DnD Tips & Tricks
Fear is a magical condition that happens when an adventurer is affected by a fear spell or the frightful presence of a monster.
WISDOM (Survival) Ability Checks are the catchall Ability Check for adventuring in a wilderness setting.
The only rule of DnD that we consider unbreakable is the “Rule of Cool”. The Rule of Cool is: “If any rule is getting in the way of your players having a great time at your table, ignore that rule.”
There are countless ways for players to lose Hit Points, but only a precious few ways to regain them.
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.
As a Game Master, listen to the exact words your player uses when making a wish. Don’t be excessively mean, but look for parts of the player’s wording that might open the door for a twist.
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.
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.
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”.
The effects of poison are some of the most nefarious and deadly in the game.
An illusion is a magical effect that makes its target see, hear, feel, or smell something that isn’t really there.
Exploring dungeons is dangerous business, especially if you can’t see where you are going.
Making or failing a Saving Throw is often the dramatic high point of an adventure.
Rolling an ability check can often be the most rewarding and most challenging part of any game session. Let’s break down how to make this easy for Game Masters.
Very often as a Game Master, you will find yourself saying “Roll a Perception Check as you enter the room” or “Roll a Stealth Check to get past the guards.” But who rolls, and how do you resolve the check when it’s an entire party of adventurers?
Persuasion is the Ability Check to roll to convince an Non-Player Character (NPC) to do something.
Sometimes combat doesn’t go well for the players. Every once in a while, a monster will wear a party down, and with one terrible attack, knocks an adventurer unconscious. What happens then?
Getting from place to place in the Murk is much harder than it is in the surface world. There are no sun, moon, or stars to guide oneself, just endless darkness and fields of rubble.
Goblin is the primary language of the Murk, a region of underground caves, crumbling tunnels, and ancient mines that criss-cross the Northern Reaches of DnD Adventure Club Adventures.
Darkness counts as anything from a forest at night to pitch-black caves, caverns, and windowless interior spaces.
Survival is the multi-purpose ability check for navigating and staying safe in nature. Use Survival if the adventurers want to follow tracks, avoid getting lost, hunt for food, or watch for signs that monsters might be nearby.
An invisible creature is impossible to see, allowing them to go unnoticed even in close settings. But they are still physically present and still make noise.
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.
The effects of poison are insidious. A poison will often cause damage if touched, ingested, or, worst of all, injected by a poisoned knife, claw, or fang.
Characters are always getting hurt, and any character who drops to zero hit points falls unconscious. Luckily, there are several ways to heal your wounds and gain back missing hit points.
Some adventures includes encounters that require the Game Master to improvise an ability check. This should be a helpful reminder.
Game Masters will often ask players to make PERCEPTION and INVESTIGATION ability checks as they enter a new area. It’s a handy roll to gauge how observant the adventurer is, whether they will miss vital clues or be surprised by a monster.
If you want to bring in some normal-sized DnD creatures for your tiny players to battle, here’s a quick and easy way to do it.
Nature is the multi-purpose Ability Check for everything to do with the natural woods — identifying plants, finding rare herbs, and understanding the lore of the forest.
How do you Game Master contests that have just the right balance of luck and skill?