Not every moment in a TTRPG campaign needs the spotlight. Focus in on the moments that matter to you, your players, and your campaign themes. Embrace the idea that you can hit fast forward at any moment. Most of my weekly games are between 90 and 105 minutes long. That’s not a lot of time to experience meaningful progress in terms of an ongoing campaign. Every moment we focus on is precious. One thing that’s helped me focus the campaign is the idea of fast forwarding. It’s just what it sounds like: skip thru the stuff that isn’t important to you, your players, or the campaign. Only you and you ..read more

Here’s an idea that will level up any game you’re running or playing in: improve roleplay and engagement by selling. As a game master, we’re often focused on moving the story and game forward while adjudicating rules at the table. But there’s an easy tool to get players more invested and create more fun for everyone. We need to sell what our players give us. In professional wrestling, selling is the term given to the act of trying to make something believable, usually in an effort to preserve the suspension of disbelief. It’s the next evolution of “yes, and.” What ..read more

Lore is a tricky beast in tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. Many game masters learn early on that writing too much lore isn’t the most productive use of their time. Sometimes, it’s downright detrimental to your game. But what if I told you there’s a solution? You can have your cake and eat it too. <small>Ancient Scrolls by José Costa</small> In Elder Scrolls games like Skyrim, you uncover the world's lore a number of ways. You might find interesting books throughout the world detailing everything from lost histories to private journals. You might learn about ..read more

How do we embrace fun, new gaming opportunities in 5E without overly complex sub-systems? By asking three questions. Zipperon Disney asked on Twitter: I think most homebrew alchemy systems for #DnD are overly taxing on the DM and time at the table. Worldbuild magic ingredients, Gather them, keep track of their potential effects, resolve brewing... Anyone have a simple alchemy system? His post highlights a real problem in the 5E space: fun gaming opportunities solved with overly complex sub-systems. Take alchemy from the above post for example. As DMs, we want the experience to feel like more ..read more

If you're a Dungeon Master, you've probably experienced the effect that summoning spells have on combat. Spoiler: it's not a good one. We know they suck because the rules have tried to patch them at least twice. But has it worked? Disclaimer: If you're a player and you enjoy summoning spells, that's great! This isn't a knock against players using them. Players in my current game use them. This is about the effect those spells tend to have on gameplay. It's a result of poor design and not bad players. In the early days of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, summoning spells were at their wors ..read more

When I finish a long-running D&D campaign, I always ensure the last session includes the following for each character: A dream fulfilled. A surprise. A choice. A Dream Fulfilled Characters (and the players behind them) have goals. By the end of the campaign, let them achieve one of the big ones—ascension to godhood, becoming the archmage, etc. A Surprise The game is full of surprises and I love carrying that spirit into the finale. It's no fun if the characters got everything they wanted and expected. Throw in a surprise to keep things exciting—an old ally resurfaces, the character is as ..read more

I like to look to my favorite books, games, and shows for D&D inspiration. This is a powerful tool for a DM. When looking at Pokémon, the inspiration was obvious: magic items. In the games, you set out to collect Pokémon. You overcome challenges by using the skills of various Pokémon. In D&D, you collect magic items. Those magic items help you overcome challenges with various abilities. Given this overlap, what can we learn about better magic items by looking at Pokémon? Exploration and Adventure Your Pokémon journey begins with unparalleled excitement. Who doesn't want to set out on t ..read more

Do you ever have players that don't get it? You've laid out all the clues and answers but the players can't seem to pick them up? Here's a secret: the problem isn't the players. The problem isn't you. It's the nature of tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. But there's one trick that can solve this problem. And it's easy. When you describe a situation, you might have a vivid picture in your mind. You know the options available to the characters and you give hints to them in the world. But, as SlyFlourish once said, "Players only understand about half of what we describe"^1 An ..read more

Downtime activities are a recurring theme in most D&D campaigns. Many 5E source books include rules for downtime activities. But how do you take those rules and run enjoyable downtime? Let’s find out. D&D 5E defines Downtime Activities and rules in many sourcebooks. The Player's Handbook first introduces Downtime Activities in Chapter 8: Adventuring. Here, we find a few examples of what players can do during downtime and the rules to help. The Dungeon Master's Guide expands on these in Chapter 6: Between Adventures. It adds nine more activities and even rules for creating your own Dow ..read more

Let's take a quick look back at the best of PhD20 in 2023. Organizing Obsidian for D&D This series helps game masters simplify and secure their approach to organizing D&D with Obsidian. Organizing Obsidian for D&D | The Big Picture on Vaults Organizing Obsidian for D&D | 3 Principles Organizing Obsidian for D&D | The Problem With Plugins Organizing Obsidian for D&D | Tags and Properties Organizing Obsidian for D&D | SRD & External Resources Running Games I started running a 5E game set in the Nentir Vale and tried to convince you to do the same. For those hes ..read more