Greetings Reddit! Sorry for my bad English, it is not my native language.

Ok so my DnD table has a bit of a problem. I know this will sound stupid but I promise this is not a troll. I have 4 players at my table and me. We like to play particularly long sessions over the weekend. We’re all 14 and 15, so we are all still a bit immature. That brings us to the problem. Two of my players in particular, my close friend and another player’s girlfriend, pass gas a lot at the table. I know this may sound like a stupid problem to have, and it kind of is. I don’t even find it distracting really, and none of the other players seem to mind. They all tend to laugh along with it. I try to as well. However, I was raised in a very conservative household that was strict with manners, and so I feel weird about this even though I know it’s natural and I shouldn’t. Thus, the problem.

Normally I would just talk to them but I feel weird doing so here. I don’t feel disrespected by them or anything of that nature. I just find that it makes me uncomfortable because of the modesty I was raised with. I would feel very weird telling the table “Hey can you all stop farting” because again it is very natural and it’s not a true problem in any real sense. I wish it didn’t bother me but it does. Is there a way I can get over this? I think I would want it to stop, but confronting it makes me feel very awkward (I get shy very easily when I’m out of my element) and I don’t want the group to feel like I am policing their inoffensive behavior. They are my friends after all. I would also just feel weird doing so.

Is this something that has come up at your tables before? Does anyone have any advice as to how I can handle this? I imagine the best course of action is to find a way to personally get over it, but I am unsure of how to. If anyone else was raised to be very modest and has encountered this problem before, I would really appreciate advice. And yes, I know this is a very stupid post. But there wasn’t a way around that. I promise that this is serious and that I am being sincere. Also I am on a throwaway because I feel embarrassed having this in my post history haha.

I am going to bed to think this over, will read responses when I wake up.

TL;DR I was raised to be very modest and the players pass gas a lot and I feel uncomfortable. What do?

In my last D&D session, one of my party members (rogue) decided to rob a woman. He led her to a back alley and acted like he was in the mafia. She screamed, alerting 7 guards. His level 8 self obviously got arrested.

My character (wizard) saw him and the guards passing by and I jokingly said "FIREBALL" and my DM said roll for damage. I killed 32 people and the 7 guards. I got arrested and both me and my rogue party member were put in jail. My party decided to punish me for something completely accidental. The bail for both of us was a total of 10,000 GP, I was 8000, the Rogue was 2000.

Their punishment for me was a contract. I signed it and I had to pay 8000 GP to them by 10 sessions. Compound interest of 1% was also added every session. So it would end when the price got to 8800 GP. My DM was completely fine with this.

Was this right for my party members? I felt like they were overdoing it because I just jokingly said something and forgot a certain rule that was implemented a few sessions before my last one.

No more table talk.

This rule was ignored by both our DM and players until this moment.

So I’ll be the DM of my first campaign soon, one of my players has an amazing backstory that I really like. However the way my campaign is structured is that there’s a strict 2-3 day time limit so I’m worried about how am I going to do stuff with his backstory in that time limit.

The obvious choice is to just get rid of the time limit, and that’s what my partner and other friends have told me to do. However I don’t think I can do that because the main part of the campaign is recruiting and uniting people within this short time limit.

Do you guys have any ideas for what I should do

I really love the artificer class as I’m a craft person in real life and love to learn new and random things. But man this class can be kind of confusing I normally play a hard and really wanted to learn a new class. Is there any resource besides it’s book of origin to learn artificer any recommendations would be great.

Hi all. I'm an old school tabletop gamer, or at least I used to be. I've not played anything outside of a computer for years but I have very fond memories of playing d&d back in the day. To cut a long story short, after years of droning on about it, I convinced my wife and kids we should try a game of 5th edition. They managed to stay interested long enough to make character sheets, but that's as far as it ever got. All the effort I put into figuring out the start of a campaign and building them all characters has gone to waste. So, what I'm saying is I'm looking for a friendly, patient group to take on an oldtimer like me for the odd game on roll20 or similar.

My concern is that if I create too severe in game consequences for their choices it might make them more passive.

My specific context:

My group of players are relatively new and will often just sit back and let me sort of unfold the story for them. I've been trying to really encourage them to take the story into their own hands by creating interactions with NPCs that require them to make choices, as well as just telling them out of game that the story is theirs as well and they should try to shape it.

Last session they went off the rails and did some crazy shit in a city. It was an awesome session and I was stoked they invented a story.

However, in world their characters really should have known better. They killed some guards and caused a lot of attention. I put some NPCs in place strongly suggesting to rethink what they were doing as a sort of "in world DM warning" but they went ahead anyway given all the info I presented.

To be true to the world, the characters have to face consequences, especially since they are in a semi hostile city. But I'm concerned the players might take it badly and in the future will go back to being more passive.

Any suggestions or ideas for how to handle this?

Thanks ❤️

I cannot stress this enough. The DM and I are in agreement that not sending a message that you’re running late or not showing up is incredibly disrespectful to our time.

We have 1/2 the table not showing up on time, ranged from 30 minutes to an hour. They do not so much as shoot a sentence over the group chat informing us of their status. Hell, we had someone’s partner in VC, on time with us, and 50 minutes later he says that “She wasn’t feeling well, and she wouldn’t make it to the session.” This has been going on for months. We will be taking a hiatus, during which the DM will talk to them over voice and text.

Being on time, or letting people know you won’t be on time, is such a basic curtesy. That I have no idea where to begin.

How do I word this in a way that it doesn’t sound demeaning?

Hello everyone hope your all having a good day. I have a idea for a character that has a magical train and can only cast spells that take place in or out the train (for example if I cast sleep everyone on board the ship fas asleep or if I cast fireball the train itself sets ablaze and crashes through things for the damage) obviously this sounds busted but I can only do it on the train. So to my point could anyone help me balance/refine this stuff please and thank you

It's just a general question, but still. What if someone is the not or even scared to be a main character story that is you are having a game with. Let's say, you have this guy. Jim, Jim has a very good character for the setting you (the DM) has created for your newest adventure. Very flexible and is able to make such interesting stories with. The bad thing? He isn't really going into the spot light much, He stays in the background most of the time. Why you might ask? Well, idk. Maybe he feels scared to become the center of the attention even for two minutes, or he has some type of disorder (EG: Imposter Syndrome, Background character Syndrome, Extra disorder, Depersonalization) or heck he just wants the others to have fun so he lets them have the light shine extra bright on them.

So is this a bad thing or a good thing for you? And if you would have one of these types of players or had one, how did you address it?

I have DM'ed for a group of friends before. Mostly it was 1 scenario that I wrote and mostly improvised. Then with a 2nd group of friends I ran the same scenario, but with experience what could possible happen.
How do you prepare for session? I can bring maps, stats, and colorful descriptions. But that wont make me prepared. How to keep people on track? Im afraid If I overprepare, It could work against me if anything wrong happens.
Is reading a written adventure a good idea? Just to see how its written and prepared.
I feel kinda lost at this point. How do you prepare? Is there any core points you note?

my friends have played a long term campaign for about 2 years. i never got the chance to join in though i wanted to. i’ve played maybe twice in my life, but it’s been a long long time. they’re running a one shot and asked if i wanted to join in and said it would be level 10.

i was making my character and it was incredibly overwhelming all of the choices and information and all that. i’ve maybe played level 3 at the highest? they know i’m a novice at the game compared to them. if it was that overwhelming to make my character (with an unfamiliar class too, they wanted me to play a bard which i am so so unfamiliar with) then how difficult is it gonna be for me to play it?

am i crazy for thinking this is a crazy high level for them to be throwing me head-first into?

So, I'm in the planning phase of my next campaign, and one of my players asked to have a home base or fort. I thought, great! That sounds amazing.

I designed this gothic Elven manor and a nearby local town that the players will be given as a reward for their heroics. I imagined an open courtyard where they could have meetings or deliver judgements to the villagers. Surrounding the courtyard, I thought that each player could have their own wing which would slowly change over the campaign to suit the player, giving them special abilities and powers. Each wing would have its own door with the symbol relevant to the player... oh crap.

Screw it, we're leaning into it. "We don't talk about Vec-na, no, no no."

My fiance decided he wanted to dm for a work friend of his and his gf who I work with. My fiance wanted me to play since I would add an experienced player to the group. Knowing what the others would pick I decided to try out a cleric which isn't my normal go to. Session 0 started and the gf picked a circle of the moon druid, the friend picked a berserker barbarian. I picked domain of trickery. The first encounter we had, I couldn't do much. I'm level 3 and don't have too many spell slots but knowing my team could go down I held onto my level one spell slots in case I needed to heal someone. Admittedly I could have turned dead as we were facing zombies but I wanted the group to actually have fun so I sat back and shot cantrips at the zombies while the other fought. It was good, no one ended up needing a heal and the threat was taken care of. Well the barbarian is pissed because I never healed him. He has a much larger health pool than me or the druid and his hp was only reduced to 28hp by the end. Of course I didn't heal him. It wasn't necessary but he was mad. At work with my fiance he kept complaining about how I needed to get my shit together and do my job, that I didn't contribute to the fight and that I wasn't helpful or necessary to their party. This has angered both me and my fiance. We both know I was trying to be more tactical and let everyone shine but he just wanted me to "do my job" and heal him. I already personally don't like this man. So how do I deal with him? Even his gf admits he has main character syndrome so I just want to be able to play and have fun. Not be judged.

I have a Dex based fighter (eldritch knight sub class) / Wizard (blade singer) (levels 6 and 2 respectively). I've recently remembered about concentration and the bonus Bladesingers get to concentration spells when in bladesong.

What spells can be recommended that work well? Off the top of my head there is Blur and Shadowblade. But Haste also seems like it would be epic (but don't have 3rd level spell slots yet).

As a wizard I can copy spells from a scroll, so if there is a spell from a different class (like Hunters mark) would that synergise well?

I'm not looking to min-max, purely to have fun to play combat character with options (current trope is no-one can seem to hit my character so they gained the "Lucky" feat on leveling up by DM recommendation)

I found some, but it’s not very deep, just a bit here and there. Looking for something where I could actually make a campaign or decent one shot, with that deep grim dark 40k feel. I can only do so much with beefy paladins and spell jammers.

So, for context, we've been running a dnd campaign since August 2024. It was a test campaign, as it was our first, with the chance of continuing it afterwards if we liked it.

It was great, so obviously everyone agreed to continue, then the DM told us that the next session will be considered as a new campaign, our party hadn't bonded yet and many of us made many mistakes during the character creation process, so they allowed us to make some changes, like completely turnover some game aspects. Like change spells known, feats, even subclass. Of course after a talk with them and with valid reasons. The only aspects we can't change are those basics and character defining like class, race, personality etc...

Well, I think this is a great opportunity and the DM is being generous. So I decided to "rework" my character rewriting her history to fix somo issues caused by the rush (literally 30 minutes).

The problem: I gave her the first age that crossed my mind, literally some random number. Now i want to change it. I think another age would fit better based on the way i roleplayed her. It was never brought up and has never been relevant. Imo it could be easily changed.

But I don't want to take advantage of the situation or DM. So, people, is it reasonable or i'm being pretencious?

Edit: Yeah, I was just overthinking. And sorry for my english, it's not my language. Thank you everyone.

I’m level 8 paladin (treachery) 1 twilight cleric (I wanted dark vision and initiative adv) Harengon Have a great axe +2 My stats are 22,20,22,9,16,16. (22 is cap) In that order going strength to charisma.(made dark pacts and got a few in game items to help scores) Currently debating whether to go light or heavy armor? Thoughts on level eight feet or stat improvement? Thought or advice first time paladin.

I'm making a 3x3 grid puzzle with tokens in each grid. The PCs must get all of the tokens to be on the same side to open the door. There is a shiny side and a dull side. Each time a token is flipped it also flips the adjacent ones but not diagonal. I was practicing it myself and wondering if anyone knows a solution if one coin (starting at the center) is on a different side to start?

I have tried it and I don't think so so I was going to have it all on the same side to start. I was also going to add some enemies and make it one action to flip a token.

Flavor: there are disks 7ft. In diameter set flush in circular cutouts. The cutouts are 1ft. wider than the disks. Nothing is attaching the disks to the sides of the cutouts. Touching one reveals it is floating within the cutouts and it begins to turn quickly as do the ones next to it.

If a player stands on one it will be a dex save to see if they fall into the hole taking 2d6 falling dmg. If they fall there is stone footholds in the wall to get them back up. They can touch the disk again, turning the disk and it's neighbors but getting out.

Thoughts and also an answer to the first part if anyone knows please.

We managed to get clothes on a kobold.

I'm making my players (3 players, level 4) fight a giant manor that has become alive very mimic like (flesh teeth tongue all that pretty stuff).

My idea of the fight is that some of them will stay outside to distract it while some will destroy 3/5 hearts inside.

The fight will happen after a long rest.

I'm wondering, how much damage should the exterior do (with giant tongues / with a big bite if they stay right in front of it), if there should be distractions in it's body, if there should be a passive poison like damage per turn for people inside and then how much hp/ac/damage.

Previously they took down a giant amalgamate of spiders at level 2 that had 100hp, attacked with 10d4 (but no boost to its damage capabilities so it didnt hit that many dices (one of them has 19 AC and I hate it)).

My base idea is that it does 1d8 (like a greathammer) with its tongues and 2d8 (like divine smite I belive) with its bite (a big hit outside would stop it for a turn), as for inside the body i thought that each heart would be hidden with an investigation DC of 14 and probably 1hp.

I don't want it to be a breeze but I don't see how to make it a bit challenging without having them be destroyed.

(translated with google translated) i need opinion for my introduction of my one shot

Introduction:

The carriage jolts lightly on the icy roads, enveloped in a relentless snowstorm. The outside world seems like a still, ghostly realm: snow-covered trees stand like frozen skeletons, while the wind screeches around you, as if it were the wail of lost creatures. The temperature inside is freezing, despite the heavy cloaks that surround you, and with every breath it condenses into small white clouds.

The sudden stop:

A sudden stop jolts you, making you almost hit the walls of the carriage (Str saving throw 12 falls to the ground). The horses neigh loudly, their hooves nervously thumping the frozen ground, as if they sense an impending danger. You notice that the carriage is stopped. Looking outside, the landscape seems increasingly threatening: the snow has become an incessant curtain, almost as if it were a wall between you and your destination.

In front of the carriage, among the flakes that dance, you see a figure kneeling in the snow. A young girl with her face hidden by a heavy fur hood. In front of her, a small white rabbit is trapped on a low branch, its little legs flailing in an attempt to free itself. It seems almost surreal to you, this scene in the midst of that relentless cold. The stranger desperately tries to reach him

The girl and the mysterious way:

She hugs him to her chest without saying a word. When her eyes meet yours, a shiver runs through you: her gaze is empty, devoid of any spark of life or emotion. They seem like two bottomless wells, as cold as the frost that surrounds you.

There is something profoundly wrong with her. You do not see her breath condensing in the air like yours, she shows no sign of suffering from the cold. Yet, in that still void, you catch an almost imperceptible hint of relief. The girl does not speak, nor does she seem to answer your questions. When you ask her where she is from, she tilts her head slightly, then raises a gloved finger and points to a path among the trees, covered in snow. Her gaze leaves you with a strange uneasiness.

Notice the details of her clothing: her clothes are impeccable, of great value. The fur of her coat and scarf seems made especially to repel the cold.

The approach to the village:

Following the indicated path, the path becomes increasingly difficult. The trees become thicker and the wind seems fiercer. After some time, you finally see a village in the distance, its lights flickering like little stars in the darkness of the storm. Just when you think you are close to a truce, the carriage jolts violently.

A dull noise reaches you, followed by a strange silence. Looking down, you notice that one of the carriage's wheels is destroyed, swallowed up by the snow that has piled up on the path.

The discovery of the pendant:

Resigned, you begin to collect your things from the carriage, looking for a way to carry them to the village. Ready to leave, you turn to talk to the girl, you realize that she has disappeared. There are no footprints that lead far, as if she had dissolved in the blizzard. The frost falls, and in its place, you find a small pendant.

The jewel is of extraordinary beauty and disquiet: a dark blue gem that shines with an unnatural light is set in the center, and on it are engraved intricate runes, which none of you can decipher. When you touch it, you feel a strange heat: it is not the heat that warms, but a sensation of intense cold that burns like living ice. You do not understand if it is because of the long journey or the tiredness but it seems to pulsate, as if it were alive.

I would like an honest opinion, I want to note if you perceive a dilemma of mine, on the writing of the text.

PS: if you notice any disconnected parts, it's because I expect active player intervention at that time.

Thanks for your help.

Title sums it up - we're in mid chapter 2 and it's clear the players are acting skiddish and selfish in how they interact with the townsfolk and their party.

In chapter 1, they were reluctant to help the town even as they saw women and children being threatened by the raiders. They stood around the keep as the guards and commander were barracading the sally port. To one player's credit he did get on a ballista to attack the dragon once before jumping off and telling a guard to take his place.

Then for the champion fight, they all refused to go out and fight even after Nighthill almost got on his knees begging. I emphasized how devastated the prisoners were after they saw the poor guard get killed by the champion, even his sister and niece ran to his dead body crying.

During character creation, I emphasized this is the type of campaign we're playing, that they are the "Good Guys", and that the missions are centered around heroism and those types of actions. But they just seem like they are afraid to put themselves in any sort of danger, even when powerless innocents are threatened.

They are relatively new players, and are still wrapping their heads around what they can and can't do on a technical level, and also judging when it's a good time to get involved vs run, but the straightforward "I should help these people" encounters are not being taken seriously.

Now that they are in Chapter 2, they're not really interested in the monk in peril, but they're more interested in the spying of the camp. Yes, that is one part of Nighthill's request, but they haven't even mentioned the monk at all since the quest was given the morning after the raid.

Any tips to indirectly lead the party to be more heroic since this campaign is all about those types of acts? I don't want to be that DM that says "you guys need to be heroes and not bystanders", but it makes some of these encounters tough to DM when they outright refuse to get involved.

Genuinely interested as to whether you have become good friends with people in your campaign when you may have only known them a little beforehand

I've been interested in DnD ever since I watched DougDoug's hilarious video, but he said that was a very simplified version of the game which is pretty intimidating. Since the massive success of Baldurs Gate 3, and it being based around DnD, I wonder if I could get into DnD by playing BG3.

Also, I have no friends so what are some good online websites to let me play cause the friend barrier is tough for me lol

I am toying with some ideas in my head for a build, but I’ve never multiclassed before and would like some tips. I plan to go swashbuckler for sure, and then maybe go battlemaster for fighter. I’m thinking 9 levels in Swashbuckler to get Panache, and then 11 in fighter. I’m just not sure in what order I should take them.

Im a warlock drow elf chaotic good and i try to be in character a lot lol 8 of strenght and 16 of charisma, we have a half orc paladin, a rogue dwarf and drangonbhorn barbarian who both just wanna fight and sadly act so dumb it hard to play and a sort of dead elf who ranger. Any artefacts in fights or in general interaction, we are lvl1 exept the half orc who slightly higher cause wr needed someone stronger for pepole who are starter like our ranger and rogue (and the barbarian feel like she dont try. Our ranger tryhard to know all info needed when she never played befor lol) I am allowed to have infos since im the DM bestfriend and help to make the story and stuff lol

Hi The fighting style are allowed to same class like fighter, paladin...at LV 1 or 2, but can we take more than one fighting style like the other ? One fighting style at lv 1 for a fighter, a second at lv 4 and a third at lv 6.... Thx

Basically, I'm hosting a one-shot in a couple of days with lvl 12 characters however one of the players im hosting loves to use cheese methods to install kill BBEGs/restrain them so they cant do anything.

I've already told him that if he does do anything like this is game again I will take away whatever abilities allowed him to do that but im not sure if that will be enough.

Hey everyone,

Last year, I nervously took the leap from PC to DM and honestly, I’ve ended up enjoying it way more than I thought I would. It feels very satisfying to come up with challenges, plot hooks, and scenarios and then seeing how my players interact with them—often in ways that completely surprise me.

On the flip side I’ve been in a game as a player for almost three years now. I used to be absolutely obsessed with it, but ever since I started DMing, my interest in it has dwindled.

It’s hard to pinpoint why. Maybe it’s because, as a DM, I get to have all the answers, know the bigger picture, and shape how things play out. There’s a sense of control and foresight that I really enjoy (maybe this is howbibfind out I'm actually a control freak). Meanwhile, as a player, I’m often going in blind, and my enjoyment of the game feels largely dependent on the DM and other players. It can sometimes feel aimless, like I’m just reacting to what’s happening rather than actively driving anything forward.

Has anyone else experienced this shift when moving from being a player to DMing? How do you balance enjoying both roles? Or is this just part of the player-DM pipeline?