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THE AMA IS NOW LIVE

We at /r/DnD are excited to host Mike Shea of SlyFlourish.com! He'll be discussing his upcoming Kickstarter, his vast history as a freelancer in the TTRPG space, and anything else! Save all your questions and join us on Tuesday, July 7!

From Mike:

Hello!

I'm Mike Shea, writer for SlyFlourish.com and author of Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master and other books. A few years back I also released the Lazy GM's Resource Document into the Creative Commons to share what I've learned and gathered from other GMs into the world.

I've been playing RPGs since the mid-80s and writing about RPGs since 2008. I've been freelancing for various RPG companies for the past 15 years or so including Wizards of the Coast, Kobold Press, MCDM, Arcane Library, Pelgrane Press, and many others.

The Kickstarter for my latest book, Rise of the Lazy Gamemaster, is going on now! This is the latest of the Lazy GM books, expanding each of the eight steps of Lazy GM prep and taking a new focus on campaign planning, adventure types, and an expansive lazy GM toolkit. I hope you'll check it out.

I'm excited to be here to talk to you all about RPGs!

It is often said that kenkus only know words that they have heard, and are limited to those words. that of course makes for some very funny scenes where people are only using words they are basically given. However, unless you are a freshly born or transformed kenku, that frankly isn’t what it would act like.

Do you know what other species has this learned mimic vocabulary? Humans. For the vast majority of humankind, we have only known words that have been uttered in our presence. Other than written word, that’s how we learn to speak. Kenkus aren’t unique in the ability to learn new words. That’s literally every species. Their uniqueness comes specifically from their perfect mimicry.

All that to say, you aren’t having fun correctly so I have come to shame you and tell you how to have fun.

Hey everyone!

We’ve all been there: a combat encounter starts with high stakes, but by round 3, it turns into a static "I attack, you attack" slog. Over time, I’ve collected and tweaked a few custom mechanics to keep my players on their toes, forcing them to move, prioritize objectives, and interact with the environment.

Here are 10 encounter mechanics I use to make combat interesting, along with their thematic uses. I'd love to know what kind of mechanics you run at your tables!

1. The Countdown Dice

Place two dice face-up on the table: a d8 and a d12.

• The d8 represents the total number of successes/hits the party needs to achieve an objective.
• The d12 represents the maximum number of rounds they have to complete it. Every failed check or round passed ticks the d12 down by one.
• Uses: Completing a ritual, picking a lock before guards arrive, defusing a bomb, hacking a terminal, or stabilizing a collapsing roof.

2. Attrition Tiles

At the end of every round, any grid square that was occupied or crossed by any character (player or enemy) receives a "damage marker." If a tile is stepped on again, it is destroyed or becomes dangerous terrain.

• Hard Mode: At the start of each round, an environmental force (wind, gravity, currents) pushes everyone X feet in a fixed or random direction (roll a d4 for direction). Characters must make a Strength Saving Throw to resist.
• Uses: Fights on rickety rope bridges, frozen lakes, cooling lava crusts, or rotting rooftops.

3. The Alert Die

Combat starts with a visible d4. Every time someone casts a spell with a verbal component, fires a loud weapon, or critically misses an attack, the die steps up in size ($d4 \rightarrow d6 \rightarrow d8 \rightarrow d10 \rightarrow d12$). At the end of each round, the GM rolls 1d20 + the current Alert Die against a group Stealth check. If the Stealth check fails, a new wave of enemies or an environmental hazard is triggered.

• Uses: Infiltrating nests of blind monsters (like Grimlocks), stealth raids on an orc camp, or looting a sleeping dragon’s hoard.

4. Capture Zones

At the start of each round, designate a specific zone on the map. Whoever has the most allies inside that zone at the end of the round gains a crucial buff or halts an immediate threat.

• Uses: Holding a sacred altar to receive a god's blessing, choking a doorway against a horde, or standing in the only runic circle protected from a room's poison mist.

5. Simultaneous Attunement Keys

To deactivate a threat or open the exit, $X$ mechanisms must be activated at the same time at distant points on the map. Maintaining activation requires Concentration (as if concentrating on a spell). If a character takes damage, they must pass a saving throw or their mechanism's counter resets to zero.

• Uses: Deactivating a giant golem's power nexuses, pulling three levers simultaneously to lower a drawbridge, or channeling counter-magic to dispel a lich's shields.

6. The Phantom Enemy

Place three identical miniatures of the boss on the map, but only one is real. Every time the real enemy takes damage, starts a round, or takes a major action, the three miniatures are secretly shuffled. Players can spend an Action (using Perception/Nature/Insight) to deduce which one is real.

• Uses: Fighting a wizard using a modified Mirror Image, a smoke/fog elemental that constantly dissipates, or a demon in a room full of mirrors.

7. Crossfire Lines

This mechanic turns straight lines on the grid into alternating danger zones. At the start of the round, roll a d4 to activate a map border (1: North, 2: South, 3: East, 4: West). Trace imaginary lines from that border to the opposite side. Anyone crossing these lines or ending their turn on them takes an automatic environmental attack (arrows, ballista bolts, laser beams). It forces zigzag movement and total cover usage.

• Uses: Castle courtyards defended by fixed heavy crossbows, repeating dart traps in dungeon corridors, or narrow canyons under fire from cliffside archers.

8. Arcane Overload Die

A nightmare for spellcasters. A d10 sits in the center of the table starting at 1. Every time a player casts a spell of 1st level or higher, the die increases by the spell’s level. At the end of each round, the GM rolls 1d10. If the roll is less than or equal to the Overload Die's value, the ambient magic collapses: all active concentration spells snap, and a wild magic/anti-magic zone is generated. The die then resets to 1.

• Uses: Fighting in volatile wild magic zones, exploring the ruined crypts of dead archmages, or battling magic-devouring creatures like Beholders.

9. The Floor is Lava

A bright red die sits on the table representing "Room Instability," starting at 1. At the end of each round, the die increases by +1. Anyone who ends their turn touching the floor takes damage equal to the die's value multiplied by 2 (or a scaled damage die). Players must climb pillars, hop on tables, scramble over rubble, or use flight/teleportation to stay off the ground.

• Uses: Dwarven boiler rooms on the verge of exploding, caverns flooding with acid, or sacred temples where the floor itself punishes intruders.

10. Arcane Equilibrium

Two dice (one White, one Black) sit on the table, both set to 6, representing two magical poles powering a ritual. The party needs 3 successes within a maximum of 6 rounds. For the ritual to progress, both dice must match. At the start of each round, the GM rolls a d4 for each die to randomly add or subtract from their values. During their turn, players in the control zones can use an Action or Bonus Action (Arcana/Religion) to manually increase or decrease a die by 1 or 2 points to restore balance. If a round ends and the dice don't match, the ritual stalls and the room fires an AoE damage pulse.

Your turn: How do you keep combat fresh? Do you use timers, environmental hazards, or secondary objectives? Let’s hear your best mechanics!

Preface: I hope that this is okay for me to post on this topic. This is a recap of the short adventure my DnD group is currently on. I think there should be about 3 or 4 more like this if this is okay to post.

This is my time DMing in a long while, but I wanted to try DMing again with the group I joined late last year. The group is pretty large, and we've broken into 2 smaller groups to keep things manageable. I talked with the DM of my group about running a short adventure and that I wanted to talk with the other DM about the plot and story as to keep it a secret from him, as he would take my place in the party while I DM. He was fine with that, but I would need to ask him if I wanted to make any key world decisions. So, I talked it over with the other DM, and he said I should run with the idea I had... and so... the party began their quest to uncover the strange happenings in the trade city of Dorn.

Session 1:

The party arrived in the city of Dorn in the back of a carriage. Before they arrived, they all shared a bit about their charaters, what drove them to being an adventure or what motivates them to do what they do. As they approach, a guard is heard talking near the front of the carriage, then appears around the back. The party talked with the guard and explained that they were there by order of the Adventures guild to investigate a request for aid that came from the guild in this town. The guard looks at them a little suspiciously and says that they haven't had much in the way of issues that would warrant a request for aid. And this is where it kicks off, the first roll of the adventure, Perception check! is he lying? The roll was good, so I told them that the guard seemed to be telling the truth, but they also get a shiver up their spine. They ask for another perception check to figure out where the feeling is coming from, they can't tell, it's like it's coming from all over. A feeling of anxiety has fallen over the party as they are ushered into the city.

As the cart moves down the streets toward the Guild hall, where they have decided to go first, the party sees the common folk of the city going about their day. Small produce stands, open shops, people talking. It's pretty normal stuff, but everyone in the town looks tired. As if they've been unable to get a restful sleep. And this anxious feeling the party is getting may be the culprit. Preception checks don't reveal much outside one member who rolled low, spots a black cat sitting atop the roofs before disappearing.

When the cart reaches the Guild hall, the party notices a brightly painted cart a ways down the street. There seems to be a man dressed as a circus ring leader talking to a couple of people. The party takes interest and decides to investigate. As they approach, they hear the dressed man say he is the owner of the cart and that he runs a small pop-up circus. His cart is full of party games, prizes, and things to draw attention. Like spell scrolls of minor illusion, prestidigitation, and others to make music and announcements. The other men he is talking to seem interested, asking about how long he will be in town and where he is going. The party joined the conversation and began having some small talk. One member uses Detect Magic to investigate the spell scrolls. They also have a Homebrew item that allows them to see magic in the air while they have Detect Magic active. As they pear through their goggles, they see a haze in the air. Like a fog of magic, it's not thick, just a haze. As they look around, they notice the haze is thicker around the parties heads. They check to see if they can identify the magic in the air. They get an okay roll, so they find it to be a mixture of illusion, charm, and psychic magic but can't identify exactly what it is. This puts the whole party on edge. The member who can see the haze also notices that some people don't seem to have the thicker haze around their heads like the party members do. A few of the people around the cart don't have the thicker haze. 4 of them, to be precise. The cleric of the group notices that the horses drawing the circus cart are on edge. Ears darting around, eyes looking all around. An animal handling check calms them a little, but they still seem very alert.

After some more talking and party discussions, the party decides to head into the Guild hall and ask about the request. Once inside, the receptionist greets them, and they explain why they are here. The receptionist is puzzled, as they were not aware of any request andlookeds through some records to see if anyone else made the request. Nothing comes up, and the receptionist explains that there was a break in a coupl of weeks ago, but nothing was stolen. Just that some desks were searched and papers moved, but nothin was taken. The party is weary, and a Preception check reveals recently repaired damage to a door behind the receptionist desk. As the party is planning what their next step should be, a loud crash is heard along with the screaming of horses... then Circus music, fireworks, and a booming voice of an announcement. And, under all that, the screaming of people. The party rushes outside, and Combat begins.

Down the street, the Circus cart has lost a wheel, and the horses have broken their harness. Spell scrolls have spilled out of a over turned truck and activated. A near deafening amount of music and announcements have begun to play as 4 featureless humanoids are seen attempting to stamp out the scrolls, trying to silence them. One turns to look at the party and just stares. The smooth, featureless face, just watching the party. The member who had Detect Magic active looks through their goggles as the last couple seconds of their spell remains, trying to see if these creatures are under any spells to change their appearance. Nothing, they don't see any more magic than what a normal person would have. And with that as their bonus action, they cast Firebolt and strike one of the creatures. As if on queue, all 3 of the other featureless creatures stop and turn toward the party. One of them moves forward and stops. It draws its arm back as if to throw a punch, and as it swings forward, its arm extends 15 feet and strikes the charater that fired off the spell. It draws its arm back and takes a step back. A few more spells from the casters in the group and a couple swings from summoned zombies, 2 of the creatures are battered, and two are healthy. Then it was the Barbarians' turn. She charged up next to one of the battered cretaures and swung down hard with their Halberd cleaving it in two as they entered their rage. Two of the other creatures focus their efforts on the Halberd wielding Dhampir, while the other fended off two zombies. Punches were thrown, spells were cast, and as the Zombies attacks seemingly bounced off the fleshy bodies of the creatures, the Halberd of the Barbarian cleaved 2 more in half. Just before the last creature fell to an Ice Knife, the caster noticed a few small holes open up on the chest of the creature.

Once Combat had completed, the party began to investigate these strange creatures. They seemed completely featureless, lacking hair, eyes, noses, mouths, and ears. They were pale, and their blood was milky white, much to the Dhampirs dismay, as they did not find that appealing. The Necromancer want to know if these creatures where undead, so they began to investigate the bodies, it was revealed that they where not undead, as they pulled their hands out from inside the bodies, finding a seemingly ordinary human anatomy. The cleric filled a vial with a bit of the blood that had spilled from the creatures. The Dhampir used their homebrew item, a vile of their masters blood, to try and commute with them and gain some inside on what these creatures might be... "These creatures are reminents of the forgotten." Is what they received. As the party was finishing up, the last few scrolls of music faded away and were replaced with the sounds of heavy footsteps. Turning around, the party is surrounded by a group of the city guard and the guard captain.

The captain orders the party to surrender and are being charged with the murder of the citizens of the city. Confused, the party tries to explain that they only killed some creatures that had gotten into the city and were causing a panic. The Captin says that they were caught red handed, and that there are no monsters in Dorn. As the party turns back to look at the creature they killed, they were horrified to see 4 dead commoners laying in the street. The Necromancer Hands were literally covered in Red blood, and the vial the Cleric took had seemingly turned red as well. The party and the Captin go back and forth about what happened, the magic in the air, and how something cause these people to appear as monsters. More investigations and some subtle casting of magic to fool the court mage, the party was released, but the guard would be keeping an eye on them. While the guard were leaving, Detect Magic was used again, and the guards that had arrived were a mix of people with and without the haze around their heads, and the Captin had the haze as well. The bodies didn't have the haze, and the party still had the magic haze around their heads. To wrap up the session, the Cleric felt a tap on their shoulder, and an unknown presence made them aware of a cloaked figure lurking in the shadows of an alleyway. Semding their familiar over to investigate, the cloaked figure runs away, leaving a flyer for an artificers shop on the other side of town.

P.S.: If you want to see what models im using for this adventure, take a look at Comet Lord Miniatures and search for things containing the word 'False'. That includes the monsters the party fought against in this part of the adventure.

I've been running a homebrew campaign for my friends for nearly a year now, and we are approaching our final session. Last session was supposed to be said final session, however one of our players couldn't make it so it didn't feel right to wrap up without them. So queue the improv high level session against a story with a ticking clock.

I ended up having my players enter a divine plane where a god presented them with trials to prove they're worthy to save the world. Basically just an excuse to run some encounters, but I also saw an opportunity for last minute shopping. So in between trials I introduced a divine merchant who sold legendary items for high prices. Due to a roll of the dice, one of these items ended up being a Sword of Luck (rapier version). If you're unfamiliar with the item, the most important thing you need to know is this blade grants the wielder three wishes. So naturally my players dump everything they have to get this sword, and end up giving it to the bard.

They moved on to the final trial: a fight against an Ancient Gold Dragon. Though the dragon intended no real harm, it still felt like a fun opportunity to bring combat against a metallic dragon. Everyone rolled initiative, and just so happens the bard is second, right behind the dragon in initiative. The dragon opens by using it's weakening breath and attacking. Next up is the bard, and the very first words out of his mouth were "I wish..."

As a DM this is the best part when running a game. He thought about his wording but ultimately said "I wish the great gold dragon before me would lose all of his extremities!"

Instant laughter across the table as I quickly look up the technical definition of extremities to see how I can monkey paw the situation. According to a quick Google search, anatomically speaking the word extremities refers specifically to limbs. So, I narrated this CR 24 creature having its legs, wings, and tail pop off like Lego pieces and his limp worm noodle body falling flat on the ground.

Combat ended quickly after that, but it will definitely go down as the best wish I've ever experienced while running a game.

After watching Stranger things my kids (14,18,22) were all wanting to play. Wife wanted to also and none of them have ever played. They got dice and we plowed one of the starter kits in a weekend. Now they wanna play every weekend…and i’m down for it.

I’m a developer now and have worked several hats at my job within IT - figured why not. Here are some screenshots of it so far. Map works and zooms. i can upload custom maps and drop markers. Notes module. Campaign module. Initiative tracker with dm and player views.

Planning on throwing it on the tv and they can hit it with their phones and move their tokens. They also can’t see traps and what not until i uncover them, and I started on fog of war at lunch today…

i’ve tried to post twice and my images have gotten jacked up.

So I've been playing DnD for around 15 years, and I've had this same issue once before and it didn't end well.

I've recently joined a new group, all level 1 characters, homebrew campaign. The DM and all the players are great and the characters are really cool... Well except for 1. Our DMs one and only ground rule for creating a character was to not make a character who's the suspicious loner type who doesn't work well with the other characters. Seems one of the players decided he didn't want to listen to that and made a heavily suspicious loner character who refuses to help or be helped. Last game he basically stole 200 gold that was meant to be shared between the party. He rolled high on his deception and the DM had no choice but to let him keep it all. My character is the only one who rolled a high enough insight to know he was lying.

Here's my issue. I've played with someone like this before (well, a few times, but only once was I sort of forced into doing something about it), and ended up in the same situation. The guy stole gold from the party and I was the only one who knew. When I confronted him in-game, he attacked and killed my character (I was a squishy lvl 2 warlocks and he was a barb, it wasn't even a fight, it was a slaughter). The DM told me I could make a new character, but I said no, gathered my things and left.

I like this group I'm playing with, but I don't want to deal with another character like this again. I just wanted to play with cool people and have fun, not have internal in-game conflicts with the shady loner pc. We've had 3 games already and are just starting to get into the story, but now I'm finding myself not wanting to play, because I know the next game I'm going to have to confront the PC about the stolen gold. So now I'm really considering explaining my thoughts to the DM and then leaving. I can't be bothered dealing with this type of player anymore.

So my fellow Redditors, would I be in the wrong if I left the table? I feel bad but I'm not even excited to play anymore.

Just about finished up with my custom Digital Tabletop!! Been about a month long project has been so loads of fun! Still waiting on a wood DM screen that’ll mod to have a mini monitor inside to show monster/world Art!

Besides the electronics used for future streaming, this build wasn’t too expensive! Table was found on Facebook Marketplace for about $80, Put in a 4k 50” TV (~$150), and then I needed to extend the sides because our party mostly uses laptops for DnD Beyond. I’m super happy with our it turned out and wanted to share it!