There are countless ways for players to lose Hit Points, but only a precious few ways to regain them. Potions and berries are handy. Paladins, Bards, Druids, and Clerics all have access to healing spells, and those can be a big help in combat. But the best way to recover Hit Points is a long rest. A long rest is eight hours of uninterrupted sleep or meditation for the adventurers. A player simply announces to the Game Master that their character intends to take a long rest. The Game Master decides what, if anything, interrupts their rest. And if no encounters happen, eight hours of game time p ..read more

All players start every new adventuring session with a fresh pack of seven days hard rations and a water skin. Additionally, allow each adventurer to pick from one of the following packs: Wizard, Dungeon or Outdoor Packs. Wizard Pack Includes a backpack, a book of lore, a bottle of ink, an ink pen, a ruler, a magnifying glass, 10 sheets of parchment, a little bag of sand, and a small knife. Dungeon Pack  Includes a backpack, a crowbar, a hammer, 10 pitons, colored chalk, 50 feet of thin twine, 3 vials of acid, 10 torches, and a tinderbox. The pack also has 50 feet of quality rope strapped ..read more

Initiative is the first roll of any combat encounter, setting the stage for the entire encounter to follow. You “Roll for Initiative” to establish the order of the monsters’ and players’ actions. Everyone involved in the combat has an initiative score that, moving from highest to lowest, tells them the order in which they get to make their action. When a Game Master has determined that combat has begun — either because a player intends to attack a monster or a monster is attempting to attack a player — they announce, “Roll for Initiative.” Each player should roll a d20 and add their dexterity ..read more

Some adventures includes encounters that require the Game Master to improvise an ability check. This should be a helpful reminder. All ability checks should be phrased like this: DEXTERITY (Stealth) of [NUMBER TO BEAT] or higher. You, the Game Master, get to pick the [NUMBER TO BEAT] depending on how difficult you want to make it. Or, use the number from a DnD Adventure Club adventure. 10 or higher is average 15 or higher is hard 20 or higher is nearly impossible Step 01: Have the player roll a d20 Step 02: Add their ability bonus. If they have the appropriate skill, add that bonus in ..read more

Occasionally adventurers (and creatures and non-player characters!) are affected by spells, abilities, or other magical effects. We’ll always describe an effect in the text of an adventure, but here are two common effects. Frightened A frightened creature cannot attack the source of its fear. It has to use its movement to move as far away as possible from the source of its fear each round. The frightened target won’t endanger itself by jumping off cliffs etc. The frightened creature can still use its action to heal itself or even attack other creatures.  Charmed A charmed creature will tr ..read more

Advantage is a simple system a Game Master can use to reward players for using smart tactics or having an edge in a situation - or simply to add some role playing flavor. When a Game Master decides that a player should be extra likely to succeed at a dice roll — combat rolls, saving throws, and ability checks — they can declare that the roll be made with advantage. Rolling with advantage means the player rolls two 20-sided dice instead of one and uses the higher number. Attacking a monster from a secret hiding spot? Roll with advantage! Disadvantage is the exact opposite; the player rolls two ..read more

After adding up all their bonuses, it’s common for players to have a total of over 20. But when a player rolls a d20, and a 20 is the result on the die, we call it a “Natural 20”. Rolling a Natural 20 in a DnD Adventure Club campaign should always succeed, whether it’s a Roll to Hit, a Saving Throw, or an Ability Check. A Natural 20 is also a great opportunity to add some roleplaying flavor. Make sure you take an extra moment to describe the action that resulted in the Natural 20: If it was a Roll to Hit, describe the “crushing blow” with the player’s heroic weapon. A Natural 20 on a Savin ..read more

The effects of poison are some of the most nefarious and deadly in the game. The typical poison attack only does damage in the first round, but the effect of being poisoned can linger for some time, causing nasty trouble for our adventurers. The typical poison attack, let’s say the bite of a terrible spider, starts with the spider’s roll to hit. On a successful hit, the target takes the bite damage and must make an additional CONSTITUTION Saving Throw against the effect of the poison. The difficulty number of that particular poison will always be called out in the description of the monster ..read more

An illusion is a magical effect that makes its target see, hear, feel, or smell something that isn’t really there. An illusion toys with our perceptions and performs tricks in our minds. If a Game Master chooses to add an illusion to an encounter, they should do what they can to play the game as if the illusion is real. Some great examples of illusions are: An illusory stone wall hides a secret door. An illusion of a terrible owl bear blocks the hallway, scaring away adventurers. Imaginary sounds of the approaching City Guard can scare away a pack of ruffians. In order to keep the illu ..read more

Exploring dungeons is dangerous business, especially if you can’t see where you are going. While Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves, and many other species have Darkvision, which allows them dim black-and-white sight in darkness, Humans and most other species don’t have this ability. Before starting underground,  have each of your players check their character sheets and understand if they have Darkvision. With Darkvision, players underground will be able to navigate, attack, and defend themselves normally. Without Darkvision, everything becomes harder. The simple rule is everything a character does ..read more