If you’re apart of Awakening History DONT LOOK

So my party is about 20% done this overarching story and so far they’ve been assisted by a mysterious NPC named Clover, all they know is that he’s part of a group called the 4 horsemen who were all slain, save for him and that he sold his soul to an Angel (the one that sent the party on their many quest) for revenge. Little do they know that both Angel and Clover are evil and want to use the macguffins the party are collecting for evil.

Skip a shocking reveal and betrayal from clover later, the party will meet up right before the angel in a hellish landscape right before the stairs to the top of a mountain where the Angel resides.

Clover’s cane which he’s seen with throughout the entire campaign has been a mystery. It’ll be revealed that the cane is a scythe (I know, edgy, I know.). Now here’s the kicker, the whole party is gonna dog on this guy but what they don’t know is that whenever he hits them, time reverses and they’ll be sent back to right before they open the door to his boss fight room, all spell slots, health, restored.

It’s sort of Sans Undertale inspired especially since I said that Megalovania would play during a fight at some point (we’re all huge undertale fans)

I’ve been dying to say something to someone, let me know if you have any questions!

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Anyway, the true name of the campaign is not Qony Archipelago(which is the area they are playing in) but in fact it's called: Seventh Horizon

I think it's a cool name but what do you think fellow DM's?

For those who don't know, the giant All-Father god Annam fled to a secret realm in the Outlands after the giant empire was toppled by the dragons, supposedly because Annam was disappointed with them.

However, in my own campaign world, the Second Universe, which has a similar history to normal D&D, but is nevertheless an entirely different place, there's a different reason.

When I was reading "The Elegy For The First World" I wondered what gods could have won this war, and which could have been powerful enough to have destroyed the "heart of creation". The answer that came to me was giants. Who else could have won against the dragons, destroyed their creations, and why else would EVERY species of dragon destroy the giant empire together?

So, in my own campaign world the reason Annam gave for leaving is a lie. He's really afraid of Bahamut and Tiamat, and is hiding from them, and even orchestrated the contract that keeps Tiamat imprisoned in Avernus. Perhaps eventually I will use this in a campaign.

(BTW, for those who are interested I will be posting more about my lore, so keep a lookout for me.)

Hello everyone! This is the weekly thread where anyone can come and ask for and give advice relating to TTRPGs and your campaigns/stories. These will be up the whole week until they are replaced for the new week. Remember to be respectful and to have fun!

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I'm currently working on a new campaign for some old friends who have had to move. The pitch is that a king has died, and they must choose one of three contenders to support and help take the throne. Think of it like a patron for the Tier 1-2 levels.

To help really set the mood, I've been working on a video dossier of the contenders to help drop some lore, build suspense, and really set the mood before session 0.

I could have used a wiki or document, but I wanted it to feel like something they might have found in a game or seen in a movie. I'm sure they'll watch it, too, and not think about the hours spent trying to make it just right to be evocative and bring a sense of professionalism to our little game. And that's okay, because as long they have fun, that's really what matters.

If you want to see the non-video version of my dossier and get some inspiration check it out here: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGWsjUwpF0/MyQEJ--9C401W2LKM4SwtA/view?utm_content=DAGWsjUwpF0&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editor#4

So a few months ago I got to DM a Daggerheart one shot, and one of my favorite techniques from that game is to hand a little bit of narrative control to the players, especially around knowledge checks or places.

Cut to last night, playing our DnD 5e main campaign. The characters are fighting a giant centipede, who just killed one of the characters. It is fleeing, and the dwarf illusionist wizard asks the gnome artificer (who flavors their contraptions to be insectoid and bug-like) what centipedes are afraid of. The artificer looks at me and says "I don't know, what are centipedes afraid of?" And I got to reply to him, "I don't know, what are they afraid of?" He decided that they were afraid of giant eagles, so the wizard cast Phantasmal Force. The centipede failed its save and was forced to move a different direction, allowing the party to catch up, kill it, and retrieve the body of their fallen friend from its jaws.

Hello everyone! This is the weekly thread where anyone can come and ask for and give advice relating to TTRPGs and your campaigns/stories. These will be up the whole week until they are replaced for the new week. Remember to be respectful and to have fun!

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The Sins have controlled everything that has happened for the last twelve years! They have to allow anything that has happened. Hell! The only reason you have started this escapade is because you started in Sloth’s territory. HE WAS TOO LAZY TO STOP YOU! Now if you think the war was for glory, power or anything other than a squabble between siblings than you are delirious. How many friends, family, loved ones have died due to the war? All of this (gestures with his hand) destruction was caused by Seven petty gods, playing their games, pulling strings, and toying with lives as if it meant nothing. Twelve years of chaos, of suffering, all to satisfy their endless appetites for pride, greed, envy… Tell me, did you truly think your actions would matter to them? That you could change anything?" [He pauses, looking each of the heroes in the eyes.] Sloth allowed you to stumble into this mess. But do you think Pride has ever lost a step in this dance? Or that Wrath hasn’t enjoyed every second of carnage you call 'battle'? While you fought for hope, for peace, they laughed from their thrones, savouring each death, each sacrifice, every moment of your struggle. [He lets his hand fall, his gaze turning cold.] "Every friend, every family member you’ve buried—they’re casualties of a game you were never meant to win. And you… you’re nothing but pawns on a board, pieces moved by their whims. Even now, they watch—waiting, ready to see just how far your foolishness will take you." [The villain smirks, stepping forward.] "So, go ahead. Take up your swords, cling to your courage. Show them what strength you think you have left. Because when you fall—when the last of your lies broken and defeated on the stairs of their kingdom—they’ll be laughing still, uncaring, untouched by all your suffering. Or you join me. Once you kill the physical bodies of the sins and stand over the corpses you banish them with these words  “Septem ex hoc regno discedant et potestas abeat”   That will deal with them. Then after that you help me reverse the effects of the war make it so none of the soldiers or victims or children ever had their lives taken that way…

Hello everyone! This is the weekly thread where anyone can come and ask for and give advice relating to TTRPGs and your campaigns/stories. These will be up the whole week until they are replaced for the new week. Remember to be respectful and to have fun!

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I am currently writing a short adventure where the entire village is under a spell where "if anyone falls asleep in the town then they cannot wake"! I am working on a way to give enough clues to the players before they fall asleep themselves so that they can begin the panic and try and have to solve the issue without resting!

This adventure will be going live on Kickstarter to hopefully get some nice artwork for the Characters & Monsters. If you would like to learn more about the project or give it a follow you can here: A Long Night of Mourning

Hello everyone! This is the weekly thread where anyone can come and ask for and give advice relating to TTRPGs and your campaigns/stories. These will be up the whole week until they are replaced for the new week. Remember to be respectful and to have fun!

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This is a party brag. I had plans to end a current arc and segue into a new one, but they took my plans, tore them into little pieces and used those pieces to make something amazing.

Party is a pair of warlocks, a lore bard, a divination wizard, and a vengeance paladin.

A cult in the city had been kidnapping elves and stealing artifacts, and the party was on the case. They spent about 15 sessions taking out cult hideouts, rescuing kidnapped elves, interrogating prisoners, and chasing down leads. The party really hated this cult. The party got lured into a trap at one point that resulted in 2 PC's down, and one captured. They mounted a valiant rescue effort and got the warlock back. In the end, they found a local merchant (a slightly modified rakshasa-based creature) was running the whole thing. That's a long-winded way to say : the party really hates this cult, and really wants to take that leader down. The paladin was (of course) especially invested.

They fought their way through his mansion into his vaults, where they had a last stand with him as he opened a portal to facilitate his escape to some unknown, very distant location. I had contingencies for the party to chase him through the portal and have a whole arc on the other side, defeat the leader before he could escape, him get away, etc. The party had seen a portal like this before, and knew it only stayed open for a minute.

The bad guy wound up running through the portal with the paladin in hot pursuit. The paladin caught up and started beating on him for a round, dropping him to single digit HP (unbeknownst to the paladin). On the bad guy's turn, he taunts the paladin and casts dimension door, snapping 500 feet away. The bard comes running through to the paladin's side, grabs him and uses her last spell slot to cast dimension door on the two of them, sending them both 500 feet away. As she got ready to do this, I reminded the party that they had max 60 feet of movement per turn, and the portal had already been open for 3 rounds. They wouldn't be able to get back to the portal in time. They didn't care. They charged at the bad guy, and the paladin killed him on his next turn.

Back at the mansion, the wizard saw all of this and asked if there was any way she could try to keep the portal open. I thought that was cool, so I told her it would be concentration she would have to spend the entirety of each turn maintain concentration with a very high DC arcana check. For each turn she met the DC, the portal would stay open one more round. One of the warlocks wanted to help, and they were able to combine their efforts (advantage on the roll).

We switched to cinematic at this point : the bard and the paladin were dragging each other up the hill towards the portal, with the rest of the party cheering them on and trying to keep the portal open. The portal would close in 6 rounds. It would take 9 for the paladin and bard to make it to the portal. The wizard was straining, and it was down to the last roll. If she passed it, the pair would make it. If she didn't, they would both be trapped. The paladin did the paladin thing : "Instead of dashing, can I try to throw the bard through the portal?" I told him that would likely trap him on the other side, because the wizard would have to pass an additional time. He understood. He threw the bard. The wizard failed the roll. The portal snapped closed in front the paladin as the bard was launched to safety.

We left the session with the party scattering : the wizard is staying up all night, exhausting herself as she meets with her mentor to figure out how to get the paladin back. The warlocks are both trying to enlist their patrons' help, which will certainly cone at a cost. The bard is reaching out to all her contacts, trying to figure out anything she can about the place the portal went to. The paladin is alone, leaning against a Stonehenge like stone in a strange land as the sun sets.

The session didn't end anything like I planned, but I don't think I could be happier with the outcome. Such a wonderful roleplaying moment there. Truly an epic session.

So, a little backstory - My daughter got into playing D&D with her friends, but her group absolutely fell apart two sessions in and she came home really upset about it. I asked her if she wanted to maybe start playing D&D as a family, as we've been lacking some family bonding time and spending too much time on our devices. She eagerly agreed and so,

-Cue DM training montage-

I'd never played D&D before, and my only exposure to it was listening to a few podcasts so I had a lot to learn. In two months, I crafted an entire world for my two kids and wife to play in. My kids were enraptured to write their own backstories, and I planned their arcs in my main campaign accordingly. But, my wife decided that a backstory for her Owlin Druid was too much work and just said, "She's an amnesiac. She doesn't remember her past."

This annoyed me, because she has a tendancy to back out of things she's not invested in and I didn't want my hard work and my kids' excitement to die off. So, I set about crafting a backstory for her to stumble across early in the campaign.

Over the last few sessions, the city the party found themselves in kept making reference to the Owlin, as if the NPCs in this town knew her and her family, and acted offended or confused when she didn't recognize them.

It all culminated with my wife's character finding her childhood home. A sprawling manor that stood empty save for a single servant. This NPC invited her in, overjoyed to see her again, but was deeply saddened when she didn't remember him. Eventually, she stumbled across a bracelet, that triggered her memories.

In this moment, I shifted from being a dad telling a silly story, to a man recalling a deeply tragic story of a family of Owlins, torn apart by a deal gone wrong. Her player's father, on the verge of bankruptcy, gave up her character's young brother up to the BBEG in exchange for riches. I crafted this moment to be emotionally impactful. So much so that the entire table fell silent, tears were shed for these characters, and my wife, Now truly roleplaying for the first time in this campaign, grabbed the servant and SCREAMED, "Where is my brother?!"

It was at this point we ended the session, and afterwards, my wife asked me, "Where on earth did that come from? I know you write a lot but DAMN, that story HURT. Now I HAVE to play through this whole game to find out what happens."

I just grinned and said, "Exactly."

I just feel very, very proud of myself as a storyteller. Weeks of carefully laying out this "trap" certainly paid off, and now we are rest assured that the campaign will go on with a lot more surprises in store for this trio and their quickly growing army of NPC friends.

I don't think any of them use this sub, but if you are currently adventuring on the island of Draekari, stop reading.

So, I've just created an ancient city that was once on the island of Draekari. It's called Ilun'dara, or The Light in the Dark.

Long ago, Ilun'dara was a thriving, sun-worshiping civilization. Known for its wealth, culture, and military might, the city was a paragon of prosperity, with fertile lands and a booming economy. The people of Ilun'dara revered the sun as a divine entity, considering it the source of their blessings, guidance, and protection. Their city’s architecture, art, and cultural symbols were filled with sun motifs, reflecting their deep-rooted faith.

However, a catastrophic event struck. The city began to sink into the ground, plunging into what would become the Underdark. Whether this was caused by forbidden magic, divine wrath, tectonic shifts, or another unknown force remains a mystery. This disaster led to Ilun'dara being wiped off the surface of Toril, and the memory of its influence eventually faded.

Surprisingly, Ilun'dara’s people survived the initial descent and continued to exist in the Underdark. They adapted to life underground, trying to hold onto their sun-worshiping beliefs even as they were cut off from the sun itself. They relied on artificial lights and magical orbs to emulate sunlight, desperately clinging to their faith. Eventually, though, they were overrun by the creatures of the Underdark, and their city fell into ruin.

When my players discover Ilun'dara, they'll find a city filled with faded grandeur, remnants of desperate faith, and eerie signs of the struggle against the dark forces that ultimately overwhelmed it. Sometimes, you can almost hear the voices of those long dead, their cries for the sun's light to protect them, as though they were still echoing throughout the streets all these years later. However, the city is now abandoned, save for one ancient protector—Helior.

Helior was a devout warrior and chosen guardian of Ilun'dara centuries before it's fall, bound to protect the city and its people. During this duty, he was mortally wounded, and was placed into a mech of sorts, standing around 12 feet tall, clad in ornate armor adorned with sun motifs. He was both a symbol of divine protection and a powerful military force. His armor and weaponry were designed to channel the power of the sun, aligning with his people’s faith in their radiant god. Mechanically, he's a stronger/edited version of a Warforged Colossus from Eberron.

At the time of Ilun'dara's fall, Helior was in a form of stasis within an ornately decorated chamber, entombed within his coffin-like armor. Because of this, he is completely unaware of the city’s tragic fate. When he awakens, he’s stunned to find Ilun'dara in ruins, the people he was sworn to protect long gone. Confronted with the loss of his purpose, Helior is overcome by confusion and grief.

In this moment of despair, Felix Arlos, the party's cleric of Amaunator, becomes a beacon of hope for the warrior. Felix’s connection to the sun reignites Helior’s purpose, reminding him of his sworn duty to protect and serve the light. When he learns that Amaunator is a deity of the sun, just like the one that he once served, Helior will pledge fealty to Felix, seeing him as a worthy leader and new purpose in this darkened world.

And yes, Helior is basically a Dreadnought from Warhammer 40K, I couldn't resist.

The players are primed to:

• Stumble into a big fight
• Trigger a deadly trap
• Meet a dragon NPC in a vision (one of my PCs is obsessed with silver dragons. He's a valor bard so I am going to use it as an excuse to turn his rapier into a +1 weapon that levels with him)
• Fight a giant, cursed plant.
• Talk to a ghost NPC

And it all depends on what they decide to do. I have no idea how this will play out. So exciting.

Hello everyone! This is the weekly thread where anyone can come and ask for and give advice relating to TTRPGs and your campaigns/stories. These will be up the whole week until they are replaced for the new week. Remember to be respectful and to have fun!

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If you’re in the campaign “Awakening History” stop scrolling.

So here’s the deal, My party met a crime lord/Consultant (Basically Moriarty) named Corvus. If I were to describe him, he’s like a tentacle thing with a shit ton of eyes everywhere. (Mora from Skyrim but in a suit). He’s the leader of an org that took the wife of a rogue in my party “Nyx”. I’ve dropped tiny tiny hints in dialogue and other descriptions that Corvus that match him appearing around the same time her wife was kidnapped by this group. (10 years before the campaign started.) I plan to reveal that they are the same person further down the line by causing the tentacle skin to recede in the sunlight, showing Nyx’s wife actual skin and not the Corvus inky black tentacle skin (I’m still working it out T-T).

Hey y'all - I feel like I just need to vent about my last session and thought this might be the place. I don't know if any of you all have had a bad final session - I feel like I only hear how epic they are. If you have, I'd love to hear how you coped with it.

If nothing else, maybe you all can learn from my mistakes. I would say my lessons are 1) trust your players, 2) trust your preparation, 3) if life interferes with your preparation for a session that's important to you/the campaign, consider calling it off.

TL;DR: I got cold feet in the boss fight and let a high-level NPC help the players, making the encounter way too easy and relegating the players to the sidelines of two NPCs going at it, and it's making me reconsider DMing again.

Here's the story:

I've been playing D&D for years, but started DMing during the pandemic. I DM'd on and off but never finished a campaign in a satisfying way. I realized that I kept planning these massive campaigns like the ones in podcasts and streams when the reality is that real 30-somethings can't get together for large chunks of time consistently enough to do a lvl 1-15 campaign.

So I got a good group together and set my sight on a mini arc of 5-6 sessions that could stand on its own. And it worked! The players were engaged, they got through the challenges, and seemed to be enjoying it. We were all having fun and the characters were interestinng. If there was any critique of the campaign to that point, it would be that the players hadn't really been challenged in combat much. The only encounter that felt like a PC death was a possibility was the first session.

We ended the session penultimate session on the party about to confront the miniboss, so all I had to do was give them a boss battle and land the plane. I was finally gonna be able to do a boss monologue! I had a reveal all set up! I was finally going to have a campaign that would feel like it _ended_ instead of just fizzled.

Aaand I fucked it all up. I planned this complicated final encounter that I was so worried about balancing I even posted on r/DMAcademy for feedback. And I shouldn't even be that worried about a character death or even TPK because we were taking a break after the arc and could shift party composition or run a new campaign.

The confrontation with the miniboss and twist/reveal went really well, actually. But then the encounter happened. With out going into a turn-by-turn breakdown, basically early in the first round I got cold feet. I did a lot of damage with something that kicked off every round and thought "I'm gonna kill these guys". So I left a high-level NPC, who I had planned on removing, in the fight. Then, with a high-level spell from said NPC + a really good PC turn and roll, everything shifted and it's now 6-on-1 on the miniboss and it's really just a matter of time. It's not just that the encounter was too easy or over too quick, it's that the (arguably) most impactful turn on the PCs behalf was by an NPC. I felt like I cheated my players.

After that, I think the resolution of combat and the final reveal of what was going on the whole time went well. But I under-planned the denouement. I had the rough idea of what would happen (decide what to do with the treasure, go back to town, get celebrated as heroes, probably) but I guess I thought I could improv the rest. Maybe I'm a better improver than I think and my players didn't notice, but I didn't feel like I got all of it.

My players said they really enjoyed the arc, especially the story it told, which does make me happy since I wrote the narrative. They say want to play again after the holidays - we decided on a hiatus earlier since we knew scheduling would be a nightmare and I wanted to take a break from DMing. But that last session left such a bad taste in my mouth, I don't know if I want to DM again. At least in a continuation of that campaign. It all feels so silly, that I'm still thinking about my performance in a Dungeons and Dragons game 2 weeks later as a full grown man and father, but this is one of few the hobbies I really set time aside for and put effort into.

If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading.

Tonight, one of my players is going to be starting his own campaign in my homebrew setting, in which I get to be a player!

He's consulted with me about lore appropriate placement in the world and is even looping in one of my deities to act as a quest giver (without giving me spoilers).

I'm so excited I'm vibrating. This is literally a dream come true for me.

Any pointers on not being a backseat dm? Has anyone else had this experience?

Hello everyone! This is the weekly thread where anyone can come and ask for and give advice relating to TTRPGs and your campaigns/stories. These will be up the whole week until they are replaced for the new week. Remember to be respectful and to have fun!

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I just had an idea for a campaign where the characters either already know about past events or learn about them and slowly realize that they are encountering npcs and events from the past. Moving closer and closer to a major calamity. Somehow they must find out how to halt the reversing timeline before they find themselves plunged into a low survival time period.

I am not sure how to accomplish this. Again the basic idea just hit me. Any ideas on features or mechanics are very welcome.

Hello everyone! This is the weekly thread where anyone can come and ask for and give advice relating to TTRPGs and your campaigns/stories. These will be up the whole week until they are replaced for the new week. Remember to be respectful and to have fun!

Just a quick reminder that the discord is up and running for this subreddit, come and join to have conversations about anything relating to TTRPGs :P

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A PC recently regained custody of her sisters in a very emotional/sweet RP moment. One of the sisters is 9 and an aspiring author, so I'm writing little paragraphs based on the stories the characters share with her, and plan to bind them together as a small book for all my players at the end of the campaign. I think it'll be a fun gift for everyone, and it'll honestly help me keep up with my personal notes lol. I thought about this last night and I'm really excited about it :)

Hello everyone! This is the weekly thread where anyone can come and ask for and give advice relating to TTRPGs and your campaigns/stories. These will be up the whole week until they are replaced for the new week. Remember to be respectful and to have fun!

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Finally, one of my players has decided to take a level in warlock. In my campaign with my 2 brothers, my fiancée and little brothers girlfriend, fully homebrewed world made by all of us.

My older brother, playing a red dragonborn rogue who left the thieves guild because they killed his wife in a botched hit, has been playing bg3 and decided he wanted a taste of the spells and magic. We decided that he could take a level in warlock and have the patron offer him some sort of help with seeking vengeance on the guy who ordered his wife's death.

He decided he wanted the archfey patron, we decided it would be Hyrsam, Prince of Fools. For the sake of brevity we said that he was visited in a dream and offered help, signed a contract in sylvan (which he can't read) on the hopes that he could somehow avenge his wife and maybe speak with her again.

I'm trying to decide how I want to integrate what Hyrsam wants. He will eventually owe him, but how?

Let me know your opinions!

The enemy is a cultist, Thulivia, of a cult that wants to resurrect an ancient old dragon god called Azarok, through this they get draconic abilities, regen and look more draconic - for a price. The dragon is also demonic by nature so it's a dreadful cost (sacrifice innocents) and you lose more and more of your specianity ("humanity" but not all are humans?). They killed Thulivia in session 2 and this is session 9. When they killed her they took one hand as a trophy so she'll be missing a hand and she might have claw-like protrusions coming out of the wound.

My idea is that the cultists can get different unnatural abilities depending on Azaroks mood, and that Thulivia has gained the "Bloodcraving heart" (and that her head and internal organs were OK enough to be patched up). Bloodcraving heart is a homebrew ability I plan on being "as long as you have blood you live, but you can't create any new blood". Her body was retrieved and filled with blood again, hence that's why she's alive.

Is this cheap? Will it be too broken?

Edit after session:

Thanks for all the answers, it was well received! The Barbarian reminded me that Thulivia had been cut in half after a crit, I admitted to that I hadn't remembered this but that Thulivia was still in the infirmary, patched together somehow. (I think burning the cult's witches is fitting to the theme as being one of the only ways to kill them for good).

The players did what players did and went beyond my imagination! One of them, with the help from the others and themselves blowing all inspiration, being creative and high sweaty rolls succeeded in charming the leader of the cult who explained their master plans and also got a shard of a magic item used by the cultists to do Corrupted shit ( he damn rolled 23+ persuasion in a high stakes situation so why the fuck not I thought). The player then yelled "Praise Azarok" in one of his ritual chambers - which made Azarok talk to him and beckon him to a cup filled with liquid. He then drank from Azaroks Cup of initiation - giving him demonic visions of death and decay, unleashing a terrible roar and since he wasn't a real cultist he got damaged from being burned from within. Azarok did not take kindly to that a Warlock Fairy with a Unicorn patron had drunk from his cup and punished him for his insolense, deafening him for one hour where he only hears the roars and hisses of the old demonic dragon god's rage.

Stella Errans, Aquila, Thera, Diane, do not read this post :D

I highlighted my questions so you don't have to read all the text if you don't want to.

I am running a homebrew campaign. Most of it is improvised on the go. The base setting I gave: The PCs found a giant infernal funnel-like structure in a newly discovered cave under the capital city. They later figured out that this funnel captures the souls of everyone who died in the city to be enslaved by demonic forces. They do not yet know that the royal family is involved in this. Perhaps, 100 years ago, the ruler of the land made a pact with a devil, to sell the souls of the people in exchange for power and peace. I'd imagine that this kingdom was under a huge threat which led the ruler to make this deal, sacrifice the souls of the people in the capital to ensure safety of the rest of the land.

Question 1: What enemy force could be so great that the royal family might be forced to make such a drastic deal? I'd love to hear your ideas on this!

When they found the soul funnel, they had to fight a hellhound-like beast. I wasn't sure if they would make it, so I put in an NPC that hid behind some rock pillars. In game, she was a cleric from the Lathander monastery in the city that went to explore the cave as well. I teased her appearance to the players by seeing the guards that guarded the cave be asleep and, after they woke them up, telling them about a hooded figure casting a sleep spell on them. Meta-gamewise, she was there to help/heal the party in case I made the monster to strong lol.

The cleric is a character of mine, called Caara, a female Aarakocra that looks like a fluffy yellow cockatiel. I played her kind and non-threatening, with occasional chirps and whistles at the end of her sentences.

The players adored her.

When looking for hints regarding the funnel, Diane, the fighter, said "I could go and talk to... (forgetting Caara's name) my cute little birdie" which the other PCs teased her for. From now on, there was a mini romance thing going on between Diane and Caara which we as players all found hilarious.

Too bad I knew Caara would be assassinated a few sessions later.

The players found Caara dying on the floor, with a cursed neck wound that had anti-magic (aka anti healing potion) properties. She died holding the hand of Diane and telling her she would become a great hero one day.

When I talked to Diane's player if she would like to pursue a way to resurrect Caara, she said yes and would do absolutely anything. The other players seemed quite shook by her death as well.

Question 2: How could the players go about this? I would love a quest where every player could contribute to Caara's resurrection. For example, Stella the rogue's secret organisation could find some Intel, Thera the druid could find a rare mushroom (she is a fungi specialist) etc. Aquila, the second druid, has an adoptive mom who is also after the fungus because she is terminally ill. Are there (besides resurrection scrolls/spells etc.) other ways of resurrection I should know of? I don't want to give them an easy way to resurrect Caara, because I don't want death in my campaign to feel too insignificant.

Question 3: should I make the cost of resurrecting Caara high or low? I played with the thought of having her come back to life by Diane giving up half of her years of life. Alternatively, Diane might have to swear an oath to bring Caara back (possible multiclassing to warlock/Paladin?). What do you think? Any other ideas?

Question 4: How would you go about a resurrection quest?

Thank you so so much if you read all of this and I am looking forward to your input!!

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And as per usual nobody gave me their character sheets until a day before the session was about to begin. I had already written the first combat encounter and plot hook for the first session. It involved some goblins. Unfortunately one of my players decided to be a goblin. We ended up role playing it and it was hilarious. But I've been asking them for the last week or so if I can get their character sheets I got nothing. So when I finally got his character sheet I said "fuck it, we roll ".

We had a blast tonight. I'm a long time player but a new dm. The only games I've played in for the last 6 years are all homebrew from my forever dm. So when we finished our most recent campaign which was about two and a half years I offered to run a campaign. But I decide to embrace the full out faehrun lore. Out forever dm is the only one familiar with that lore. Our three other experience players are familiar with homebrew D&D but haven't played any lore. And we have a new player who has never played any D&D or experienced any D&D lore. So I have gone heavily into the spellplague with Shar, Cyril, and Mystra in the campaign.

I was really concerned that things wouldn't turn out well but honestly everybody enjoyed it and they gave me critical feedback. I guess I'm just ranting at this point but wish me luck!