February 2022 Sly Flourish Patreon Q&A
Happy February!
Let this serve as the official Sly Flourish Patreon Questions and Answers post for February 2022! As before, I'll answer these D&D- or RPG-related questions directly on this page. Some of them may further feed into articles, independent videos, or as questions during the Patreon Q&A segment of the Lazy D&D Talk Show.
I also wanted to share this linked list of every Lazy D&D Talk Show topic in one handy page. This page has each topic linked to the video timestamp of every one of the forty five Talk Show episodes I've done. Search it for topics of interest or just browse it for fun!
Now let the questions begin!
Comments (129)
Your comments about 1-on-1 D&D sparked another question for me. How do you feel about splitting the party, literally? For example, in a game with 5 players, where three go to do one thing and two to do another, would you consider having separate sessions with the two groups, or try to do it in a joint session, running the risk of one group being bored while the other is doing their thing? Kinda like CR did at some points in the past, asking players to leave the table. Not certain how to feel about that, either.
I enjoyed your video on making a heist, but I'm not sure how to run one in a way that differs from a normal dungeon crawl. What do you do to reinforce the feeling of the heist in game?
Thinking about how to create/use point crawl maps at the table. What tool do you use to prepare point crawl maps (I think you've mentioned this before in the past)? How do you present it for in-person game at the table? How would you convert the Chult hex-crawl exploration of Tomb of Annihilation into a point-crawl instead? How would you handle players getting lost traveling point-to-point?
Hi Mke, I have a question about how to telegraph a potentially deadly situation to PCs without spoiling it for them or the DM. Do you have any suggestions on what to do when the PC’s get in over their head - especially on a side quest or a non-main story line thread? In my Grendleroot game, the PCs are just about to embark on their journey to the Black Cathedral but heard about some weird undead sightings up at Marrowhold. Bailon asked them to do some recon and they decided to check it out before heading out of to the Black Cathedral. When they got to Marrowhold, they witnessed some really dangerous stuff going on on the other side of the moat. Vorun the Bone King was using an undead army to construct necro portals to fill the moat once agin with ghoul in preparation for Yolon’s return. Instead of keeping their distance and gathering information - which was what I seriously thought they would do, they took it all in, witnessed some really powerful creatures, and then waltzed in, without a care in the world. That session ended on a cliff hanger… so I had two weeks to prepare for the encounter. Fast forward, I prepared a staged battle that would bring in some interesting and powerful monsters, gettting harder and harder - and giving them opportunities to run. But they didn’t take the bait until the very end when I pulled nuclear option and had Vorun show up with is forty Wight Champions and politely ask them to leave. I didn’t want to TPK them but I didn’t want them to feel like they were getting Nerf’d.
Hi TJ! I don't think its spoiling it to stare hard at the players and emphatically say "you think this threat is beyond you. Death may follow quickly if you take this path." If they choose to go in anyway, ponder a way to fail forward. Do the wights capture them and drag them to some dungeon? One thing is certain, players hate to run from a foe, particularly once combat has started. Overall, lean more towards spoiling things to ensure the players are aware of the danger. Their characters probably would be.
Mike! I just read City of Arches and thought it was fantastic. I've been working on an original D&D city for my group, but I feel like I've created a lot of info that has just kind of sprawled out of control. City of Arches and M.T. Black's Iskandar have been extremely helpful examples for how to take something large like a city and condense the information down to something manageable. When writing it, did you learn anything new about creating a fantasy city? Do you have any tips for people who might want to write up their own city CoA-style for their campaign?
Hi Kent! Yes, I do! First, if you're building a city for your home game, you don't need to mirror the production of a published city setting like City of Arches, Iskandar, or Ptolus (!). Your own city can be quick and dirty with scratch marks on 3x5 cards. It doesn't have to be fancy. Second, build the city around the characters. What places do *they* want to see? What locations fit their class or background? Like spiral campaign development, focus on the characters out when building the city. Is there a druid character? Where's the local druid's grove? Is there a cleric of the Red Queen? Where's their local temple? Next is to fill it with opportunities for adventure. This can be as simple as a jobs board. It works for Dragon of Icespire Peak; it works for Witcher 3; why not use it in our games? It could be more complex with ancient ruined sewers beneath the city streets or that old ruined tower no one wants to go to just outside of town. Build the city for adventure. Hope that helps!
Hey Mike! In a recent game, the druid wanted to do some shopping. I had a few shops prepared and repurposed one, but my problem was coming up with interesting items to offer. I have several item books on hand (Vault of Magic, Griffon's Saddlebag, DMG), but flipping through them on the spot proved to be very time-consuming and boring. Do you have any lazy tips to pick an interesting selection of items across several books to fit a theme, e.g. "druid" or "assassin"?
Hi Dominic! I think my only advice, which is rather obvious, is to roll on those tables ahead of time and have a selection of items ready. Probably no where should there be a large selection of magic items available so three or so items does the trick. Whipping up some quick relics can also work well. This Relic generator can whip them up quickly: https://slyflourish.com/random_generators/relics.html The treasure pages in the Lazy DM's Companion (and Uncovered Secrets Vol 1 if you don't have the companion) also is intended to be a quick way to generate some treasure.
Hi Mike! You have talked about upwards and downwards beats a lot. Have you ever used upwards and downwards beats *during the same combat*? For example, if the players are having a bad time they might get an unexpected advantage, or if the combat is going well for them, enemy reinforcements might arrive. I like the idea but at what does it become too much of a DM's fiat? Thanks
Sure! We can use upward and downward beats anytime including in combat. You do have to be careful that it doesn't look too obvious. A little planning about potential upward and downward beats that make sense for the situation can work well. Good luck!
Hi Mike I have started DMing my first entirely homebrewed campaign. How do you determine the reward for quest completion? I've used the Individual Treasure Table in the DMG, but seems a bit low. On the other hand the Treasure Hoard table seems too high for every quest. What would you suggest? Thanks for your help
My general rule of thumb is one permanent magic item for the group per adventure (and roughly one per level). This gives everyone a shot at a permanent magic item over five or six levels or so. I'm also happy to drop in one or two single-use magic items per session. As far as gold and treasure, I use the DMG's rules. It's a lot but that's ok. I also tend to use Donjon's treasure generator for ease: https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=treasure;treasure-cr=5;treasure-loot_type=treasure_hoard
Hey Mike! I’m planning on running a Grendleroot campaign once my current game wraps up, and was wondering what would be in your ‘appendix N’. I’ve found giving a list of inspirational works in session zero really got my players understanding the tone and genre of the upcoming game.
Great question! Most of my suggestions would be movies: - Fistful of Dollars - Good the Bad and the Ugly - Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Keep - Prince of Darkness (if they can take horror) - The Ritual - The Descent
Mike, I’m enjoying the City of Arches PDF and was wondering: what software do you use to layout these documents? They look great!
Word! I hate it!
Hi Mike! With all the talk about CR and how much of its about hit-points and damage, I wonder your opinion on how Resistance and immunity comes into play with how WOTC thinks of the CR, and how a DM would pick it. At a low level characters might not have a magic item so all of sudden a monster has twice the hit points with resistance, But on the other hand if all of them have a magic item that creature kind of becomes a cake walk. I have played with much success on using the environment to change the CR of a creature to tell a story and let them fight something tougher than them. In my campaign I had my second level characters fight a Shadow Demon which was deadly for them, but I had it trapped by a light beam that when they fought it there was a ray of light shooting through the room and a mirror they could redirect it, making the monster more on there level. Also I have also gone the route of giving my optimizing rouge no magic weapon (he never wanted to take the magic swords) so instead of doing 50 damage at his low level he is doing 25. It seems like the higher the level the more they resist so they seem tough to a level 3 character, but once at a high level there isn’t a point because everyone has a magic way to pass the immunity and resistance. So I have always wondered if they plan these monsters CR to be fought with the resistances being a major factor after all they claim the spells are. (sorry if I'm rambling and being long winded.)
The DMG monster building section actually accounts for this. Monsters over a certain CR gain no CR benefit from having things like resistance to non-magical items. But yes, such changes can be swingy either way depending on the circumstances. It's a tricky thing to get right.
Good afternoon, Mike! I have been pondering over the topic of Player Agency, specifically how to run a fight where one or more PCs could be “turned” against the party with something like Dominate Person/Monster. I know you’ve talked about modifying the Vampire’s Charm Person to just be the charmed person making an attack or other action as opposed to be fully controlled (paraphrasing poorly here). But what I am wanting to see is if it is possible to have the players be wholly in control of their characters while also turning against the other players. Maybe this is more of a skilled roleplaying sorta issue rather than a DM/GM issue. Sorry for rambling and appreciate any insight you can give on this matter. Cheers, Sam
Hi Sam! This is a really tough and delicate situation. Even if you can find a player who's fine turning against the party when they're charmed, the other players might not like it themselves. It's something I'd be careful about doing. Players hate losing agency over their characters in general and some players really hate betrayal within the characters. It's a good time to check in with the players and make sure everyone's ok with it and make it clear how long it may go on. I wouldn't do it for more than a round or two.
Hi, Mike. You've mentioned in several videos about having an outline for your campaigns, to give some structure to the plot you are improvising. Do you have any suggestions for how a GM might create such that supports and is supported by the Session development and spiral campaign development? And how would you handle a short campaign (8 sessions or less) compared to an epic campaign (50 sessions or more)? I want structure, to give my improv some direction, but am not sure how to handle that in this approach.
Hi Jason! I try to keep such outlines really loose for our own campaigns. The campaign outlines I publish to Sly Flourish, for example, are different than those I'd write up for my own campaign. Like the "scenes" step in the eight steps, a campaign outline is best kept very loose – just enough to make it feel good to you. I'd probably suggest writing out a short list of the adventures you think might build out a campaign. It doesn't have to be formal of fancy. Just something to get your head around one potential path from Point A to Point B. Good luck!
Hi Mike :) Big fan of all your content. I'm currently running a sandbox style game (or what will be after they finish the starting adventure). I really like the idea of using point crawls for exploration and wanted to know your thoughts on how big you think they should/can go. Specifically I'm wondering if point crawls could be used for a larger region like the Sword Coast. Or do you think they work best for smaller areas like cities/dungeons etc.?
Hi Savanna! I think point crawls can be as big or small as you want. Like a lot of these sorts of things, point crawls are a tool that serve you. You can experiment with them however you want. I think point crawls can easily work for large regions like the Sword Coast. Looking at my Sword Coast map, I can see all sorts of points and connectors from Candlekeep to Icewind Dale.
Hi mike. My players are walking into a extremely difficult fight and know it could be a TPK, but they aren't ready to give up on the campaign (which is the utimate player move, willing to die for the cause, but not willing to let their characters story end). The circumstances make it hard for me to justify how they could get out of a TPK (or undo one with a cult revival etc). Do you have any advice on life after a TPK? For reference, they are in the lair of the bbeg, all around are the bbeg worshippers, nowhere near any allies, in a deep ocean floor city 200+ miles from civilisation. If they all die, what are some interesting ways that they could continue with the party, or is it OK to just end? I've had TPK's before in the climatic battle of campaigns etc, but this feels too early in the campaign to end the story.
A tough problem! Here are ten potential Ideas off the top of my head: - The characters are resurrected years later by a secret resistance group. - A dying god uses their last celestial power to resurrect the characters. - An outside group watching from without steps in and offers aid. - The villain resurrects the characters to use as thralls but it doesn't work perfectly and the characters have an option to break free. - The players get to choose new characters, resistance fighters from within the BBEG's armies. - A wandering explorer comes upon one of the magic items of the characters that spontaneously resurrects them. - Some evil mastermind somewhere else secretly had clones of the characters who now awaken. - The characters find themselves in limbo and must fight their way out to return to the final fight. - One of the characters inadvertently made a pact with a powerful devil who now calls its due, requiring them to complete a quest for the devil in return for resurrection against the BBEG. - A beloved NPC sacrifices themselves to protect the characters and grant them a true resurrection.
The group I am running has been playing online ever since *the virus*. We have worked out most of the kinks of online play, but still have trouble regarding talking order. Ultimately I believe the DM has first priority when talking, online or not. Though often I start speaking, need a second to gather my thoughts, and a player misinterprets that pause as the conclusion of the dialogue. My question is; do you have any tips or ideas for a talking order structure, or perhaps a way to practice the etiquette of talk order? We really want a systemic order to follow, but I think it really boils down to individual player responsibility.
Yeah, this sort of online conversation etiquette is really hard. I recommend taking a look at Ginni Di's video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-5M6JXzKzE
Hi Mike, Sulicius here. I'm having trouble getting Fantastic Locations into my games. Maybe my homebrew settings are too "normal" for making big setpieces, but it's hard to think of something every session. It's almost like there's a blockage in my head for making cool places. How would you scale down fantastic locations, when your first advice is making them all big?
I'll second this question. As someone who typically runs less-than-high fantasy games, fantastic locations are one of the bigger challenges.
Hi Mike - I am excited to follow along your Numenera game updates and thoughts. We are deep in my current 5e campaign, but I've been sketching out some Numenera ideas. One comment I found interesting out there in the ginormoverse was from a GM who felt the players had a hard time encountering many creatures because the were all new and novel. Anything could have a feature that could be dramatic and deadly, and the players would have no frame of reference to engage them. Its a game of exploration, but it was an interesting comment. As you prep have you come across that yet? My thoughts would be to foreshadow or leave clue to what creatures could do. I think the example was a creature with hundreds of eyes that lead to a TPK since...whoa...all the eyes turned into projectile weapons?
Hi Chad! Because Numenera exposes the level of every challenge, including monsters, players can tell right away how powerful something is because you tell them. "This is a level 7 challenge" means it's really hard. "This is a level 2 challenge" means it's very easy. This is something I love about how the Cypher system runs on the DM's side.
Hello, Mike! I have a Druid player who makes great use of the conjure animals spell. That’s good and I’m happy but his use of the giant octopus in particular I find very frustrating as a DM. It’s ability to grapple and significant amount of hit points makes it pretty powerful in combat. I’ve thought about taking away the spell and having him use the Tasha’s summon spells instead, as you recommend in a recent podcast. But I also feel conflicted because he is using his given spells and abilities well and I don’t want to punish him for that. Should I just plan on this bloody giant octopus being present in combat? How would you handle it? Signed, Distressed Druid DM
I don't know that an octopus would work particularly well out of water, would it? It's immediately suffocating. I might talk to the player out of character and mention that the octopus isn't going to be very effective on land. That doesn't stop the summon spell problems though. My big problem with the older summon spells is the number of actions one player ends up taking on their turn. No one player should get eight turns. That's why I much prefer the Tasha spells.
Do you limit turn time of your players in combat? What could we do if players take too long to decide their actions?
I don't but I know groups that really need this help. Some players just hit a lot of decision paralysis on their turns. It's a hard thing to manage. Steering them towards characters with fewer options can help. Giving them a general cheat sheet can help. For some, adding a timer or something like that just increases the anxiety without helping the time. It's a tough problem.
Mike, listened to the show today (podcast) and as someone who has been the one remote player in a campaign my greatest DM tip is to control the conversation at the table and make sure that folks are talking one at a time. It is exhausting as the remote player to try and track who said what when there's a lot of talking at once. The lower audio quality and lack of positional cues are a real challenge.
A very good point! Thanks for sharing it.
My question is...do we only get to ask one question per person? You never really stated anywhere if that's true or not!
Next month I'm going to ask for "one question per person".
Hi Mike! Thinking about where I could improve as a GM, I've found one major flaw. I am too nice and it lets my games not feel much like a challenge. How do I swallow my Canadian instincts and make my game the challenge it needs to be to be fun?
I don't know that I buy the "too nice" idea. DMs can be nice. There's nothing wrong with that. The whole meme and stigma that DMs are bastards doesn't fit my style or the kind of game I want to run. That said, challenging characters is fine and useful. Sometimes the characters find themselves in hard situations facing hard foes. I really do try to separate out me and my motivations from the story and focus of the game and what's going on in there. Sometimes hard things happen – it's not just me. My players don't buy it but that's how I feel about it.
I would like to hear you discuss the game Monster of the Week. It has effected my adventure design.
I really haven't taken a look at it but I know it's very well loved!
Hi Mike! I have a player in my game who is extremely mechanics focused, often at the cost of any role-playing. He often chooses the custom lineage race option from Tasha's simply because it offers a free feat and good stat boosts, without giving any thought as to who his character is or what they look like. As a very story focused DM, I've found this challenging! How do I write story hooks for a character with no backstory? My question is this: how do you personally handle players who approach the game very differently than you, and is it appropriate to expect them to conform to your style of play?
I try to let players play the game the way they want to play the game as long as its not getting in the way of my fun or the fun of the rest of the group. Some mechanics-focused players can disrupt things if they're particularly powergamey. That's something that can be hard to manage. Others, though, just enjoy that focus on the game. I'd still use some dirty roleplay tricks to try to get them more into the story like asking how their character feels about what's going on, asking to describe what their attacks look like, and things like that. Drawing them into the story whenever possible. Sometimes its just not a great fit though.
How would you recommend finding players to start an online group? Would you put an recommend placing an age limit, for example 18+?
Hi Joel! I offer guidance for finding groups in the Lazy DM's Companion that offer my best advice, including finding online players. I think its fine to set up an online survey and have players fill it out, making sure their time is good and asking them some hard questions about the kinds of games they want to play. Try to write questions that weed out the players you don't think will be the best fit. Then talk to them online before you run any game for them and, if possible, invite them to a one-shot game before inviting them to a full campaign. As far as the 18+ thing goes, you can do that. I don't know that it gets you better players though.
In one of your videos you mentioned that one of the things players hate the most is losing their stuff and strongly suggested that the DM not use this tool. I feel the same way, but if there were still too many magic items in the team, what other suggestions do you have; how could this be rebalanced? I had two weak moments because the SF 49ers won two games in the playoffs and in the NFL playoffs, like in a falling airplane, there are no atheists :D And i have the Vault of Magic...
Hey my pal Gábor! A common problem for many many years and many many games! I don't think there are that many great solutions. If you *do* decide to take items away, I might mention out of character *why* and see if they agree. Another way is to clean the slate and start over again with a new campaign. A third way is to just crank those dials and run harder battles. It's a tough nut to crack!
Hi Mike, I'm currently 2 years/40 sessions into a Grendleroot campaign and my party is planning to head into Deepreach in search of artefacts, revenge, clues... I have a set of Dyson Logos maps for it and ideas about what sorts of environments, factions, NPCs and monsters they might find, but what lazy tips do you have for populating a megadungeon, and then actually planning and running games in it?
You've played Grendleroot longer than I have!! I don't think I have any fantastic tips for running a mega-dungeon. I think giving each layer its own overall story and goal and inhabitants would be a place to start. Think of each level as its own ecology. The players might have fun going up and down, bringing these two ecologies together.
Hi Mike! I'm enjoying the Lazy DM's Companion and have already used it to help myself set up a campaign. However, one thing I wish were in the book is a list of consequences if the PCs don't intervene. For example, one of the potential campaign pitches is, "Prevent the coming of the Black Moon." What feels missing is why the PCs should do this in the first place. I would love to see a random chart that helps finish the statement with, "or else..." For example, "Prevent the coming of the Black Moon or else...magic spells will turn chaotic and harmful." I guess my question is, is this something you could see yourself adding to the Uncovered Secrets line? If not, do you know of any lists of potential consequences for inaction?
That's a good question! I don't have anything planned like that for Uncovered Secrets 2 but I'll keep it in mind! I think the villainous motivations often have a built-in "what if". That might be a place to start.
All versions of D&D are cursed by an evil litch and disappear from our world. What system do you play instead and why?
Probably 13th Age or Cypher. Maybe some Shadow of the Demon Lord. It'd be a hard question to consider if you said "all versions of D&D and their natural descendants" which might include things like Old School Essentials and the like.
Mike, what's your "day job"? Do you mind sharing what the percentage split is between fun Lazy DM stuff vs. your day job?
Hi David! I'm a data scientist (it still feels weird using the term data scientist). I sling some python and try to find interesting things in large piles of data. It's not particularly interesting.
Hi Mike! Following the model of adventure types in The Lazy DM's Companion, how would you approach creating random tables for an adventure centered on the PCs escaping from something hunting them?
Interesting question! I'd start by trying to think about the five variables that define the situation. For this one it might be: - Where are they being hunted? (the larger location) - What main creature hunts them? - What smaller creatures hunt them? - In what fantastic battlegrounds might they encounter the hunters? - What resources might they seek to turn the tables on the hunters?
Hi Mike, I know Monsters of the Multiverse is something you have... feelings about. I like your advice about not judging things before they come out, but I am listening to the buzz and keep coming back to 2 main questions: 1) Do you think that the added lore is intentionally designed to tie generic IP more tightly to WOTC-controlled properties ? e.g. Are Goblins from the fey now because it makes them more D&D-property-based than they were previously? You mentioned this general idea when Fizban's rolled out their dragon origin lore. 2) As WOTC adds more and more character building flexibility, do they risk undermining the value of their resources? For example, part of what we pay for when we buy published resources is clear guidance about what creatures in the fantasy world generally do and how they act so we can drop them in without making a ton of decisions. If any race can be anything, is there a point where we wonder why we are paying WOTC? Thanks!! - Andy
Hi Andy! To point 1 I think I trust WOTC when they say that their intent is to have a less Forgotten Realms focus on things and recognize that different worlds can have creatures in different positions; like the difference between orcs in Exandria or Ravnica and those of Eberron. To point 2, the idea that we don't have to pay WOTC for things has been around as long as D&D has been around. The answer is no, we can go far without paying anyone for anything. But it's still interesting when it does come out. I still love buying cool sourcebooks like Tal'Dorei Reborn, Midgard, Ravnica, or Van Richten's Guide. Sure, I can make up all the lore I want but I also love to dive into other people's takes. I don't see the issue of their changes to the character races. I don't feel like they're all the same. There's a lot of flavorful difference between a Harengon and a tortle and a halfling even if their racial bonuses are gone.
Hi Mike, How differently do you think 5e would have developed if magic items had been in the PHB and Feats in the DMG?
That'd be pretty interesting. I think 4e was the first book that included magic items in the player-focused books and that's mostly because 4e's math expected the characters to get magic items at certain times. I wasn't a big fan of that and preferred it when 4e offered a level-based automatic bonus (sort of like a proficiency bonus) so that magic items could be rare and special. I think it'd be largely disjointed if they included feats in the DMG. They're clearly player-focused material even if they are optional. It might have been interesting if the core PHB didn't include feats at all but did include them in supplements like Xanathar's and Tashas. It's really hard to think what'd that would be like given what we have now. Interesting thought exercise!
Hey Mike-- I've noticed a few other RPG content creators either explicitly mention or implicitly include letting their players contribute to their worldbuilding (The best example I can give is probably Matt Colville's "Dusk" campaign, where he regularly refers to Dael Kingsmith's elf lore as cool contributions to his world, or--even more generally-- just asks the players what they think might work when they ask about some piece of lore related to their character). Do you do anything like this? Do you have any thoughts about how one might go about this in a "Lazy DM" way?
I think it can certainly work but it isn't for everyone. I think its easier for me to just build most of it on my own and take what the players bring on occasion to build things out. The few times I've opened up the world to the players to help create I felt like I was standing on shifting sand. I'm not sure too much player-focused world building is for me.
Any tips for Lazy DM combat descriptions? In the heat of battle, I struggle to give compelling commentary for attacks that miss or do 1 point of damage...
Hi Chris! Probably reading fantasy books or listening to audiobooks helps me a lot. It sort of gets my head into the flow and I can describe interesting things. You can also hand it back to your players, asking what attacks look like or working with them to describe it in the fiction. Hope that helps!
Hi Mike, I am planning on running "Dragon of Icespire Peak" one-on-one with my partner. We are both fairly new to D&D; they’ve only played through “Lost Mines” with me being the DM. I’ve watched your playthrough videos and they have been of some help. What are the differences between one-on-one versus group play that I should keep in mind and what are some tips that you would recommend?
Hi Nick! The best guide I have for one-on-one play is in the Lazy DM's Companion (pg 11). It's also in Uncovered Secrets volume 1 here on the Patreon site. The big things to watch are: 1. Scaling combat so things don't get out of hand (fewer monsters is better) 2. Include a sidekick NPC that the player runs and manages but the DM role-plays. 3. Consider an alternative style of play that I call the "Sherlock Holmes" method. You can find it on Sly Flourish here: https://slyflourish.com/framework_for_one_on_one_dnd.html Good luck!
Hi, Mike! Not sure if this exists elsewhere but could you add the Spiral Campaign Development/Numenera Session Zero Prep To Do Checklist (from your recent videos including 3 quests, 3 patrons, etc.) as a formalized Checklist in Uncovered Secrets or maybe in an article? Not just a paragraph on how, but an actual 8-step list? I find the simplicity and repetition of the Lazy DM's Checklist has helped my session prep immeasurably, and having a similar list of steps of what to prepare for starting a new campaign would be a HUGE boon to me (and maybe others). If you have already done this somewhere, can you please just let me know where I can find it? Thanks so much!
Hi Tim! Sometimes its best to come up with a custom session zero list and plan for the campaign we're going to run. There's differences between systems and differences between home-brew and published. The best checklist I have that is generally useful is the one in the Workbook and in the Companion. Hope that helps!
Hi Mike, it's time for numenera questions! Besides the numenera-specific ones, how did your players picked skills during character creation? The core books provide a list of skills, but players should feel free to come up with their own. How do you help players to come up with skills that are, meaningful in the story and with the right level of versatility without being too powerful, or not enough useful?
Hi Peter! Nothing real exciting here. We mostly used skill from the big list because they were easier than thinking up new ones and everyone was getting familiar with the system.
Hey Mike, how would you suggest to run a 4 session campaign . Is there any module which would be idea.
I run Castle Ravenloft in one session every year but it can easily be expanded to four. You can take a lot of single-session adventures (which always tend to run long) and expand them out a bit. Waterdeep Dragon Heist would work well in four sessions if you cut out a couple of the less interesting chapters (chapter 2 in particular). Good luck!
Hello Mike! I was running 3 games for 3 different groups so I’ve decided to “reboot” and bring all my groups in to the one game and set up a city/urban sandbox. The players are all excited and I’m really enjoying prepping. However my question is do you have any advice for what to prioritise when building a sandbox campaign? I love fleshing out my city design but I find myself falling in to classic traps of planning things I’m not sure my players will visit or interact with and putting off the start date until it’s a bit more “perfect”. Is there a Lazy DM 8 steps to building a sandbox? Thank you!
Hi Becca! I'd start with the characters and work outwards. Putting yourself in their shoes, where do you think they'll want to go? Do they have a cleric or paladin? Drop in a temple to their deity! Do they have a druid or ranger? Drop in a local elder druid's grove. Do they have a monk? Put in a monastery. Put in the sorts of locations you think the characters would be interested in. These go along with all of the standard places adventurers need: A place to eat, a place to stay, a place to get jobs, a place to buy shit. You can, of course, make each of these fantastic in their own way. What's a notable feature of each of these places? The Lazy DM's Companion and Uncovered Secrets Volume 1 has a settlement generator that may help. The core adventure generators can also give you ideas to fancy them up. Good luck!
Hi Mike, In our in-person game, I run mostly published campaigns and we like having combat with miniatures on a grid. I like to be prepared when running my games, so I don't really like drawing the maps during the session (I only do this for smaller improvised scenes). I haven't figured out how to print the maps that published campaigns provide at an appropriate size (1-inch grid), so I draw what I need during my session prep. I like drawing maps, but it takes up a lot of time and that's not really following the "lazy DM" approach. Do you have any tips on preparing and using maps for in-person games?
That's a really good question and now that I've been playing D&D exclusively online for two years, its hard for me to remember how I handled maps. Because I use a mix of theater of the mind, zone-based combat, and gridded combat; I only need battle maps for those times when I'm running big encounters. Often I'd sketch them out on a dry-erase battle map. Sometimes I'd print out maps (particularly if they're Dyson maps) using blue-print printing. I did this for Ghosts of Saltmarsh and the maps were great although I ended up not really using them. Another alternative is to use a monitor or tablet to show the map and use tokens that way. I'm seeing more big TVs used as digital battle maps. I'd love to do that someday I think but its expensive and takes a lot of time to set up. You can buy big sheets of gridded paper (lots of people use cheap wrapping paper that has a grid on the back) and draw out a bunch of maps you expect to use ahead of time. It's time consuming but it works. I do recommend checking out Chris Perkins's Map Fu article for tricks to draw good battle maps. It's the best resource I've seen and there's very little else: https://web.archive.org/web/20151112164746/http://archive.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dmxp/20120209 Dyson also has an excellent key for drawing maps: https://dysonlogos.blog/2013/12/23/the-key-to-all-this-madness/
Mike, you seem to run a decent amount of published adventures, do you ever find it difficult to operate within the confines of the setting. For example I'm going to start running dragon of icespire and I worry that someplace that isn't too far away from the action, such as Neverwinter might draw the party's attention. The adventure, as you know, comes with next to no info on locations that don't pertain to the quests. I appreciate any advice on not getting overwhelmed with the feeling of needing to know the entire setting inside and out.
I do not but I know many do. Players only grab onto what you give them so if you don't drop in hooks to go to Neverwinter, they probably won't go to Neverwinter. People bash it but I think the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide is a good way to keep a focus on what's going on around the Sword Coast without being overwhelming. You don't need to buy every book on the DM's Guild to run a game set around Phandalin.
Hey Mike, I'm launching a Kickstarter this month for a Chinese/Wuxia setting for D&D 5e. Is it ok to say in my literature that I'm adding 'Lazy DM style' random tables?
I'll never say no to being mentioned in a book but I don't know what makes a Lazy DM Style random table from any other random table. What is the difference do you think?
Second question: Mike: Are there any RPGs that you love the world, but hate the system? For me it's the Mistborn RPG.
Not really but I don't tend to look to far and wide. I'm not big into RPGs around existing IP. I like fresh RPGs and usually the systems fit the worlds pretty well.
Mike: I ran my friends through Curse of Strahd, and they loved it, but didn't like that it stopped when they were level 11. I'm running The Wild Beyond the Witchlight next, but that only goes up to level 8. I'm considering leveling them up twice as often, but bumping the difficulty to match. Other than just using the monster dials, adding more monsters, and increasing DCs, are there good ways to increase difficulty that are still fun? Or is this all just a colossally bad idea?
It's not colossally bad but there's something you may not be considering which is the *theme* of the campaign. Character levels aren't about just mechanical power and threat; it's about the scope and scale of the story. See: https://slyflourish.com/scaling_the_story.html and https://slyflourish.com/tier_appropriate_adventure_locations.html You want to ensure your story scales to the level of the characters. If the players want to go beyond 11th level, you can use a lot of material from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (which I'm using in my own Witchlight game) to build some cool high-level adventures. For Witchlight, I'd make sure you scale the *story* higher than what's in the book to account for their higher levels. Witchlight, as written, is not a high power campaign.
Hey Mike, I'm preparing a Roman Coliseum style campaign to run at my LGS. I want my table to feel open to new players but I know there are seasoned players planning on joining my game. How would you recommend I ensure there is always room for a new player each week?
Good question! I'd probably put a hard limit on invites to maybe five players and then leave a sixth seat open for drop-ins. You can let people know that's how you plan to do it. If the veterans get their first, they may still get the slot. I don't know a better way other than asking for people to sign up and choosing new players first. If you offer drop-ins, you'll get who you get!
Mike: I don't know much about the Escalation Die from 13th Age. I know you've played that system and I'm wondering if you think an Escalation Die might provide benefits in a 5E game.
The escalation die is a pretty straight forward mechanic. At the beginning of a battle you drop a D6 on the table. In the second round, you move it to "1" which means characters have +1 on attacks. Each round at the beginning of the round, it goes up to a maximum of +6. The intent is to speed up otherwise slow combats. In 5e, this can work really well as a fun in-world environmental effect. An arcane or pillar or bloodlust painting on the wall that's giving everyone a +1 per pip on the escalating D6 each round. It can escalate for bad guys too or dangerous environments. Maybe a lava-filled chamber is getting hotter, giving each character 1d6 per pip in fire damage at the beginning of their turn to a max of 6d6 per turn at the 7th round. That'll get their attention! It's a cool trick to keep in our toolkit. This would make a great one-off YouTube video!
Mike: How might you use the GM Intrusion from Numenera in a 5E game, if at all? I find the mechanic intriguing but it doesn't really fit the 5E ethos.
FYI: it works pretty well for me to just use 5e Inspiration exactly like XP in Cypher/Numenera. "DM Intrusions" give 2 Inspirations, 1 must be forwarded to another player. 1-3 Inspirations can be used to gain excalating levels of benefits, but never anything permanently combat relevant. Actually, that last part means it works BETTER in 5e than in Cypher because players do not hoard all Inspiration/XP to level up.
How do you balance ending a session on a cliffhanger (which means you are starting the next session continuing from where you left off in a scene or starting an encounter from the previous session) with prepping for scenes the players are likely to experience in that next session? It seems like it's helpful when I can ask the players, where might you want to go next time we play, and then can prep accordingly, with a cliffhanger it feels like I may be winging it with following the players' route while I'm running the session.
Good question! In situations where the cliffhanger was going to lead into a big choice about a future path, I might ask the players where they think they'll go *after* the cliffhanger so I have an idea what to prep. Other times, I'll focus on the downtime after the big cliffhanger (which is often a nice crunchy time-consuming battle) and let them make their choice. It's less to prep. That said, I run shorter games so I can get away with that. Probably the better choice is to just ask the players where they think they might go after the cliffhanger is done and prep that direction.
I try to have a mix of up and down beats within a session. Do you plan for them long term in the campaign? Do you have any tips in planning or prepping 'up' swings?
Great (and succinct!) question! For me, upward and downward beats are mostly tools used *during* the game. They're meant to be improvisational to match the current feeling of the game – not something you'd plan out far in advance. You can, however, "prepare to improvise"! If you think you may struggle to come up with good upward and downward beats, write down lists of ten upward or ten downward beats (or both). It's a great creative exercise that gets your brain moving. Keep them short and fast and handy and don't worry about dumping them if you don't use them.
Hey Mike, you've spoken about how certain kinds of scenes/stories aren't as well suited for the tools in 5e: chases and mysteries come to mind from videos in the past. What are your thoughts on the best way to introduce mazes or labyrinths? A top down map could trivialize the challenge, but narrating each intersection and dead end sounds miserable. What level of focus has proven to be the most memorable in your games?
Yep! Those are good examples of troublesome dungeon designs. I'm not a fan and I can't think of a time I've used them. Some designers have come up with abstract ways to handle traveling through a maze. You basically don't describe it physically and instead describe it more abstract with skill checks to not get lost and the like. I think that can work but it can be frustrating too. The lazy trick? Avoid labyrinths and mazes =)
Hi Mike, When starting a new homebrew spiral campaign, do you have any tips for maintaining consistent narrative themes when you don't know what else is out there in the world yet? Thank you!
Hi Noah! I think I may need more info on what you mean by a narrative theme. I think if we have our campaign's elevator pitch and a stated overall theme for the campaign, we can keep that theme and focus in mind during the rest of our prep each session. We also, of course, have villains moving forward with whatever it is they're doing. That helps too.
Hi Mike, I have a large collection of adventures and compendiums in pdf format, which I like to mine for ideas. The problem is, whenever I'm looking for an idea for a cool NPC, an encounter, a bit of lore, etc., I can't remember where I saw those things, and I can waste a lot of time browsing through ALL my content in search of inspiration. Do you have any suggestions for earmarking or cataloging ideas for later use? How do you navigate and leverage all the material at your disposal?
Yeah! That's a problem! I tend to remember mostly which book it came from but I'd suggest creating a page in your digital notebook of choice (I, of course, love Notion but you can use Obsidian or OneNote or something) and either screen-capture what you like or jot it down with the book and page number. It's worth building a reference for something like this I think, but I must admit that I don't really have one. I do screen grab stuff and throw it into my campaign notebooks all the time.
Hi Mike, on a recent Weekly show you mentioned how there were some aspects of 4th edition you liked and think should be preserved in this era. What are some of the mechanics and features of earlier editions you think it would benefit us to bring into our 5e games?
Good question and added to the show list! 4e's simpler monster design is a vast improvement over monster design in 3.5 and previous editions in my opinion. It focused on the things that really matter when you're running a monster. 5e managed to capture most of that. I bitch and moan but overall I really love 5e monster design. 4e encounter building was vastly simpler than 5e but it isn't something you can just port over given how 5e works. 5e doesn't have monster types like minion, normal, elite, and solo. Instead, the intent is a monster like an Ogre can go from being a solo monster to an elite monster to a normal monster to a minion depending on the characters' level. It's really two design considerations and I respect what they've done with 5e but man, encounter building is a mess. It's not from 4e but I'd absolutely love it if 5e brought in the 13th Age style "nastier specials". Basically ways to beef up a monster to account for high-power characters. Level Up Advanced 5e does this with their "elite" monsters and I think that works really well. We can do our own "nastier specials" by using the dials of monster difficulty I think.
QUESTION: What are your favorite shorter adventures? CONTEXT: I love reading adventures to get ideas and to put extra hooks around the world where if my players pull on it, an entire adventure is waiting. I lvoed your ranked list of WotC campaigns and was wondering if you had a similar list of shorter adventures?
My own, of course! Fantastic Adventures, Ruins of the Grendleroot, and Fantastic Lairs! Getting those out of the way... I'll be honest, I haven't run many one-off adventures. The books of adventures from Kobold Press, Raging Swan, and Monte Cook Games are where I'd probably start. JVC Parry and Jeff Stevens also have outstanding books with shorter adventures. I'd probably start there.
What rules or guidelines would you use for running D&D that's less gruesome/violent/deadly than the way it's normally played? I'd like to get it to the level of something like Avatar: the Last Airbender, where there's still combat, but no death. Not so much for kids, but for adults that just don't want the level of violence that the default D&D rules lead to. I'm thinking things like - All damage is non-lethal - Don't use undead creatures Is there anything else I'd need to add? Or is there a different system that has a similar level of complexity to D&D but reduces the level of violence as a default?
That's a good question but one I've never really thought about. I don't know that my advice is particularly useful. I think you have some good ideas. I like the idea that the player can always determine if damage is lethal even if its something like a disintegrate. It helps the players determine the path of the story.
In your experience, what's one under-utilized or overlooked nugget of wisdom from within the eight steps of the Lazy DM? For example, I couldn't grasp the value of throwing away unrevealed secrets at first (sometimes I still struggle). But as time goes on, I see the value in that approach.
Good question and added to the list! I think some of the dirty DM tricks in Return (Chapter 28 likely get ignored. There are hard but really valuable things like playing for four players in low level games is much easier than playing high level games for seven players. There are *big* things we can do to streamline our games that some clearly ignore for the sake of complexity. I think Theater of the Mind or zone-based combat is underused by those tied tightly to the grid. Sometimes we have a style of play and it's hard for us and our players to break out of it.
Hi Mike! I love your work and you are certainly cranking out resources for us hungry DMs that want more! Keep it up ;) I loved the end-of-campaign Frostmaiden player one year later recaps, but I had a question about scope. One of your players had killed the Xanathar's goldfish, if he had said that he wanted to kill the Xanathar, would you have made them roll for it? You said that you don't like to add any mechanics, but is there a point where you would ask for a role/play a scene out? What if a player wanted to kill all the gods or something nutso?! Thanks and I love all the work keep it up!
See James W!!? Cranking out resources!! (I kid, James, if you're reading this! You're beautiful). That's a good question. I've had some pretty zany stuff happen but so far no player has stepped way out of bounds from what they're character would be capable of. I've had some characters *hunt* gods after their one year later. I'd probably tone it back with them and say they're bringing the pain to the gods but it hasn't happened yet.
Hey Mike! Our game has shifted from a more centralized war campaign in Wildemount to turning into a sandbox style campaign. I don’t think they realized what a war campaign would entail. I have no problem switching it up for them. How do you feel about using the lazy DM method in sandbox style campaigns? Is it still applicable in its 8 step method or do you apply another step to make sure you can keep up with the party’s wanderlust?
Hi Anthony! Yep! The eight steps work just as well for a sandbox as they do for a published game or a more procedural game. A big question is when you drop the quest seeds in front of them. If you do so at the end of a game and they choose the path they want to go *before* your next session, you can focus your prep around that session. Otherwise you're either prepping three locations or going light with your prep overall. It can work but its probably not ideal. My advice: Offer multiple options (three is a good number) at the *end* of a session and have them choose their course *before* the game ends so you can focus your prep on their choice.
Have you ever converted normal magical items into 1st generation legendary or heirloom items? My players are going up against a “god” and I want to reward them not with replaceable loot, you found a +2 sword to replace that +1, but have their weapons, armor, and items transform into legendary or heirloom items. I’ve created a tier system so as they hit each level tier a new ability is unlocked. Your thoughts/experience?
Good question and added to the show list! There are now a number of supplements that show how to upgrade items. Wildemount has stuff, Vault of Magic by KP has stuff, so does the new Tal'dorei Reborn book, and Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. I have a couple of items in Ruins of the Grendleroot and Fantastic Lairs that upgrade over time as well. That said, there are pretty easy ways to do this that follow "lazy DM" principles. The obvious is that it goes from +1 to +2 to +3 over tiers (you can choose the pace but +1 at tier 1, +2 at tier 2, and +3 at tier 3 are good general steps. I also love to give such items a theme and then find spells that match that theme. You can hit up third party books like Deep Magic by Kobold Press. Give it a new spell-like ability every tier it goes up.
Something I’ve been hunting through your archives for- Tales of the Yawning Portal includes upgraded old modules like Against the Giants & Tomb Of Horrors- their mechanics get a work over, but thematically they play very differently than 5th edition- opening the wrong door can lead to a very messy encounter that is in no way balanced. My table finished an epic campaign on the edge of tier 3 and want to continue, so I thought to use Giants as a plug in tier 3 campaign arc. But it’s tricky- despite warnings they burst through doors, stop and hold short rests in unsafe places, and generally don’t much mind the need for stealth and speed. I’ve reworked the scenario, gave them a secret entrance (that they locked), gave them intel from Inside, and even the spiffy sword from the cloud giant- yet they dither and him and haw about assaulting the place again My question: what advice would you suggest for players used to 5e conventions to prep them for older style adventures, even when upgrades as this one is?
Hi Trey! There's definitely a difference in style between the upgraded 1e adventures and more modern adventures that spread things out. I think the best thing a DM can do is to describe this difference and remind them of the old-school principles. Things are not designed in a gamey way in those old modules (some are designed poorly period). They'll want to make sure they have their ball bearings, ten foot poles, rope, and mirrors to peer around corners. I think its always good for the DM to be explicit about design principles before they dive into a new game and start to think only in-character.
Any tips for getting new players to utilize their class features more often? I feel like, especially with spellcasters, that the bulky text of some of these features just adds another layer of info that is intimidating/overwhelming. How do you get new players to be excited to take the time to understand and learn all of their capabilities?
Added to the list! I generally leave character stuff to the players – they'll use what they use. A couple of thoughts is to level them a little slower so the players have time to learn all of their stuff. Another trick I've recently used is to have each player describe what they've picked up each time they level so the other players know what they're bringing to the table. This might help one player realize they have something cool when another player asks them about it.
I have always run published campaigns and modified them using the Lazy DM steps. Recently I have started homebrewing for my kids ( ages 10 and 7). I discovered Nord Games' Spectacular Settlements and Dangerous Destinations. I have also started using Lore Smyth's world building supplements for Inns, Taverns, Shops, and Cults. I love these materials. I am able to combine the Lazy DM method with them to create some really cool stuff. Do you have any advice on World Building versus prepping for a published campaign? I have been keeping things very simple and letting the kids show me what direction they want the world to go in.
Hi Kale! I think grabbing the stuff you're grabbing and using is clearly a great way to go! I think everything I've got on campaign building is in the spiral campaign building chapters in Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master and the Lazy DM's Companion (if you don't have the campaign, check out Uncovered Secrets Volume 1!)
Hey Mike! So my current game takes place in a jungle setting, and I realized this makes it perfect to run an adventure based on Predator. There's even the perfect monster in the MM, the Invisible Stalker. My question is, while I can (and have) prepare encounters with other monsters, most of them will be against the same Invisible Stalker. How do I do that? Do I parcel out the monsters hit points for each encounter? Set a break point where after the party does so much damage, it flees, heals and comes back? I want to make it a challenge, so that in the end, when the party finally kills it, it feels good for the party, but I don't want to make each encounter a full, final boss fight.
Good question and added to the list! Check this Sunday's show!
Holy smokes, I can *kind* of imagine the amount of work it took to make that YouTube link list. Thank you for doing that !
Grabbing the TOCs from YouTube was the hard part. After that it was some crafty Python code to get it into a linked list importable into Notion. Took about an hour but I think its really useful.