(Part 3) Top products from r/DMAcademy

Yep, you're making all the classic mistakes new GMs make lol.

1. " but I really want to make taverns the heart and soul of my games. " - You don't get to decide this. Your job is to facilitate the player's actions. They might just hate taverns, or walk out the door immediately. Then you'll do what all new GMs do, railroad them into talking to NPCs. The players will lose interest 10 minutes into the game when that happens and they realize your game has no player agency.
   
2. " Black Star Inn is run by a lesbian couple, one of whom is an ex-ranger with strong feelings about animal welfare and vegetarianism. " - A rough truth to learn while GMing, nobody cares about your world's backstories until the players ask. Then if you have an answer, great, but 90% of the time this stuff won't be discovered. You'll find yourself forcing this info on the players, and they'll be like, 'why do I care if the ppl who own this inn are lesbians?'
   
3. " I'd appreciate any feedback on prices and menu choices " - lolol I laugh because I did this same thing in my first game. In hindsight three years later, it was probably the most pointless thing I've done since I started 5e. Again, nobody cares. If it doesn't advance the plot, which is determined by the player's interests, it's a waste of time.
   
4. " I've added a couple of travelling merchants who patrol the Sword Coast, the party has a chance to run into one as a random encounter. " - This is good. Always have a few back pocket encounters, but only lob them into the game if the players go looking for them.
   
5. " In Phandalin, I've created another hub Inn. " - Why? Phandalin already has an awesome inn and cast of NPCs. I think you've promised some people you are going to run LMoP, but it's clear this isn't LMoP at this point. This is just homebrew.
   
6. " I've additionally created an Excel spreadsheet which lets me randomly generate 5000 different NPCs on the fly " - Sounds like overkill, but if it works for you, it's cool. I use a one-page document with a few tables of names, quirks and defining characteristics.
   
   I strongly, strongly recommend you buy and read Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master. This will save you a year or two of learning how to prep and run D&D. It's not about defining the details. It's about creating several buckets of information you can pull on during the game, and watching your players.

I'm a pretty new DM too! So far it's been going really well. Here's the things that I think have helped me lead fun games:

• Try to have at least 1 friend/mentor who can talk to you about D&D stuff and give you tips. Ideally, maybe a member of your party has played D&D before? (because then they can also give you DMing tips post session). Of course, you can also post here and the other D&D subreddits too which can be helpful! I actually have a few people I PM occasionally about my campaign just for tips. You can also just ask for feedback after session - "What went well" and "What do you guys wish went differently" are good questions.
  
• An important corollary to tip #1 - if you're getting DMing feedback from your players, be prepared for them to be frustrated with some things that are just elements of the story or reactions to their roleplaying. Some feedback I got recently was that a character didn't act the way they expected - it was a totally intentional character choice on my part, and they'll see that later! Another piece of feedback I got was that my enemies aren't automatically combative; the truth is, my goblin hoarde WOULD be combative if they saw the PCs first, but they were able to sneak up and get good enough initiative and early attack/damage rolls that combat basically was them sneaking up and executing the goblins one-by-one. This was ENTIRELY their choice, and I'm not willing to fudge my goblin's perception rolls in this case.
  
• Be prepared to be taken aback or have your feelings hurt by the feedback as well.
  
• Try to be super excited about your setting and your story. Even if you're using a pre-made campaign like Lost Mines of Phandelver or Curse of Strahd, really immerse yourself in the setting, get to know all the NPCs. I'm choosing not to do a pre-made campaign, and instead am doing my own homebrew story in a world I created from scratch. The DM's handbook has some really good tips for worldbuilding and NPC building.
  
• For me, it made it way easier to design a campaign after I had already designed the entire world and the continent the story would be taking place on. I'd recommend building the world and then writing up a history of the world just for yourself for context. Include things like plagues, wars, natural disasters, spiritual/magical disasters - these are all things that can make a GREAT starting point for a campaign. Think also about the political landscape, because political intrigue can also be a cool plot for a campaign (and honestly, any kind of disaster or societal problem is going to have a political response that affects your PCs!)
  
• Bring things that make your players excited. It takes extra work, but bringing even simple props can really get everyone into the spirit and make things more fun. Don't overdo it, of course, but some simple things you can do include:
  
• Bringing simple miniatures and a grid map (Here's a link to a super cheap dry-erase grid mat; Here's a link to some super cheap minis - I highly recommend the TOOBS brand, which you can find at Michael's crafts or online. They're cheap and not at all customized, but they do the trick and make things a little more real!)
  
• Bring paper products. You can have your players learn things from a pamphlet or flyer they see on a message board. You can make a treasure map for your characters that has some puzzles to help them find a crucial quest item. You can even make a menu for the pub/inn they're staying at! You can make your paper products look more "authentic" by crumpling them, dying them with black tea, tearing/aging the edges, and baking them in a 200F oven for around 1-ish minutes.
  
• Bring ambient sounds or thematic music, if it's something you'd enjoy and your players would enjoy
  
  Feel free to PM me if you'd like more information about my story/my materials :) I love to talk D&D :D

The Angry GM did a very good article recently on metagaming. (If you're unfamiliar with Angry, he has a very different style than most gaming writers. If you're able to get past his "f&%$s" and "s@#&s," you'll find some very well researched and reasoned advice, and some good humor as well.)

I've been actively DMing for about four or five months now, and one of my players is the group's original DM and a DM for a Roll20 group. She uses the more prevalent definition of "metagaming," while I use Angry's, and it's been an interesting transition in the group.

Essentially, if the players are able to come to the correct conclusion about a major part of the storyline, while circumventing all of the deflections and delays I had put in their path (as happened recently), I don't see any reason to punish that. I rewarded that player with additional XP for clever thinking, even if I had to jump well passed what I had planned. If the bard knows a monster's weakness, they probably heard about it in some ballad. If one player acts on information on another player that they haven't formally discussed in character at the table, well, they've been traveling together for the better part of a year in game; the characters must have talked about it in the would-be-boring travel scenes that I gloss over.

As far as the monster inventory situation is concerned, I recommend getting some Pathfinder Pawns (I've linked to the two boxes I have on Amazon). They let you surprise your players with a huge variety of them. If you go on Paizo's website, you can buy printable versions for cheaper. The art is pretty good, and it's hard to beat the variety you get for your dollar.

In the end, everyone has a different playing style. I prefer to resolve differences when I can. Encourage some frank, open discussion at the table and away from it. If you can't resolve your different styles with your roommate, it might be best if they don't continue with the group. The overall group's fun level is really the deciding factor.

I’ve been printing with an Ender 3 (Comgrow Creality Ender 3 3D Printer Aluminum DIY with Resume Print 220x220x250mm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BR3F9N6 ) for the better part of the year and it’s been mostly great!

The base price there is pretty cheap comparatively, and 1kg of filament (printing material) is about $20. That will last you quite a long time and print dozens and dozens of miniatures.

The largest downsides are probably the learning curve. It definitely takes some time to learn settings. But there are lots of resources out there.

The other thing is that Ender 3 is FDM which essentially means the resolution isn’t quite as high. This is just fine for printing terrain but you get a “layering effect” making it difficult to get high quality detail on some minis. That being said I’ve had great success printing minis for npcs and monsters.

The other option is resin printing which generally produces higher resolution and detail but can be messier and resin is pretty toxic so requires more safety precautions.

Ultimately I’ve been happy with my 3D printer and it’s really enhanced my gaming experience

Check these out. They're a great for noobs learning to play. It's simpler and needs no DM. Great way to get your feet wet and learn the basic mechanics. I took one when i deployed and used it introduce new players to the game.

https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Coast-Dungeons-Dragons-Ashardalon/dp/0786955708

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Legend-Drizzt-Board/dp/0786958731/

If you still want to dm, these are great supplies to get started:

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Wizards-Team/dp/0786965592/ (i highly suggest you get this)

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Spellbook-Cards-Accessory/dp/0786966726/r (i find these really helpful)

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Spellbook-Cards-Arcane/dp/B01MRVJ1TB/

Also, check out your local gaming store. They are a great resource. Also ask about Pathfinder, which was created based off of D&D

We use this book: https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Time-Roleplaying-Game-Fantasy/dp/0786919965

I think it might be the same as yours.

​

We haven't started converting it to 5e yet. We agreed to do a few one-shots with the original system and if people feel like it needs work we will convert it. I you start doing it sooner then us I'd be more than interested to take a look at it, converting a whole game to a different system is no small job and I wish you the best of luck!

My recent revival of my DMing career was inspired by Mercer, so I have been more interested in the roleplay/voice acting aspect, something I never really cared about in the past. Just yesterday, my brother's (and one of my players) birthday gift to me showed up, and I'm really excited about it. Despite having zero experience as a voice actor, I find it relatively easy to follow, at least so far, and I haven't broken out the 2 CDs in the back yet.

Having that variety of voices makes characters feel much more individual and alive, and I hope really increases the immersion and feel of the game.

Personally I got them on Amazon EU. Dunno if it's just the stock but the prices there seems a bit lower.

 

The Monster Codex is showing on Amazon US for like $27 here and most of the others can be found there as well for a moderately lower price.

 

I will agree the one off price seems higher in comparison to say a small box of mini's for $10, but the mini per dollar value is just superb. You're looking at $0.10, per mini for one of the $30 dollar boxes, not including postage, as they average 250-300 tokens per box.

 

If the price is putting you off there are a few ways you can have a similar effects making your own, assuming you have a printer. Example, just search about in the various DnD subreddits (/r/dndnext , /r/dnd, /r/DnDBehindTheScreen etc.) for paper craft mini's and such.

Yeah, that is pretty much what I do. I have this board here so I can change it easily. Super handy. Folds out like a monopoly play board.

If you’re looking for low cost I would recommend reaper bones or wizkids deep cuts/nolzurs marvelus miniatures. Depending on the size /set it’ll run you $4-$100. $4 being an individual Meduim sized mini $100 being a boxed set of a lot of them or a single large set piece like a huge dragon. Both of these options are unpainted and you should be able to find whatever you’re looking for. If you just want best bang for your buck I would recommend pathfinder pawns they’re card stock minis and usually get a couple hundred for around $15-$40 depending on the set you get. Another option is to find board games that use minis like zombiecide or some of the d&d board games

Just describing this mods, not advertising I promise.

https://www.amazon.com/Giant-Book-Battle-Mats/dp/1912803038

(Just read on the page that it's not even available right now. And I can't really see the price either, pretty sure I paid about $50 - $60)

I bought this and I absolutely love it. Really only works for 5 or less people in terms of party size imo, but I honestly prefer using this over my big battle mat because I have to role up my big one.

You might be able to find something similar, but instead of getting terrain, I use this instead. Very handy.

As others have mentioned in this post, dice, sourcebooks, and dice trays are also all excellent ideas.

The only thing I might say is to stay away from mini's if he's on the cheaper side. Wouldn't really want to tempt him into buying a bunch of minis, because they can get extremely expensive.

If you do see the book of battle mats available, I highly recommend getting it.

Turnkey miniatures has sets of townsfolk, animals, royals, etc. Pretty reasonable too. http://www.turnkeyminiatures.com/Sets_c_14.html

Ceasar Miniatures has packs of 30ish minis in 12 or so poses. They are a bit under sized (22mm v 28mm). But I think it looks good for smaller beings. Their website is awefull, and Amazon is pretty expensive for them but check eBay. They have ratmen, goblins, skeletons, orcs.

Always look at Reaper bones. Here is a six pack of goblins. https://www.miniaturemarket.com/rpr77024.html

Another thing to do is get the d&d board games. They come themed to the game and have around 40 minis each. The games are okay, but the minis are great. I would wait for sales too. A few times a year they drop below $40. Here is the ravenloft game. https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Coast-Dungeons-Dragons-Ravenloft/dp/0786955570

Edit:added ravenloft

Be careful when printing these maps to have the scale correct. If the map says 1 square = 5ft sq, then you want each square to be 1 inch on each side. This will make the maps "feel" the right size.I do this measuring in Gimp to be sure. /u/sanderdc also makes a great point about the squares being 10ft sq !

You can also just buy some gaming paper or a wet/dry erase battle mat and draw it out yourself. Sometimes, that's pretty fun, and you can draw new parts as you go. This simulates the "fog of war" effect. It also requires far less preparation because you're just live copying the map as you go.

• gaming paper (cheap) : http://gamingpaper.com/product/gaming-paper-original-1-square-roll/
  
• Battle mats I love and use ($20 reusable): https://amzn.com/1601255578

Just a little extra opinion here. There are two books from 4e on this topic that are worth buying regardless of edition you're playing. Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons and Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Both are filled with awesome amounts of Roleplaying/Worldbuilding material I have found useful to really getting across the feel of dragons to my players.

You can not like it, but to say it isn't a roleplaying game is disingenuous. It's fine if your opinion is that it should have been a board game. it isn't fine if you're stating for a fact that it was not a roleplaying game and is really a board game.

Saying D&D 4e is not a roleplaying game is not acting in good faith. Lots of people act in bad faith. That doesn't make it right.

Have you played the D&D board games from the 4e era? Castle Ravenloft, for example. That is what a 4e board game looks like. It's almost nothing like the 4e D&D rolepaying game. By calling D&D 4e a board game you're saying it's basically Castle Ravenloft.

Come on. Nobody can believe that.

any of the older boxed sets or area books are awesome.

Area book:
https://www.amazon.com/Moonshae-Forgotten-Realms-Accessory-FR2/dp/0880384948

an example box set
https://www.amazon.com/UnderMountain-Fantasy-Roleplaying-Forgotten-Realms/dp/1560760613/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541768656&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ruins+of+undermountain+box+set&dpPl=1&dpID=51cFTAtWL%2BL&ref=plSrch

They made all kinds of lore for those older editions. Bloodstone lands was a popular one from our group.

Flip chart grid paper is probably my #1. We have a pad that's lasted us months for half the price of a proper vinyl battle mat, but personally I'm going to go with the battle mat for next time because it's much easier to deal with overall.

Still, paper is great for prepping maps ahead of time, especially for one-time use, but also, if you can keep them in good condition, for maps you'll come back to repeatedly (rather than a battle mat that you're going to erase/redraw every encounter).

I recently bought two 1" grid easel pads, which I draw maps on. You can find them on Amazon, or at an office supply store depending on what's available near you, I bought mine from Staples.

As an example of what I'm talking about, here's a link to one from Amazon

For tokens, I use a small collection of D&D miniatures I had from when we last played 3.5 ten or so years so, I don't have much in the way of duplicates and a decent amount are basically impossible to use (My level 3 group ain't fighting Bane any time soon...), so I've been supplementing with some spare dice for the time being, anything will work so long as everyone is clear on what each token represents.

I've got both this and this I think the second one is more flexible overall. The first one is really good for dungeons to map out a bit at a time. Just depends on your preference. The big grid was nice for stuff that needed multiples of the tiles. They tend to slide whenever the table gets bumped, so it can be kinda annoying.

I bought a pack of this stuff, and draw my maps with Sharpies:

https://www.amazon.com/Post-Sticky-560-Premium-Sticking/dp/B00006I9V8

They have 1" squares pre-drawn in a nice light blue, and at 25 x 30 that's more than enough for most battlemaps. You get a 2-pack of easel-style pads at 30 sheets each, for about $0.67 per sheet. Less than $1 USD per map is a price I'm okay with.

> As I understand it, Asmodeus' first action after becoming a god was to throw The Abyss into the Elemental Chaos, but that doesn't match any of the other information I've found. Was that just 4e lore, and retconned now?

Yes, it was all 4e and the cosmology went back to pre-4e the "Wheel" diagram.

IF you are still wanting to look up info for 4e specific lore, or info, i think you might want to find Plane Below

and or Players Option

https://www.amazon.com/TOPS-3-hole-punched-squares-Carton/dp/B000ON9WZM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542978361&sr=8-4&keywords=flip+chart+grid

​

Why buy a special mat that you can damage when you can have 50 that you can save and re-use, or throw away, for cheaper?

I will be creating my own (because I love projects like this) but I have also considered getting this book for when my players go somewhere I am not prepared for. :)

https://www.amazon.com/Giant-Book-Battle-Mats/dp/1912803038/

The Creality Ender 3 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07BR3F9N6

It was recommended by at least 3 of the crafter DMs I've seen on YT.

Pathfinder JUN132387 Flip-Mat: Basic Terrain Multi-Pack https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1601255578/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_YTXIBbR1Y51ES
(hopefully that works, not sure if there's a special way to post links)

yeah, you can buy it here https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Time-Roleplaying-Game-Fantasy/dp/0786919965/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521698985&sr=8-1&keywords=wheel+of+time+RPG and you might be able to find a PDF of it online somewhere

This is the set I use. Several different sizes as well as some props (meh).

If you have a little cash to spend, pick up Table Fables I and II. It’s a gigantic collection of tables to randomly generate anything you could want.

Table Fables I

Table Fables II

I just finished reading Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master, and it sounds RIGHT up your alley. I highly recommend you check it out.

I just draw all my maps on these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073V3W83Z/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Faces of Evil: The Fiends is fantastic. It's originally published by TSR for 2e, and set in Planescape. It's filled with lots of notes on roleplaying, after-lifecycle, motivations, etc.

I use these Map Boards

they are fold-able battle mats, double sided for hex or squares. the key is i bought two. one i use as a solid mat, the other i cut into quarters and use as overlays or extensions as needed. they even give you a small discount if you buy two.

A piece of paper with male, female and family names. I use OneNote for my campaign notes and i use Discord for Cam-Calls and Screensharing battlemaps via Affinity Photo. I also use Table Fables, Table Fables II and the Character Compendium (books). Usually also some scribble paper.

> They know they're on a time limit because of the soldiers on their tail (and a dying familiar, unrelated) but i'm not sure how to keep them on their toes in this place other than throwing encounter after encounter at them with barely a chance for a long rest.


It sounds like that they are on a time limit so they won't have time for many long rests, especially if the mountains are as treacherous as they are claimed to be.


I'd have the bandits/criminals be based around the lower parts of the mountains with their hideouts in caves. As you travel further in/up trolls and other beasties prevent the bandits from making their hideouts there. The higher and further up you go, the more dangerous (and rare) the monsters become.


Use the terrain against them. Have them make skill checks to bridge a ravine or make it past a particularly nasty stretch of terrain. If they fail a check, instead of them falling and suffering damage, have them lose a piece of gear or some provisions. Speaking or provisions, start keeping track of their provisions -- it's going to be almost impossible to forage for food while being pursued and getting drinking water is going to be a challenge until they get to the snow line (and can presumably melt the snow for drinking water).


Don't forget that their movement rate over a mountain range with no real trails is going to be painfully slow and might result in backtracking if they choose a route poorly.


IMO, you should put terrain and weather as the main encounters over monsters.



At a certain point, won't the soldiers following them give up because of the terrain, monsters, and their own provisions being used up? If that happens, remember that there is no way the players would know that.


Finally, if you don't have it the Wilderness Survival Guide will have some great ideas in it.