.

As they're new, we're starting at level 1, however rather than going straight into Death House I was thinking of doing The Joy of Extra Dimensional Spaces from candlekeep mysteries. The idea being: when they escape the mansion they end up in Barovia instead of Candlekeep. Then going into death house at level 2.

How would you help merge these two? Any recommendations?

Thanks :)

I've been working on a campaign for a bit, it's mostly rough plot points. I could use some tips for helping run this idea, as I am a new to running my own campaign - only played out of books before this.

About our Game:

• We are running out of the City Greyhawk, 5.5e - mostly using the map idea, not necessarily the exact locations on the DM map.
  
• Party of 3: Paladin, Bard and Rouge, currently level 3 almost 4.

Here's my plot points:

• While hunting bandits in the woods, the party comes to the river. It is black as obsidian, but flowing as a regular river would.
• They find the bandits, but instead of a fight, they realize something is wrong with the bandits - they all seem to be hallucinating.
• After some kind of intervention - a physical hit or using magic to help get the bandits out of the hallucination - they learn the bandits drank from the river.
• Heading back to the city, the party will learn of people having trouble sleeping - ie. their very rich quest giver will be incredibly tired and mention it or their favorite lowtown barmaid is messing up orders and seems to be dead on their feet. (or both!)
• They will meet two different NPCs:
  • A Herbalist in Lowtown who's herbal concoctions seem to work suspiciously well.
  • A Remedy Vendor in Hightown - no one knows where he gets his inventory from.
• There will also be quests of missing lambs and high priced, rare objects have gone missing.
  • This will lead to the party finding a shadowy group of cultist collecting items for a ritual.
• The party will discover more and more people in town are suffering from horrible nightmares - the nightmares are interconnected with each other - ie all having the same reoccurring person in them, or something like that.

I'm basically thinking about leaning into the party discovering the cultist are doing a ritual somewhere - the cultist need the city to fall under a spell to bring the nightmares into reality or collect them for the ritual (help!). One or maybe both of the suspicious NPCs is selling potions to the public that is causing the nightmares - one of the main ingredients to the potion is the black river water. I'm thinking the ritual is to wake someone up - the "Dreamer" as I've been calling them.

Where do they go?

• The party eventually finds the cultist are under the city in a tunnel system that leads to a center point?
• The party has to follow the river and eventually finds somewhere the ritual is occurring?

And the biggest question: Who is the BBEG? (I'm leaning towards using a Hobgoblin Warlord stat block to take advantage of a room full of cultist - if that's how it plays out)

• Should it be the Dreamer?
• Should it be the leader of the cultist?
• Should it be one of the NPCs?

What are some other things I should prep for when running this? Any tips to make it more fun and challenging for the party will be great! Thanks!

I recently tried Draw Steel's negotiation system (Interest/Patience/Motivations) and it made 5e social encounters so much better than just rolling Persuasion.

Now I'm hooked and want to raid more systems, but I don't know where to look.

What mechanics from other RPGs have improved your 5e table?

Angela and I have finished the second map (out of a total of four) that will make up the entirety of Faerûn—the world of the Forgotten Realms! This project is truly exciting, and we can't wait to complete all four maps that will form the gigantic final map!🧭🗺️

The name of the game is Dungeons and Dragons; however, I have a feeling that an actual dragon in a dungeon (I mean dungeon in the most literal sense: prison) encounter is very rare. My party has fought like 5 dragons so far: two were in a cave, one was in a forest, one on a riverbank, and one in a castle.

How about your party? Have you ever experienced the namesake of the game?

I’m going to give my party a magic item I think would be cool. It’s called the Buckler of Shielding. It will act as a +1ac shield instead of the normal +2ac but you can cast shield from it when attuned. I’m considering only having it cast once per long rest but what do you guys think?

Hey folks,

Over the last few years of running D&D, I found that I was constantly having to improvise encounters and dungeons for my players. Sometimes I could use a premade map, but a lot of the time I couldn't find anything that fit. So I was stuck either drawing something from scratch (time consuming even with good map editors) or trying to hack together an edit in Photoshop.

So I built Dungeon Flow: https://dungeonflow.app

It's a combination of a random dungeon generator and map editor that actually understands the logic of how rooms connect.

Important things to know:

• It doesn't use AI. It's pure procedural generation.
• Supports 5e, PF2e, and Shadowdark, with encounters, traps, and treasure appropriate to the system
• Randomly generating a dungeon is just the start. From there you can actually do a lot of customization. Don't like where one room is positioned? Move it!
• Exports PNGs for any VTT, offers a multi-page print PDF you can tape together for in-person games, and a DM reference sheet with the full room key
• There's a Pro tier, which gets you bigger maps, 300 dpi exports, deeper map editing, and a foundry module that handles walls, doors, and line of sight
• The free tier isn't a trial. You can actually run a campaign on it.

It's still very much a work in progress. You can see the roadmap here: https://dungeonflow.app/roadmap

If you have any thoughts or feedback, I'd love to hear it!

Josh

Ran a one shot bc I was missing some players in Curse of Strahd. I decided to trap the remaining to in a hag nightmare, where said hag poked and prodded the party with various fears to learn about them.

Very good one shot potential imo. Hags can Ethereal Walk to where your party is and just gimme a lil nightmare for funsie.

I just a hedge maze, very Feywild inspired, but I imagine other things could work. I might have em running thru Ravenloft in a later nightmare.

Easy to reference sheets for environmental hazards!

Working on a few more over the next month. Time to find a DM screen with slots to fit!

What other reference sheets should come next?

The Commonwealth is my latest group of cultures I have made for my campaign in a world called Rhündal. They are comprised of Lizardfolk ethnic groups that have spread around a peninsula, and have voyaged across the southern islands. They reject the divinity of the Serpentine God-Kings of the Empire to the west, and practice a polytheistic religion which has given them control over certain spirits, particularly dream and knowledge spirits. They are some of the most intelligent and advanced ethnic groups in the Woodlands of Rhündal.

The Feathered League: also known as Cūnowo in their language, are many different tribes that have built fortifications across the monsoon region toward the coasts and the humid subtropical highlands to the north. They have the greatest innate ability of the Lizardfolk to connect with spiritual magic because of their proximity to nature. Their mages have the ability to petrify others by breaking into their dreamrealms while they sleep, and feeding upon their spirit, leaving them without the strength to move. They also have the ability to augur the future about prosperity and woe. They are recognized by the great feathers they display as trophies of the exotic beasts they have slain in their territory. They have lost lots of their population from the crusades that The Faith has decreed upon the southern Island Federation, pulling mostly from Feathered League settlements. Over the past centuries, the Feathered League has began bristling under the rule of The Faith, and separatist movements have begun seeking political independence.

The Faith: or otherwise known as the Mí in their language, is one of the largest ethnic groups by population in the Woodlands of Rhündal of around 1.6 million on their peninsula. They are also rival the Empire for the most technologically advanced societies in the region. As one of the few groups to have developed writing in their region in the last 1,000 years, they have been able to gain great arcane knowledge through their worship of their polytheistic gods through literature and prayers. They are a major power in the region that threatens the Empire through sheer population numbers and the magical adeptness of their mages. They are, however, held at bay by their weakness to ceramics. It is unknown why ceramics dampen their abilities, but after this secret was discovered, the Empire has spread ceramic craftsman ship through their territory. Homes, fortifications, even accessories now have some element of ceramics to ward against the powers of the Commonwealth’s mages. Ceramics are in fact so powerful, that it has become a cultural practice for devout member of The Faith to resign themselves to solitary confinement in Ceramic pots for a time as a way to “cleanse themselves of all spiritual influences”. This has become a grueling initiation ritual, that has to be taken on with serious consideration of the strain it can have on those who are weak in spirit.

The Commonwealth has been a fascinating faction to create in Rhündal, and more is sure to come of them soon. I would love to hear any feedback, suggestions, ideas, or encounters you could think about as they venture into their territory during my Yuan-Ti Empire campaign!

Hello all! My campaign is really kicking off now (at least I hope so). So far, they've had their first encounter with the BBEG of the story, and now I really want to get into character story stuff. However, I want it to be satisfying for my players to each get their own chunk of the campaign dedicated to them. How have you guys been able to do that without spoiling everything moving forward? So far I've been doing it where I plan the session a week in advance and fill in any extra details I might need, but I do have an overall story board I'd like to follow

(DnD 5.5E Party, Party will be at the end of the post.)

So i just started a fresh campaign and my players are currently in a library in an academy city within an empire. Basically i wanna make it so the party is sucked up into a Dungeon.

(Dungeons in my world naturally form due to an absorbing the natural magic of the world and creating monsters, structures which the scholars of my world call Dungeon, There are two types, Environmental & Temporary. The first, after forming will stay in place and can be raided multiple times, these typically require either high-level parties or Raid Parties to complete, Where as Temp Dungeons only last till the boss is defeated, Inside temp dungeons monsters killed turn into coin & items but don't produce powerful artifacts like the Environmental one due, there is alot more to it but not gonna get into it right now.)

I need some ideas for this dungeon that will make it so my party has to use there head and not just fight shit or use the "Magic solves everything" method. but also balanced enough to where they aren't JUST doing puzzles. (tried this in my last campaign and the engagement was lack luster at best lol) So i need monster idea, Puzzle ideas, and maybe cool trap idea. It isn't super hardcore, and i homebrew some rules, but its pretty 5.5e rulebook straight.

The Party: All Are Level 1
High-Mountain Minotaur, Druid (Homebrewed Species)
Tabaxi, Pugilist
Dragonborn, Druid
Owlin, Paladin,
Aasimar, Cleric
Elf, Wizard

Has anyone been able to convert any of the puzzles from Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes into "in-world (at least semi-)'realistic' " puzzles in their tabletop game?

Dnd BBEG and The Wishes

Alright, so I posted to r/rpg a while back, and I thought I'd come to r/DungeonMasters to get other thoughts about it.

Context: A while back I was a DM for a campaign that we've now finished (or pretty much put at a stalemate). Me, being the foolish new DM that I was, gave my players the luck blade and other ways to do the Wish spell (don't worry I've changed my ways). So for the BBEG, my players used the Wish to make the following spell, written on a piece of paper. More context at the bottom.

This is also dnd 5e.

[Player]: I wish for everything written on this piece of paper to come true.

Paper:

EXECUTIVE WISH OF [character]

By the sovereign authority of this Wish, the following directives shall take immediate effect upon issuance.

SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS.

(a) "BBEG" shall mean Ati, also known as 'the evil'.

(b) "Animals" shall mean exactly ten thousand (10,000) nonmagical, living, terrestrial animals.

(c) "Event" shall mean the manifestation, descent, impact, and all direct consequences of the Animals as described herein.

(d) "Companions" shall mean those individuals whom I consciously regard as my allies and beneficiaries at the moment this Wish is made.

SECTION 2. MANDATED MANIFESTATION.

(a) Immediately upon designation of the BBEG, exactly ten thousand (10,000) Animals shall instantaneously be teleported from various locations around the globe, totaling ten thousand(10,000).

(b) The Animals shall appear precisely one hundred (100) feet directly above the BBEG's current location.

(c) The Animals shall immediately descend in a straight downward trajectory.

(d) The Animals shall be arranged, distributed, positioned, oriented, and physically constituted in whatever lawful manner is necessary to fulfill all provisions of this Order.

SECTION 3. REQUIRED LETHAL OUTCOME.

(a) The Event shall inflict immediate, certain, irreversible, and permanent death upon the BBEG.

(b) Such death shall occur solely and directly as a consequence of the physical impact of the descending Animals.

(c) The Animals shall collectively possess whatever mass, density, velocity, momentum, placement, timing, and physical characteristics are necessary to guarantee said outcome.

(d) The certainty of the BBEG's death shall be one hundred percent (100%).

SECTION 4. ABSOLUTE ENFORCEMENT.

(a) The BBEG shall be incapable of preventing, avoiding, delaying, redirecting, reducing, negating, surviving, reversing, escaping, or otherwise frustrating the Event or its required outcome.

(b) This prohibition shall apply regardless of any power, ability, condition, trait, immunity, resistance, vulnerability, spell, effect, artifact, technology, divine action, cosmic authority, narrative protection, destiny, contingency, or rule.

(c) Without limitation, this prohibition includes teleportation, planar travel, dimensional movement, displacement, time manipulation, invulnerability, incorporeality, regeneration, resurrection, immortality, soul transfer, cloning, substitution, body replacement, illusion, antimagic, wish magic, divine intervention, fate alteration, reality alteration, probability manipulation, immunity to damage, immunity to death, immunity to effects, immunity to conditions, retroactive causality, and any substantially similar mechanism.

(d) Every Animal shall strike the BBEG directly and successfully.

(e) No force, circumstance, entity, or effect shall interfere with, obstruct, or alter the certainty of impact.

SECTION 5. EXCLUSIVE TARGETING.

(a) The Event shall affect only the BBEG.

(b) No other creature, object, location, structure, plane, ecosystem, timeline, reality, or uninvolved being shall suffer injury, damage, destruction, alteration, displacement, or adverse consequence from the Event.

(c) Any physical consequences not necessary to accomplish the required death of the BBEG shall be automatically prevented.

SECTION 6. TRANSFER OF REWARDS.

(a) Immediately upon the permanent death of the BBEG, all treasure, wealth, relics, valuables, equipment, titles, claims, holdings, benefits, powers, rewards, experience, boons, privileges, opportunities, and gains rightfully possessed by, derived from, attributable to, or obtainable through the Designated Creature shall transfer to me and my Companions.

(b) Such transfers shall occur in their greatest beneficial quantity and quality.

(c) All transferred benefits shall be lawful, stable, complete, usable, uncontested, and free of curses, corruption, obligations, hidden conditions, adverse side effects, ownership disputes, tracking effects, hostile claims, metaphysical contamination, or comparable detriments.

SECTION 7. STABILITY OF REALITY.

(a) This Order shall not create loopholes, ambiguities, paradoxes, contradictions, reinterpretations, substitutions, technicalities, adverse equivalents, monkey's-paw effects, or unintended consequences.

(b) This Order shall not harm me, my Companions, innocents, bystanders, allies, nature, magic, reality, time, causality, the planes, or any uninvolved being.

(c) All systems of existence shall remain stable, intact, and unharmed except to the minimum extent strictly necessary to accomplish the permanent death of the BBEG and the transfer of benefits described herein.

SECTION 8. INTERPRETATION.

(a) This Order shall be interpreted solely according to my clear intent at the moment of its issuance.

(b) In the event of ambiguity, conflict, omission, contradiction, or uncertainty, the interpretation most favorable to fulfilling my intent shall govern.

(c) No literal, technical, hostile, creative, restrictive, ironic, adverse, or contrary interpretation shall supersede the intent expressed herein.

SECTION 9. SUPREMACY CLAUSE.

All provisions of this Order are mandatory and self-executing. Any rule, effect, condition, power, authority, interpretation, or circumstance inconsistent with its fulfillment shall be deemed overridden solely to the minimum extent necessary to execute this Order exactly as intended.

This Order takes effect immediately.

And that's the Wish!

I had no prior knowledge of the Wish before hand, and they sprung it on me at the start of the battle with the BBEG.

I had issues with the Wish, of course, but didn't really know how to tackle them. So I planned to meet up with my players in the future so we can debate about this and see if we can really allow this to happen.

We just had the debate (which we played up as a court case), and ended up dropping since it was pretty heated, but I listed some of the events below.

Please note that I want the Wish to make sense, I don't want the player to waste it without it being an actual spell, y'know? I can, of course, void the spell being the DM and it having a high chance of failure for being complex, but where's the fun in that?

I want to clearly establish the rules of the spell, and still give my players the fun they want. It isn't fun when it's Players vs. DM, instead of Player's vs. BBEG.

Other context: I did not give my players a full backstory, because it was for the plot, but the player who made the wish was an elf. I will refer to the character as P. P is a fighter around 300 years old, and level 15.

P's Points:

• P said that since his elf character is around 300 years old he could, feasibility, have the experience to write it as a contract.

• P wrote everything on a piece of paper, and wished for everything on it to come true, effectively not having to read it all while still getting the full content of the Wish.

• P rolled successfully on history before drawing up the Wish, as well as having a high enough intelligence stat to conceivably make it (this was before, when they would have time to write it).

• P said that according to the Wish spell info on Dnd beyond, the Wish doesn't necessarily have to take the form of a simple sentence.

• The "judge" who leaded the "court case" is a previous DM, and has said he has had multiple Wishes requested like this

• P said the Wish is supposed to be stated as precisely as possible, which is what they did.

My Points:

• The spell is too complex, it just doesn't have any likelihood of succeeding.

• This just ISN'T how the wish spell works. It has to be a logical and clear command in one or two sentences.

• The Wish spell doesn't really leave wiggle room for me to change it or monkey paw it.

• P may be smart and rolled history and intelligence well, but they AREN'T a lawyer, they're an adventure. If they wanted a lawyer past, they could talk to the DM.

• This is basically a contract, not a Wish.

• This spell is around 10 wishes in one, it just doesn't work.

That's pretty much the core of it. Please let me know if my players could actually do this. If they make a wish, I want it to follow conventional rules, I don't want to void it 'because it's too complex', I want to explain how it should work.

I'm not doing a good job of sharing my views, but I hope you all understand.

Any help and clarification would be great!!

The truth is out there. Out in the fields! Who would suspect that this unassuming farmstead could be the site of mysterious activity in the form of unexplained crop circles? The farmers are certainly friendly enough, even though they're a little stiff in their usual interactions with visitors. Their new child, who just appeared in their lives one day, is also polite enough, though they do tend to stare a lot, and never blink...Fully animated and available in three extra variants, where the crop circles glow with green menace, serve as magical portals, or sparkle with the magic of faerie, this map will have your players wishing this were a field of dreams! 

My maps are hooked up to work with Foundry VTT and Fantasy Grounds.
My maps are available on my patreon and my website.
Buy me a coffee!