I am not sure if this is allowed but I'm looking for someone who will write a short adventure for me, I will pay..

Context - midsummer, a really cool semi wild camping field in Deepest Devonshire, we have exclusive use of the whole area. With bell tents, shepherds hut and trees all around. 15 kids aged 10-17, all know each other and some of the older ones play a lot of Dnd and can guide the younger ones. There are 10 or so adults who would be willing NPC's.

Deep in the bowels of an ancient labyrinth, long forgotten secrets and priceless treasures wait for adventurers brave enough to claim them. But can your party remain sane enough to get to the riches they seek? This quest is designed for a party of 4 level 13 players, but you can easily scale it up or down based on the level and number of your party. I ran this in one of my campaigns a while back and had a lot of fun putting my players through the gauntlet. Without further ado, let’s get started!

Part 1: A Mysterious Maze

This quest can truly fit anywhere in your campaign. I ran it as part of a player’s backstory, with him learning that this maze was on a far-flung island, and when a few brave souls tried to enter, a wailing from deep inside caused them to pass out on the spot. He was looking for information on his other-worldly patron, and so the maze promised to hold secrets within as to who was pulling his strings.

When preparing this adventure, you’ll need to decide where the maze is, and what will lure your players inside. As you’ll see in a minute, the labyrinth is designed to mentally mess with those who go inside. As some suggestions, you can flavor it as an ancient temple to a god of insanity and chaos, lying in the ruins of a long lost city. It could be the creation of a mage who went mad with power, designing the labyrinth so that nobody could get to his treasured magical secrets. Or it could be a test laid out by a god of will or intelligence, meant to test a party cleric and see if they’re a worthy champion. The set-up for this can be pretty much anywhere in your world, as long as it’s sufficiently hidden.

As for what they can find inside, that’ll also depend on your party. If you’re using this as part of a character backstory, their reward could be information for that player, or a magic item that fits their build well. General riches are never frowned upon, and you could also put story-related information and items in here, too. However you slice it, this is a versatile adventure.

Reaching the exterior of the maze, they’ll find the entry has been left open for all to enter. But the moment one of them sets foot inside, they’ll hear a wail emanating from deep within. A sorrowful bellow that fills them with dread. Anyone within 10 ft. of the maze entrance will need to make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw - and if they fail, they fall to 0 hit points, unconscious. At level 13, most of your players should be able to save - but just be prepared in case the dice gods curse them in this moment, and they all fail. Unless you want a bit of an anti-climactic end to your campaign, you should have a back-up plan.

Glancing inside, your party will see a staircase that descends downward, lit by ever-burning torches attached to the walls. Once they start down, they’ll notice that if they look back, they’ll no longer see the entrance behind them - only more stairs. As they trek deeper and deeper down the staircase, the air around them will grow colder, and they’ll begin to lose track of time. Seconds feel like minutes feel like hours - your party will need to make a DC 17 Wisdom save, or gain one point of exhaustion from walking for what feels like forever.

Eventually they’ll reach the bottom of the stairs, though for some it will have felt like minutes, while others will swear they were walking for much longer. Before them, the stone walls will open left and right, before branching off again in different directions. This is the Mad Maze, and your party will need to keep their wits about them to survive.

Part 2: Twists and Turns

Don’t worry, to run this quest, you won’t have to keep track of an entire, sprawling maze! Leave that to your party! As they begin exploring the labyrinth, have the party assign who wants to keep track of their path through the dungeon, and who wants to keep watch for traps. Whichever character takes the lead on guiding the group will be making investigation checks, while the watcher will roll for perception. The deeper they go, the more puzzling the maze becomes: And the harder it’ll be to keep things straight.

The basic flow of the dungeon will be this: your players roll for investigation, then roll to see which potential obstacle they encounter. If they roll well on investigation, they find a door with a puzzle, beyond which is a landing with some sort of challenge. If they fail, then they’ll realize they’re going in circles and have to try again - facing another obstacle afterwards.

If one of your players is good at Investigation, this dungeon could be their time to shine, getting out of there with minimal obstacles. But here’s the catch: The longer they spend in the maze, the more they hear whispers at the edge of their consciousness, and feel the maze beginning to wear on them. Every time they face an obstacle, afterwards you’ll have them make a DC 15 Wisdom save, and on a fail, they’ll begin to go a little insane.

The Dungeon Master’s Guide has a whole list of sanity effects to use on your party, ranging from short-term annoyances to long-lasting character flaws. Personally, I think some of the options are better than others, so I’d suggest taking a look at their lists and making your own with all the best ideas, including any you can think of.

Part 3: Through the Labyrinth

The first investigation DC will be 15 - not too bad. For obstacles, you could choose any number of traps or challenges to throw at them. They should be pretty short and straight-forward: These aren’t the real meat of the dungeon, that’s the combat encounters. If it’s going to take longer than ten minutes, it’s probably too long. Here are a couple examples of ones that you can throw at your players:

5 swinging blades line a hallway, and they’ll need to make DC 14 Dexterity saves to get past, or find some other creative solution. If they fail and get sliced, they take 3d6 slashing damage.

A 40-foot hallway with spikes all along the ceiling, and when they get halfway down it, the whole hall flips, and they’ll begin falling towards the spikes. They’ll have to avoid getting skewered by making a DC 16 Strength or Dexterity save to grab onto one of the wall torches, transforming into a flying animal, casting feather fall to land safely in-between the pikes - whatever creative solution they can think of. If they fall into the skewers, they take 8d10 piercing damage and are restrained.

If the watcher fails a DC 17 Perception check, they’ll step on a small tile in the floor. In classic Indiana Jones style, The ceiling behind them will open up, and a giant stone boulder will begin rolling towards them. They’ll need to succeed on a DC 16 Athetlics check to outrun it, or come up with their own idea. If they fail, they take 6d8 bludgeoning damage as the boulder slams them against the far wall at the end of the hall.

They come across a hallway dripping with slime from floor to ceiling. Walking through it requires a DC 15 Strength save, and they’ll take 3d6 acid damage as the slime burns their skin. If they fail, they’ll become Restrained, and will take that same acid damage for each attempt they need to get through. If they use magic or abilities to try and fly through, they’ll still have to dodge slime dripping from the ceiling: That'll be a DC 15 Dexterity save, or get singed.

The watcher’s up again: If they fail another DC 17 Perception check, they’ll miss that the floor ahead looks slightly off - like it’s a little lower than the rest of the hall. If they step on it, the floor will crumble underfoot, and your watcher and investigator will need to succeed on DC 17 Dexterity saves or fall into a pit of flaming coals. They’ll take 8d6 fire damage, and find themselves 30 feet below the rest of their party. Each time someone attempts to get them out and fails, they’ll take the fire damage again.

Again, you guessed it, the watcher will need to succeed on a DC 17 perception check to see tiny holes in the ceiling, and tiles all across the floor. If they fail and step on one, poison gas begins filling the room, and everyone in the party will have to make a DC 16 Constitution save or take 6d6 poison damage. High-level druids can ignore this one, but everyone else will be having a bad time.

Not everything in here is terrible! They could come across a skeletal body wearing tattered old robes, their bony arms clutching a book in their hands. It’s an old wizard’s journal, describing how they found the maze, and their eventual descent into madness within. Inside the book is an inscription for the spell Mental Prison, that can be used as a spell scroll or copied into a wizard’s spellbook. Not all bad!

Ok, back to the bad stuff. Your players will reach an intersection where the maze splits right or left, both pathways appearing to lead to empty halls. But if your watcher once again can’t succeed on a DC 17 Perception check, they’ll fail to notice the right side is an illusion: They and the investigator will walk right into a freezing cold wall of invisible magic, take 5d6 cold damage, and be Restrained. They’ll either need to succeed on a DC 17 Strength save to get free, have someone dispel it with their own magic, or get creative. Your party might want to change watchers at this point.

Your players come to a hall where, if they succeed on the ever-present DC 17 Perception check, the watcher may notice the shadows cast by the torches are a little longer than usual. If the party tries to pass, the shadows will spring to life, attempting to grab and suffocate them. They’ll each need to succeed on a DC 15 Strength save or be grappled, and take 2d6 necrotic damage with each failed attempt to escape. You could also run this as an extra combat encounter, using shadows from the monster manual - just be careful with their strength drain attack. Any wizards you have might not make it out of the hallway.

The party reaches a hallway that is completely filled with roaring flames. It sounds and feels real, but water doesn’t seem to douse the fire at all. A successful DC 15 Investigation check will reveal that it’s some kind of illusion. If they step into the flames, they’ll need to make a DC 17 Wisdom save: Succeed, and they steel their minds against the illusion, but fail, and they take 8d6 psychic damage, as they perceive it to be real. If a character is immune to being frightened, they can get through without any issue - lucky them.

The players start to notice small motes of light floating in the air. If they leave them alone, no problem! But if they touch even one of them, they all attack! The tiny little sparks will begin dive-bombing your party, forcing them to make a DC 17 Dexterity save or take 4d6 lightning damage. After a bit of running, the motes will leave them alone, just a little worse for wear.

A 40-foot long acid pit. That’s it. If they fall in, they take 6d6 damage. Not every obstacle needs to be complex.

As they walk, one of your players will start to hear a weird ringing in their ears. It’ll get louder, and louder, until it becomes almost deafening. That player will need to make a DC 18 Intelligence save, or go a bit crazy. They’ll lash out and start making melee attacks against the other players - with a weapon if they have one, or just their fists. Each time they take damage, they can re-do the save, with the DC decreasing by 1 each time they take a hit. Hopefully for their sake they succeed on the first try - though it’ll be more fun if they don’t.

Gelatinous cubes. Two of ‘em, sliding down opposite sides of a hallway. The watcher will need to make a DC 15 Perception check to see them… Otherwise your investigator is going to walk right into one. You can find the stats for these dungeon classics in the Monster Manual.

Those are some ideas for obstacles to throw at your players, but feel free to come up with your own, as well! And don’t forget that each time they face an obstacle, they’ll also need to roll their wisdom save against madness, afterwards. The maze is a test of their characters physical and mental limits - but if they can survive the challenges, they’ll begin to make headway.

Part 4: Arachnophobia

After they succeed on their first investigation check, and get past whatever obstacle is before them, they’ll reach a hallway blocked by a golden door. Embedded in the face is an obsidian skull, with glowing red rubies for eyes. Underneath is a hand print, with the words “pay the toll” scrolled in Deep Speech.

To get through, your players will have to take turns pressing their hands against the door. Once they do, they’ll feel their life force start to be drained from their bodies, and one of the eyes will begin to glow. Each eye requires 50 hit points to be fully lit, so your players will need to decide how much each wants to give to get through.

Once the toll is paid, the door will open, and the party will find a round chamber beyond. It’s pitch black in here, so any characters without Darkvision will be blind unless the party light a torch or cast a spell to brighten things. The walls, floor and ceiling are covered in thick, stringy webs, making it difficult to move around. In several places the webs spool up into sickening cocoons - hints as to what’s waiting for them.

After a few moments, seven phase spiders - magical arachnids that can blink in and out of the ethereal plane - will appear all around the room, and attack. As your party faces off with the monsters, they’ll find the entire floor is difficult terrain, due to the sticky webs. They’ll also have to deal with the spiders popping in and out of the other plane as a bonus action, as well as the creatures’ poison bite. Once all the arachnids are slain, part of the webs will burn away, and the party can venture on.

Part 5: Return to the Madness

Beyond the landing, the maze begins once more. But your players will quickly find that the labyrinth has become even trickier to navigate, with more twists, turns and dead ends than before. The DC for a successful Investigation check to get through is now 20, and each time they fail, they’ll encounter more obstacles and have to save against madness.

Once your investigator finds the path forward, your party will reach another door. The door is tall - about 20 feet high - and there are a number of skulls across its face equal to the amount of players in your party. They’ll need to simultaneously hit each one with an attack or spell in order for it to open, meaning everyone will have to pitch in... Or the wizard can just use magic missile. Their call.

Beyond the door is another circular chamber, but this one isn’t covered in webs like the last. The floor is carved into all different grooves and small rivets, forming a maze on the ground - as if one wasn’t enough. In its center is a small hole a few inches wide, and some of the paths lead to three different levers that form a triangle around that middle point. Up above, the ceiling rises up high into shadowy darkness, illuminated by small points of light like glittering stars.

To solve the puzzle, your players will first have to insert one of those bits of light into the hole in the floor. By flying up, climbing the walls or lassoing one with rope, they’ll learn those glittering motes are physical marbles, each burning bright. Placing it into the hole will cause the entire maze to start filling with light, tracing all of the different pathways until they reach the base of those three levers.

Runes along the handles will begin to glow, and to get out, your players will need to pull on each at the same time. Releasing one will cause if to fall back to its starting position, so unless they get creative, the same player won’t be able to pull on them all. It’s a DC 18 Athletics check to pull on one, and as they try, the light in the center of the room will start to shine brighter, and brighter - so bright that it’ll begin to burn. With each failure, the party will take 3d8 radiant damage, increasing by one die every time they can’t get the levers pulled. It’ll be up to all of them to work together, using help actions, inspiration, guidance and whatever else they can, to complete the task, which will shut off the lights and open the path forward.

Part 6: End of the Line

Back in the maze, your players will have to get through the twisting tunnels one final time. They’ll need a DC 25 investigation check, another obstacle and a save against madness to proceed - and that’s only if they succeed the first time. Keep in mind that if your entire party dumped intelligence, 25 might be a little too high of a DC for them to reach. So you may need to adjust.

Eventually they’ll reach the final door - no puzzle, just a gold knocker waiting to signal they’ve arrived. Once they’ve announced themselves, the door will open, revealing the final chamber. It’s pitch black in here, but for those who can see, the look of this chamber may be different depending on how you’ve flavored the dungeon - if it was for a god of madness, there may be chains on the ceiling and statues of manic, laughing faces lining the walls. If it’s an old wizard’s labyrinth, maybe it looks more like an ancient magic study, with broken alchemy equipment and dusty old bookshelves. It should have at least two things though: several pillars covered in arcane runes, and a statue or depiction of whoever the maze is dedicated to.

That’s not all that’s in here though: Hidden behind the pillars, amid the chains or other details of the room are three enemies: two star spawn manglers and a larva mage. These can be found in Monsters of the Multiverse, and again, you can flavor them to fit whatever design you gave the maze: An undead mage and his magical construct bodyguards, or a statue of an ancient god’s champion and their horrid creations. They’ll attack, and in order to claim what they’ve come for, your players will need to survive.

The larva mage will hang back while the manglers go in to engage with any melee attackers, using their bonus action to hide if possible since they’re in total darkness. The mage will also have legendary actions to fight your players with, and you can add lair actions like chains that try and restrain a player each turn, or runes on the pillars that light up, forcing intelligence saves from anyone nearby or dealing psychic damage. Once your players have hopefully dealt with the mage and their underlings, the depiction of the maze’s creator in the room will break or open, revealing their riches beyond.

Part 7: Finally Free

The players’ prize for this ordeal is up to you: It could be lots of gold and treasures, a boon for the cleric from their proud god, secret info they need to defeat the final boss, or all of the above. But once they’ve snagged their loot and are ready to get out, a stairway will open, leading them right back out to the start of the maze. Any madness effects they’ve suffered will fade, and they can finally leave the maze behind, and continue on their adventure. And you can save any obstacles they didn’t encounter for future dungeons!

I hope you can find some use for this quest in your own games! Whether you run it as-is, make a bunch of changes or just mine it for parts, I’d love to hear what you think or how it goes in the comments! Thanks for reading, and good luck out there, game masters!

Not sure where I can post this and get proper feedback, so here I am 😅🙏🏽 EDIT: THIS IS FOR AN ANIME STORY

For context, the world for the power system takes place in a modern day fictional big city. Society will resemble today's in that the populas has devoted itself to corporations, living to work one dreary day after another to make ends meat and contribute to the growth of said corporations without much time or money for ones own enjoyment/expression. As of a result, the human mind has evolved to give access to IMAGINATION ("Image" for short), a power that allows one to manifest creations, enhance the body, and alter reality.

I have a more in depth breakdown of the system but this post is already long 😅

IMAGINATION POWER SYSTEM:

• Imagination ("Image" for short): a powerful raw force of the mind that allows for creation of practically anything.

• One cannot have more or less of Image, but rather it varies how well one can safely tap into and control image
• Only those who are open to Image can see/sense Image (creations can be seen by anyone, but IF/Fiends can't)
• this power is most potent in children but they lack the focus to harness it consciousnessly
• Themes of escaping reality, cognitive disengagement. By fully giving into this, you neglect the real connections and moments that could bring you joy for artificial fantasies.

• Day Dreamer (D.D.): one who harnesses the power of Image.

• Madness: one must also be careful to not dwell in the imagination for long periods of time, this puts too much stress on the mind and can lead to madness. Madness causes one to blur the lines of reality allowing the imagination to take control and flow free.

• this can lead to hallucinations, voices, paranoia, fear, then leading to a total collapse of ones self.
• one can gain great power from this, but lose themselves in the process
• Madness can vary in appearance person to person

• Imagination is comprised of 3 aspects:

• Amping: enhancing oneself or creation

• Creation: using Image to create anything (not living)

• Manipulation: power to alter the world around you (most simple example is earth bending)

Hi, my name is violet and I am just planning on playing DnD with my friends weekly after a- level exams. I have never played before and I couldn’t find a group that I could join.

Watching all of dimension 20 and some of critical role as well as other streamers play Dungeons & Dragons I became very eager to play convincing my 5 friends to play. My only real option was to lead a game myself really - throwing myself into the deep end or finding a group without them.

Obviously, I want to be a good dungeon master but I have the same amount of knowledge playing this game as my friends do. So I was wondering if you guys had any tips for world building and running campaign.

I know there are few pre-made storylines. I was wondering if that was a good place to start and if so, which one would you recommend? I do write short stories in my spare time as well as creating art so I’m not completely in unfamiliar territory. Though I am aware that’s completely different from running a game.

I am also really worried about my friends creating characters, and me playing NPCs but that’s a completely other issue?

Anyway where should I start if I am running home game or is this all in vain and I should find a group without my normal friends?

Thank you

So I've got the ground work laid where a wizard the party has to rescue was shunted/cast into a pocket dimension and I need some ideas on how the party can rescue him. They do not have the proper spell levels to open portal to dimension so looking for alternative ways to rescue him.

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As a GM I find it frustrating that most adventures are still formatted the same way they have been for the last 40 years. Blocks of text are fine for prep, but they're difficult to use when you need to search for information during a session.

To make my adventures easy to run, I separate the adventure into sections and present information as bullet points. I use these symbols to differentiate the type of information:

➤ This information is either immediately or eventually apparent to your players, regardless of their actions or abilities.

🔍 This is information hidden from the players. PCs trying to investigate, having specific abilities or asking the right questions might earn this.

? This is information that might be true depending on how the adventure progresses, or that you can choose to make true.

I use font styles to make it easy to skim the adventure. The most important information is usually in bold. References to specific adventure sections are italicized. Text that can be read directly to players is presented in bold italics.

I make the adventures purposefully lean on details, to more easily fit into any fantasy setting and campaign. This means GMs need to improvise some details. Information like prices, value of treasure and amount of damage dealt are almost always better for the GM to determine.

With the abundance of different rulesets, I think we should all be focusing on making adventures that are compatible with as many of them as possible, and at many levels of play. This isn’t as difficult as it may seem. There are plenty of resources available for DMs to find or make up creatures on the fly, so there isn’t a need for us to provide stat blocks or other system specific character attributes. Instead can just describe the creature type and suggest the difficulty of an encounter, such as “medium” or “deadly.” The GM is the best person to determine the monster and non-player character (NPC) information that best fits their players’ experience level.

Since D&D is a common reference point for most GMs, when an adventure discusses spells or other mechanics, I use D&D terms, such as “Detect Magic” or “Advantage” or rolling skill checks and “Saves.” Again, it’s up to the GM to decide exactly what that means for their game, and how difficult those rolls should be.

Here’s an example of one of my adventures that uses these principles. I’d love to hear what you think.

QS-Roads_IllusionedBridge.pdf

Hi! I just published an adventure for D&D 5e that I've been working on for few years. This is "my dungeon," so to speak-- it was one of the first adventures I ran and I've run it for 4 or so groups since then, making improvements every time. Now, in a polished, digestable format with art by the incredible John Green (@jrgdrawing-real) and Maeve O'Brien, with a cover by inimitable Strega Wolf (@strega-wolf), it can be yours!

During a routine train ride, the characters are halted by a powerful force within Enfri Asylum.Haunted by murderous doctors, revolutionary patients, and creatures beyond description, the characters must venture into the old hospital and put an end to the madness to reach their destination. Where have the staff gone? Why do the doors not lead where they should? What dark experiments were performed here? And what has become of the asylum’s enigmatic owner?

The Monsters of Enfri Asylum is a 8 to 12 hour horror adventure for 1st to 5th-level characters. Check it out here if you're interested!

The Monsters of Enfri Asylum includes the following: A horror dungeon featuring sixteen levels, a plot hook involving an experimental train, custom stat blocks for eight new monsters, tables for random, conjured rooms in the Asylum, and dozens of handouts!

So, some details...

I've always thought that the story of Onyxia is a terrific storyline. Spy work, family (in the form of dragon siblings [Ony/Nerfarian]), subterfuge, treason, regicide, surprise reveals, ultimate BBEGirl, etc etc etc. The problem is, I always play as the Horde in WoW so I don't know enough to actually write the story in a fun compelling way for my group. I've read a lot about the story and I generally know how it goes on the Alliance side, but the problem is, I am very new to DMing.. like... 2 sessions of DMing so far.

Does anyone have any suggestions about where to go for guidance or help writing a DnD campaign like this?

I'm working on a Jujutsu Kaisen DnD set up for my bf and his friends and personally it's a lot of pressure but Jujutsu Kaisen is a favorite in my book and I'm wondering if anyone can give a couple ideas on setups

(So far I've never played a DnD game let alone hosted one and I probably changed the entire game which I dont know if that was supposed to happen...)

I have a lvl 11 player (sorcerer) who just met her mentor. Mentor is, at some point soon, going to betray and attack her. Mentor should be obviously weaker than the player but should be able to provide a challenge to the character via tactics.

That being said I need some ideas on tactic like abilities (or just tactics in general) that would show off her battle prowess. I'm thinking of making her either an assassin or a sorc as well.

I have never heard, or read anybody using the concept yet so in case I never get around to it myself I want to put it out in the world. The concept is to take the Little Match Girl short story and adapt it into a quick encounter for players to quickly invest themselves. The back story of the little match girl being that, like in the original story, she was sent out by her abusive father to sell matches and isn't to return until all are sold otherwise be beaten.

The initial encounter with the little girl doesn't matter so long as your player(s) meet her in the cold be it in winter or a city built in the tundra. I personally prefer setting it so that the Adventurer's Party are walking through a well off city, having been called by nobility to a party so when they meet her they can't simply pick her up and take the little girl with them and leave her behind after purchasing a couple boxes, however after meeting the little match girl it doesn't matter what the DM/ the player(s) occupies the party with. Once time has passed and its now night and even colder as the party are enjoying themselves and entertaining the nobles they hear the loud CRACK and burn of a lit match and as they look around and find no one with a match in hand they hear the howl of wolves. Now the hope here is that the player(s) put 2+2 together and immediately charge out the door to rush and save the litte girl they had met during the day and prevent the tragic loss of life that could have been avoided.

At this point an extra time mechanic comes in were like in the story the little girl only has so many matches to burn and the player(s) need to rush to her aid as they hear as each match is lit and burns out. Whether the danger is wolves doesn't matter so long as it is an active moving danger that closes in on the child or can get in the way of party. Now once out in the city charging to the aid of a child the players must decide if they have the time to stop the active threat or retrieve the girl first as they only have so much time before hypothermia takes her, as the DM give them clues to her current whereabouts be it a courtyard, park, stable, or empty ruins. Once the child is saved the party is free to choose what happens be that taking her back home, the orphanage, taking her on their journey, leaving the child with a trusted noble.

That is the base concept and what I've managed to work out myself. I've also been considering how the party is supposed to hear these matches as they rush around and came to the decision that for when I use the encounter it will be a goddess that is just trying to help a child.

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc. and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes fully fleshed-out notes, music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

Ever since the violent death of a gold dragon on the rocky shoal on the north side of Stormwreck Isle, the bone-strewn rocks have been the site of many shipwrecks through the centuries. One such shipwreck left a lasting mark on the island.

This is the shipwreck your intrepid group of adventurers have decided to investigate. Will they uncover the source of the zombie infestation? Can they survive the piercing talons of a harpy, or will her song lull them to their demise? Many mysteries await aboard The Compass Rose...

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for Part 3 Cursed Shipwreck: DM Notes
• Link to: Cursed Shipwreck Playlist
• Link to: The AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• A Word document with all my notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly, along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• Custom Maps of The Compass Rose (Credits: Bibliomaniac1992 and Conrad 500)
• A Handout for The Scroll of Command

Index:
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle:

• Part 1 - Dragon's Rest
• Part 2 - Seagrow Cave
• Part 3 - Cursed Shipwreck
• Part 4 - Clifftop Observatory (Coming Soon)

Over 5 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

As always, if you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc. please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

Do any of you fine DM's have any advice on (or an exmaple of) a one shot adventure where the party are trapped in a location (e.g. tavern) and have to fight off several waves of monsters with diminishing supplies?

A simple Zombie type thing would probably work but I could see it getting a bit dull, also I want them to be pushed to the limits but not actully be killed, but I cant think of an easy way to end it.

Would love any thoughts anyone has?

Mystery gnaws at the heart of Hollowmoor. Can you survive its desolate famine? A Weathered Dragon Westmarch League adventure

Link to adventure: https://www.theweathereddragon.com/blog/phantom-of-hollowmoor

Adventure Overview:

The Phantom of Hollowmoor is for 4-6 level 4 adventurers.
The port city of Brodick, a hub of salty seafarers and merchants smelling of fish and opportunity, has always harbored a hint of the sinister. Rumors swirl in its underbelly about strange occurrences in Hollowmoor, the ragged settlement on the outskirts Brodickers derisively call Deadhole. Its inhabitants – hardy folk hardened by the harsh coastal climate – have seemingly vanished or fallen devastatingly ill. Whatever the reason, their grim silence is unsettling the city's boisterous equilibrium.
Seeking to restore order, Brodick lawmaster Leo deGrey, a gruff but fair man bearing the scars of years on the rough sea, has quietly assembled a band of capable individuals to bring supplies to the settlement and investigate what is causing the sickness. Like food, information is scarce, but deGrey believes Robbins Twain, the less-than-reputable mayor of Hollowmoor, might be able to provide some. Your only lead is to find him at the Cold Cradle.
Visit the Cold Cradle. Talk to its few remaining residents. Discover the otherworldly source of the chilling famine that strangles the life out of last remaining residents of Hollowmoor.

Snuk, Empyrean, Ricardo, and Cedric, ignore this post and any replies.

In my current campaign, the party is on the road for several days to another adventure location. I want to have something for them along the way. I want them to free a trapped air elemental, and I'd like to brainstorm some ideas to help me flesh this idea out.

The party meets a traveling merchant coming toward them on the road. The merchant stops and offers them several wares. One of the items for sale is an exquisite music box that is powered by a trapped air elemental. One of the party members is an air genasi and based on prior comments in game, I think will want to purchase the music box to free the elemental. Freeing the air elemental will give me a reason to involve the player's estranged father in future events (air elemental will go report to dad, dad will communicate with the PC).

Looking for help with:

• ideas for how to entice the party to buy the music box, just in case they don't react how I expect them to (not my first time DMing ...). Since magic items are scarce in this world, maybe the merchant just offers it for cheap?
• ideas for how to free the elemental. I'm thinking the box has some hidden carvings, that on closer inspection reveal certain notes, that, if played in the right order, will release the elemental.
• ideas for how to involve some element of combat in the scenario? not strictly necessary, but that would be one way to emphasize the event.
• as an alternative to combat, how else could I lengthen the scenario? Maybe a side quest to find a key or something?

The only elements that should be unchanged are the fact that it is a trapped air elemental that the party frees. As I mentioned, the air elemental gives me a way to tie in the genasi's backstory. Also, there is an imprisoned goddess in the world, and I hope that freeing the elemental can foreshadow freeing the goddess. (My idea for the trapped goddess is that since magic is an ordering of chaos, there is never a magic effect that is purely order or purely chaos. The enchantment that imprisons the goddess must have a loophole, otherwise it would be purely order. The same principle applies to the trapped elemental - the rules of magic require that the prison have some kind of loophole.)

Thanks for any ideas you might have.

Hey we are Bodhi and Emily, super excited for the launch of our new Studio Ghibli inspired Floating Island, a 15 layer campaign setting. We have been working on it for the last 7 months; 30 plot hooks, maps, spirits, artwork, in-game games, NPC's, 13 Recipes, We have called it The Wandering Tavern
Would be great to get your opinion on our trailer. Cheers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Pro5hahCM

Good day Adventurer Writers subreddit,

I am drafting a campaign in a homebrew world setting I've been piecing together for longer than I care to admit 😳 however, I love exploring the fine details. Does it go against everything people have told me about worldbuilding - absolutely LOL. However, I dont plan to run a table of players through and call it quits. I will rerun this setting numerous times. Therefore if table 1 adventure through campaign misses a lot of rich details I wont be concerned/forceably pushing more content towards the table, as there is hope the next table may uncover content that perhaps wasnt explored first time around...

Needless to say, I love running scenarios in my head. A Baron's forefathers ban magic, setting forth a law in their region. Outside this region, magic is legal, but when inside their barony, it is forbidden and punishable if used. The Baron is stubborn and unreliable. He delegates his advisor to manage everything while he slips away doing what he loves - sailing. Lots happen in this region: diplomatic issues, local threats, fun outsider factions, etc. I am looking for folks who share the same desire of writing/exploring a story/avenue simply because creating a setting is thrilling to them.

If this is you, please DM me.

Hello everyone! I am doing my bachelor thesis on a tool that aims to improve the onboarding process for new D&D players, and I'm looking for input from both experts and novices. If you have 5minutes to spare, I would really appreciate if you filled in my survey. No personal data is collected and all responses are anonymous. Thank you!

https://forms.gle/pPcWEEM2Re4XCYeP7

I'm making a campaign for a couple of my friends who have never played dnd before. I want it to be relatively simple and short because they have zero experience. I have a basis for the campaign but i need help coming up with challenges and enemies for them to face.

The idea: They're all part of a kingdom and their princess has just turned 18 years old. Shes about to me married off but she wants to travel and go on an adventure. The king/queen order a bunch of citizens (the party) to accompany her and keep her safe. As the campaign goes on I'm going to have the princess get more and more attached to the party and more and more skeptical about this arranged marriage and I think I'm going to have their final issue be trying to call off the wedding. But so far I have no idea where to send them with this princess or what to have them do.

Any suggestions?

Hello fellow DM's!

As I scoured the internet for niche miniatures that I'll probably only use once (and then put in away in storage for the rest of eternity), I had a thought - What if there was a website where I could rent miniatures + terrain, have them shipped to my door, and then I just ship them back when I'm done!

Unfortunately, (to my knowledge) this doesn't exist!

So I wanted to make a post here to see if any other DM's in the community would be interested in such a service and if so, perhaps I would start to develop it!

Any feedback/response is appreciated! Thanks!

Fellow adventure creators, I come here once again to ask you about DMing ! I have trouble giving, as the title suggest's, illusion of the world evolving by itself, and living even when the pc's are elsewhere I would really like to givevthat to my players, as well as giving them lore information so that they feel engaged in a real, living and breathing world. I can picture it well, their faces when they realize a place/npc or stg else changed while they were doing something else Do you guys have any advice/techniques/tips on that matter ? Thank you kindly !

yoooo I want to build a plasmoid wild magic sorcerer but I'm a novice player (only two campaigns to date with fighting-based classes) and I want advice from the mid-maxers and experts: is this a bad idea, and what details might I be missing? What should I look out for if I do this kind of build? Most people suggest monk for this race but I've done fighting classes most of my dnd career.

I've been writing it to follow along with my groups campaign and I've finished our first "saga". Here's the pdf

Lmk what you think!

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc. and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible! With Easter fast approaching, I've prepped a Bunny Day Holiday Special:

From the creator of The Night Before Wintermas comes another level 5 Neutral/Evil One-Shot. Set in the same town as the original; your players will once again meet with Quentin Happyjoy who is getting into the confectionery business. Apparently, there's a lot of money in fat kids, especially when your toffee is 80% nicotine. He wants your players to cripple his competitors, House Estyr, makers of the world-famous "Chocolate Ovoids", by staging a heist on their heavily secured and fortified bank.

Will your players be able to come together to sneak or smash their way through the banks' defenses and come out with The Egg of Estyr?

This One-Shot has quite a lot to it. Your players will have multiple options when it comes to how they would like to tackle this heist which each leads to a very different experience. Theirs a full town to explore as well, with multiple unique vendors and magic items. I'm genuinely impressed with all there is to do!

I've also improved the design of the puzzle and included a section for handouts to make this session that much more immersive! I hope your players have as wild a time as mine did!

*Approximate time to complete

• Speed Run - 2hrs
• Quiet Option 4-6hrs
• Loud Option/Full Completion 6-8hrs

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for The Egg of Estyr: DM Notes
• Link to: The Egg of Estyr
• Link to: The AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• A Word document with all my notes including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• An updated and improved puzzle along with a guided solution
• Spell Cards for Guards
• Organized Tables
• Handouts for both Heist Pathways

Index of over 5 dozen sessions prepped just like this! - Click Here

If you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc. please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

Bday party, 12 ppl, most new to DND, all adults, most will more than likely be inebriated. I'm basing the entire one shot off of The Madhouse of Tasha's kiss, and the room I could use some help with first is The Laughing Man.

The birthday boy really likes Guys Grocery Games, so I thought the first interesting encounter could be a similar setup to that, except it should be something easy that I can introduce the new players to the mechanics of 5e and make it interesting as well.

I was thinking of having the Host pit the characters against each other somehow to see which get to move on and which get to be fed to Tasha. But after that I'm kinda stuck. Any ideas?

In a small mining village on the edge of the kingdom, a deadly attack deep in the ore-rich tunnels has left the town’s citizens scared and confused. Forced to close the mine until the creatures can be dealt with, the miners are looking for heroes to come in and save them from the hidden terrors… But your party will work, too. This quest is designed for four level 1 characters, and is a great quest to throw at your players when they’re just starting out. Without further ado, let’s get started!

Part 1: Gathering Intel

This quest begins in the small mining town of Stonehaven, built inside an ancient crater. Not the richest city in the world, most of the folks here make their living deep in the mine shafts that line the crater walls, digging up precious metals and gemstones for their richer overseers to ship far away. You could truly set this in any mining town though, so feel free to give the town whatever backstory and local amenities you see fit.

Your players could hear about this adventure in a lot of different ways. If they decide to check out the local tavern, maybe they hear rumors of an attack in the mines, and creatures that had even killed a few of their peers. If they’re arriving in town at the start of the session, maybe they see it listed on a bounty board with other potential jobs, one of several offerings. Or of course, if this is their first adventure together, you could just start them all off having been hired to deal with the threat. Either way, once they hear about the quest, they should make their way over to the mines, where the foreman can give them more information on what happened.

Once they get to the mining foreman, he’ll be able to give the party the details of what happened. While mining in one of the deeper shafts, a few of the miners opened up a wall to find a cavern beyond… And in the dark of the tunnels, they were attacked. Only one of them managed to stumble out, and they had grievous wounds across their body. Last time they’d checked, the miner was still recovering, but they’re in a tent nearby if the party wants to see if he has any more clues as to what the monsters were.

Regardless, the foreman has closed down the entire tunnel until the threat can be dealt with. The guards sent a few folks in… And they haven’t yet returned. So now he’s turning to mercenaries to get the job done - the reward will depend on exactly how rich you’d like your party to be, but some gold and maybe the promise of jewels should be enough to entice your party to head inside. Once they accept the quest and decide to help out these miners, you’ve got a quest on your hands.

Before they head in though, they can stop by the medical tent and see the worker who survived the attack. When they arrive, the worker will still be pretty injured and out of it, but able to speak and impart some details. If your players want to offer some magical healing or a good Medicine check, they may be able to get better information out of him. From what he can remember, the attack came quickly, and the creatures were lizard-like in appearance - though they stood on two legs. He remembers them literally popping in out of nowhere along the walls of the caves, as though they had been perfectly disguised.

The creatures your party will be seeking are called troglodytes, which are a bit like a cross between a person and a chameleon. They’re able to blend into their surroundings to hide better - and if your players learn this fact from the worker, that’ll help them out later on. There’s one other thing he can remember, if your party helps heal him up a little: The stench of the creatures was unbearable. He remembers almost passing out from the smell when one attacked him, but thankfully he was able to get away before it could finish him off. Again, this information will help the party out when they come face-to-face with the monsters.

Part 2: Into the Mines

Diving into the mines, your players will need to make their way through the twisting tunnels in order to find the troglodytes. You could have this done with a Survival or Investigation check - and based on how well they do, you could have them either run into an obstacle or find something useful. This is a mine shaft, after all: On a success, they could run into some precious gems left behind as the workers rushed out of here, or maybe see something old and forgotten that’s lodged in one of the rock walls. And on a failure, they might have to deal with a cave in - I’d assume lots of dexterity saves - or maybe roll against exhaustion as they spend hours doubling back and criss-crossing through the different tunnels.

Eventually they’ll reach a shorter tunnel that opens into a large cavern - their destination. Since this was just dug up, there’s no light in here: Your players will need to bring out a torch or use a spell in order to see. The walls of the cavern are rough, with stalactites that hang from the ceiling. All across the cold ground, the bodies of miners that didn’t escape the attack and the guards that were sent to find them lay exposed and decaying - though your players with higher passive perception or Medicine scores may notice that a few look like they’ve been chewed on.

Using their chameleon skin ability, the troglodytes are hiding in this room, camouflaged with the walls of the cavern. You can roll a group stealth check for the hidden monsters - with Advantage - against the players’ perception to see if they can spot the creatures first. If they talked with the injured miner earlier and learned that these creatures can change their appearance, I’d give the party Advantage on the perception check, as well. If the players spot the creatures first, I’d give one of them the opportunity to start combat with an attack - maybe an arrow shot to the nearest one, or a firebolt to knock it off the wall. If the troglodytes remain unspotted, I’d narrate how one of the players notices the wall shift a bit - and just like that, the creatures are on them!

You can always rule that one side or the other is Surprised to start combat, but be very careful before doing so. If your players manage to get the drop on the troglodytes, the combat will likely be very trivial, with your players sweeping through the enemies easily. But if the reverse is true and the troglodytes surprise most or all of your party, it could easily turn into a full-blown TPK. I’ll leave this up to your discretion, but especially if this is their first combat, it might be better to give them a small advantage in the fight rather than use Surprise here. Regardless, once both sides are engaged in the battle, it’s time to roll initiative!

Part 3: Tunnel Terrors

Though they aren’t the strongest monsters in the manual, troglodytes are no slouches for a low-level party. Each of them gets three attacks on their turn, so if one gets lucky and hits with each one or gets a crit, it can quickly swing combat in their favor. Couple that with their Stench ability, which forces any of your players that start their turn next to the stinking lizards to make a Constitution save or be Poisoned, and they should be a stiff challenge for the group. When I originally ran this, I only had 3 players, and while they won, it was a lot tougher than I expected. Four players should be able to get through it alright, especially if they got the drop on the monsters.

If your players helped heal up the miner earlier, then don’t forget to remind them of what they learned if they didn’t write it down. Knowing that these creatures have an overpowering stench will clue them in to keep their distance, helping them avoid making saves against being Poisoned. Of course, the troglodytes only have melee attacks, so they’ll be looking to close the gap as best as they can.

If you have more players or they’re a higher level, you can always add a troglodyte or two to spice things up. The higher level your players are, the less likely those +4 attacks are going to hit. You can also use the cavern terrain as a way to keep your players on their toes. Falling stalactites between rounds, large boulders to use for cover, mining equipment that’s been left around for impromptu weapons - the battlefield itself can easily become a factor in the fight.

Once your party has slain the troglodytes and restored calm to the mines, they can return to the surface to meet with the foreman and claim their reward.

Part 4: The Return

Back in town, the players can collect their reward and be on their way. Or, if you’re looking for a longer adventure, this can be a great lead-in to a whole subterranean storyline. Who knows what drove those troglodytes into the mines - maybe there’s something deeper in for your players to find. Or perhaps now that they’ve proven themselves, the city guard have another task for them to complete - this one a little more dangerous, and a little more rewarding. Whether this is the end of the road or just the beginning, your players can rest easy knowing the miners are safe for now, ending this quest.

Thanks for reading, and if you end up running this at your table, I’d love to hear how it goes and any changes you would make! Good luck out there, Game Masters!

In this article (here), I try and give some advice on how to make your stories better using elements like political intrigue and Machiavellian politics.
I find that political intrigue is HARD but it can be so rewarding when done correctly. When I manage to do it correctly, I find that it is actually one of the things DM's should set aside and figure out when creating a campaign. I use The Prince as a reference point to make both a great villain, but also rulers and a subjugated population. If you have anything else to add, I'd love to hear it!

Link to adventure: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11m1U0m8xnWbJvVwyk-0uVcmIcl5Gesnz/view?usp=sharing
Link to Weathered Dragon Press: https://www.theweathereddragon.com/publishing
Adventure Overview
The Secrets of the Snowy Peaks is for 4-6 adventurers from levels 5-7.

The legendary Crystal of Winter's Embrace, an artifact of untold power, has been missing for generations. Legend speaks of its ability to meld and shape the very fabric of reality, bridging the material world and the Astral Sea. It was last said to be hidden in the snowy peaks of the Goatfell mountains, protected by mountain spirits to ensure it never warped the balance between realms.
Of late, a barrage of crystalline vines, otherworldly and shimmering, emerged from the Astral Sea, entwining and consuming villages, forests, and rivers in their grip. These invading vines warp and alter the reality of anything they touch, causing animals to mutate, buildings to become ethereal, and time to behave erratically.

Distraught communities, ensnared by these vines, have united, pooling resources to reward those who can navigate the mountain paths and locate the Crystal of Winter's Embrace, and harness or return its power to safeguard both realms.

Drawn by the prospect of wealth, a desire to protect the balance between realms, or personal quests of knowledge and challenge, the adventurers embark on their journey. While the adventurers were gathering information about the mysterious crystalline vines descending from the Astral Sea, they happened upon an old map in a snow-bound library of the nearby town. This map highlighted the key landmarks in the mountainous region, but one particular notation stood out – a frothy mug symbol labeled "Brrr-ew House."

Beside the symbol, a scribbled note read: "Seek Elthorin's melody for the heart of the mystery." The townsfolk, when questioned, spoke fondly of the Brrr-ew House, claiming it was a haven for wanderers and a common gathering spot for those with knowledge about the region's secrets.

I'm creating my very first campaign, and I wouldn't mind some pointers for how to structure the story and campaign around the players actually experiencing it. I basically have some ideas of what I want the "main plot" to focus around, but I'm not entirely sure how to work those ideas into an actual living and breathing world that's actually fun to play in a DnD setting.

Here's a link to a google doc where I've formulated the basic foundation for the plot. It's a bit of a read, so just a heads up. If you don't want to read all of it, I'll put a TLDR after this, but If you're willing, it would help us discuss how things could work if you have the full picture, but again, entirely up to you.

Campaign TLDR: Outer God Nyoth'ah-Gol wants to take the power of Outer God Cthar'dhak, who is the current "caretaker" of the universe, while Eldrith entity Hoth'thosk wants to stop Noth'ah-Gol from doing that by secretly guiding the players.

We can discuss it here in the comments, or we can hop over to something like Discord to chat about some concepts. I understand what I'm asking is a big ask, I'd like to spend a decent amount of time and effort discussing how this thing goes, so you'd be committing a lot of time to something with no other payout then hearing how it goes from my end, but if you care to chat with me, I'd be very appreciative.

Hello everyone, I am starting to gather ideas for a future adventure/campaign that I might try to publish in the future, and as such I have a doubt about the CC license (in case I don't want to go the DMsGuild route): can other things not strictly in the SRD (but not part of adventures or similar), like race names or creature names, be included, or is that not possible?