Claudio asks – My players and I are in the middle of a long campaign. There are five players in the group and the rest of the campaign is probably going to deal with three of them primarily, since the other two have more or less resolved their character’s storylines. The characters themselves don’t really …

Glaine, the Jewel of the East, sure is nice for being a town taken over by goo-folks. While people seem to be generally bummed about the whole thing, the magical floating city almost makes the sky more beautiful. Street meat still tastes as good. The alleys still smelly. Sure is odd finding all this normal …

After the gang catches their breath from the previous night’s battle it is time to face the music. Not the beautiful music Val plays, no, the music of the reality that is their situation. They have chosen to leave Norhall behind in hopes of saving the land from evil forces! This is a 5e Dungeons & …

Beth asks – I’m in a campaign with a GM I generally like, but one thing he does is really grating. Whenever we’re in combat and he’s rolling for an enemy, he’ll curse if he rolls a miss or a critical failure. That is, he’ll roll for an enemy, that enemy will whiff and his …

The wonderful denizens of Tidtowne offered their aid to our desperate heroes who sorely needed a helping hand. Now victory over the forces of Nareev seems somewhat possible as opposed to a 100% suicide mission. The floating magical city is still a mystery, but one victory at a time. The fighting force of Tidtowne should …

Max asks – I’m running a short adventure for some friends, some of whom know each other well and some who haven’t met each other. All of them are experienced role players. How do I minimize awkwardness and maximize fun? Building rapport among gamers that haven’t yet gamed together is an important part of any …

Facing off against dragons, an army of of shapeshifting cross-planar aliens or an entire colony of Slaad’s pale in comparison to what Steve must face today. Let’s hope that he inherited more of Thom’s resolve than we previously thought, because he will surely need it. How do you prepare yourself for when your one true …

Beth asks – I love being a GM and I want to challenge myself. I’d like to use the D&D 5th edition rules but create my own world to run a campaign in. What advice could you offer on how to build it? Building a world from whole cloth can an incredibly fun and deeply …

With things moving very rapidly both in and around Glaine, the Jewel of the East, the gang has some tough decisions to make. As always, I s’pose. Adventurers are used to tough decisions. It is their daily bread. After some initial set backs they learn that a mysterious town of…well, not sure how else to …

Ben asks – What is the silliest or most absurd rule that you enforce as a GM? Ben, let’s first define “silly.” There are plenty of bad or cumbersome rules (see my column about encumbrance), but I tend to categorize them as “crappy” instead of “silly.” Silly and absurd, for me, have positive connotations when it comes to …