Michael Shea - November 2024 Sly Flourish Patreon Q&A

Can you describe your process for mining TTRPG books for ideas?

EldritchMunchkin

2025-01-29 18:45:48 +0000 UTC

Excellent, I would have been happy with any response but this is exactly what I wanted!

Brandon Sampson

2024-12-06 18:00:38 +0000 UTC

This is awesome! I'm so glad the 2024 DMG inspired you to run games and welcome to the hobby and to your seat behind the DM screen! We've been keeping it warm for you for 50 years! Good question on leveling! The answer is, as much as it feels right for you and your group but that's not super helpful so let me give you my own guidelines: 1st to 2nd level – one session – maybe two at the max. 2nd to 5th level – every session or every other session. 5th to 20th – Every three to four sessions or so. This seems to be a good pace. Of course, your sessions may be short or long. In general I'd level after each major story beat, which might be a longish adventure or so. Sometimes, if my players go on side treks, I slow things down and reward some fun magic items instead.

Michael Shea

2024-12-06 15:29:13 +0000 UTC

Hi Luka! I answered this on the December 2024 Q&A. Thanks!

Michael Shea

2024-12-06 15:26:47 +0000 UTC

Hi Luke! I answered this over on the December Q&A thread! Thanks!

Michael Shea

2024-12-06 15:26:22 +0000 UTC

Hi Alex! I think you can write system agnostic adventures pretty well and think that can work. If you wrote them for 5e, you'd probably get the most people and some 5e GMs won't appreciate a more agnostic adventure because they want things spelled out but I still think you can get there. I don't have any good models off-hand but I think having your own system for understanding skill difficulty (low, medium, or high), and some loose gauge for the difficulty of monsters can help. Honestly, even if you do focus on mechanics for one system, its pretty easy to convert to another. I just wouldn't worry about including stat blocks and things like that. Regarding Forge of Foes, we spent a lot of time on the math for the big monster stats by CR chart. I've been working on the Lazy Encounter Benchmark for probably 10 years or so and used a lot of previous work from people like Paul Hughes and others to help me test my theories. Most important was remembering that it's a loose gauge, not a perfect system, and that it should be easy enough to memorize. I'm glad it worked out for you so well!

Michael Shea

2024-12-06 15:25:42 +0000 UTC

Hello, sir! I recently got a honey of a deal on the Cypher System's Core Rulebook, and am excited to give the ruleset a whirl. It may not surprise you to hear that I have a few questions about it. First, it looks like you could run adventures right out of this book, without needing to get Numenera, Path of the Planebreaker, or another sourcebook first. Is this consistent with your experience? Second, what tips would you offer to a DM with mostly D&D experience (plus a smattering of 13th Age and Dungeon Crawl Classics) in running games using the Cypher System? Many thanks, and congrats on the big win for the podcast!

Luke Baumstark

2024-12-02 22:46:35 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike - love your channel and work. I came across your channel from the list DnD fanatics made! I’m a newish player and got really inspired to run my own campaigns after reading through the new 2024 DMG. I’m a sample size of one person who is new to this hobby, read the new DMG and thought it was incredibly helpful and interesting. Question: When running your own homebrew campaigns how do you think about pacing and leveling? How often do you level? Do you want to take characters through lvl 20? Best, Brandon

Brandon Sampson

2024-11-30 13:33:36 +0000 UTC

Nice tool!

Luka Pejovic

2024-11-29 20:38:06 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike TTRPGs are often described as collaborative storytelling. Some of them are rule light and emphasize narrative approach over simulation. Even D&D has narrative approach in some aspects. Where do you draw the line between narrative TTRPG and straight improvisation class.

Luka Pejovic

2024-11-29 20:35:02 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike! I hope you're having a relaxing holiday week(end)! I have a question about writing adventures. I'm publishing my own adventure but absolutely cannot decide what system to publish it for, so I think I'm going to try system neutral. Do you have any tips for writing an adventure that could apply to multiple systems? If not, I have a backup question, if you're interested. I know that's cheating so feel free to stop reading here! But, I was just wondering if you could briefly discuss how you came up with all the brilliant statistic behind FoF, particularly the encounter benchmark; it's absolutely brilliant and has never failed to make a nailbiting encounter for my players!

Alex W.

2024-11-29 19:08:13 +0000 UTC

Thanks! I’ll keep your suggestion as my focal point. If the answer is yes to both (1) “can the players discover this?” and (2) “is it okay if they do?” — then I’m good.

Unfrozen Caveman Roleplayer

2024-11-29 16:39:02 +0000 UTC

Thanks, Mike. I've imagined the Sygian incursion as slow, but accelerating - so having some bounty hunter devils seeking the party sounds good. The fight to stop the Mythallar will be tougher the longer they take, but hopefully not impossible. Take care

AkikoPotato

2024-11-29 16:17:46 +0000 UTC

Crawling through a dungeon probably only takes a day and if that one day was enough to end the world, that's probably too soon. If they want to crawl through the rest of it, I'd let them and I wouldn't punish them too much for the delay. You might have some devils show up on their way out though as the boundaries between worlds grows thin! Make the coming of Stigia not an all-or-nothing event. Make it happen over time.

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:46:59 +0000 UTC

It sounds like a fair ruling to me. Just be sure to give him some doors he can ram through!

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:45:21 +0000 UTC

In preparation for this question I dug back and flipped through the 4e DMG. It really is very solid but I think everything you'd want in there you can find in the other current 5e GMGs: A5e's Trials and Treasure, Tale of the Valiant's Gamemaster's Guide, the 2014 DMG, and the 2024 DMG. On its own, the 4e DMG is much better organized than the 2014 DMG, that's for sure, but I think we have all of that info in the newer books now. Still, it was fun to flip through it. I'd focus on current books though.

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:44:08 +0000 UTC

thanks Mike. This is a great article. I will be saving this to my obsidian vault for future reference 😄

Jared Caron

2024-11-29 14:41:16 +0000 UTC

Passive Perception can be your friend, letting someone find the hidden paths. In my experience, players love finding hidden paths and almost always take them which helps us focus our prep a little bit more without true railroading. I tend to think that we should let the players know things their characters would know which often means describing the hints their characters pick up. I wouldn't worry about revealing too much. I think we often reveal too little. They always have the choice of what path to take.

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:33:49 +0000 UTC

I'm jealous! I want to run some Shadow of the Weird Wizard but I only have so much time! When I ran Shadow of the Demon Lord I did find that packing an entire episode into three hours was tough. It meant they were much more streamlined. I think I'd probably give myself a break and build them around two-ish sessions with some opportunity for downtime between sessions. So, if you run four-hour games, I'd plan for a six-hour adventure with a couple of hours for downtime. That's probably how I'd do it.

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:30:56 +0000 UTC

I'm pretty sure the updates on the D&D Beyond app are benign. They just update weird bugs and things – I don't think they change the content. I'm dismayed that the D&D 2024 books on D&D Beyond are definitely different than the physical books and that there's no listing anywhere of the errata they made. Typically WOTC was good about this but not now. I don't think you're going to hurt anything updating your D&D Beyond app with the latest version. If you want a true snapshot, use a tool like Obsidian's website clipper to download your own copy in Markdown: https://obsidian.md/clipper

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:28:25 +0000 UTC

I'll definitely add "Don't Betray the Characters" to my article list! I think NPC betrayal is ok if the players suspect it – then it's not totally a betrayal. If the players know NPCs are shifty, that's fine. They can choose how to act and prepare depending on the NPCs path. If your adventures and campaign can withstand the players figuring out potential doublecrosses and they have the opportunities to figure it out, that works great. Shady untrustworthy NPCs are fantastic.

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:26:36 +0000 UTC

I'm of the opinion that a monster's CR isn't indepdendent from the monster's fiction. A giant scorpion is CR 3. It can't be CR 1/2 or 1 – then it's less giant. A giant scorpion can't be CR 6 or 12 – those would be titanic or super-deadly demon scorpions. To me, a monster's CR isn't abstract. It's the specific description of the power of a particular monster in the world. You can't have CR 3 Glabrezu or CR 14 giant centipedes (unless they're really really big). NPCs are different. A kobold blackguard could be CR 8. An orc archmage could be CR 12. But, for me, the CR of a monster is important. Can you up-level or down-level monsters? Sure. Should you? I'd say rarely but it's up to you.

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:22:27 +0000 UTC

I think what you see there is probably the list. To me, the faction list is the big one. I use it a lot. I wouldn't hang on too tightly to the adventure list but it helps me since this campaign is so different. Starting locations are covered a little bit in the Lazy DM's Companion for settlements. Any extra stuff I do you'd see in those videos =)

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:19:53 +0000 UTC

I definitely narrow things down and focus on what matters most to the characters and players. I'll ask them ahead of time if there are any big plots or threads they want to see resolved to make sure I'm giving the players what they want. These previous Q&As might help: https://slyflourish.com/sf_patreon_files_898123050001223/qa/?id=475 https://slyflourish.com/sf_patreon_files_898123050001223/qa/?id=2305 And this article: https://slyflourish.com/ending_campaigns.html

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:17:09 +0000 UTC

It may be worth an out-of-game conversation or, in game, ask them what their check looks like when they ask to make a check. Instead ask them "what do you want to do in the game world? What does that look like?" When they dogpile on a check, let them know if its possible or not based on the fiction of the game. This might help a little: https://slyflourish.com/ability_check_toolbox.html

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:13:30 +0000 UTC

Hi WinterKnight! If you mean like the challenge ratings of guards or military in various locations I'd say: Small town: Mostly CR 1/8 guards, perhaps a dozen of them with a single CR 3 veteran or knight leader. Medium town: Up to two dozen CR 1/8 guards and maybe four to six knights or veterans (CR3s). They might be able to call for a mage (CR 6) to help. Large town / small city: Two to three dozen CR 1/8 guards and a dozen knights or veterans. They have a mage or two on retainer. Large city: Over a hundred CR 1/8 guards, two or three dozen knights and veterans, a half-dozen mages, maybe an archmage. They can conscript gladiator mercenaries too.

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:12:06 +0000 UTC

Hi Christopher! Good question! The unhelpful answer is "as much as you need!" But you won't know that until you try. I think having a loose idea of what these settlements are like is mainly enough. I like the idea of the "three hex" concept which is that you fill out the three hexes adjacent to the hex you're actually in. Basically think two horizons out. There's everything the characters can see now and then everything they can see if they went one horizon out in three directions. The further away from the characters you go, the less resolution you need for these locations. It might be a sentence or two (or just a bunch of keywords to remind you about it). It might be just an evocative name for the place. As long as you give yourself enough time and have enough material for your next session, you don't need to fill it out any further. When you know the characters are going there, then you fill it out more.

Michael Shea

2024-11-29 14:07:23 +0000 UTC

Dear, Mike. I am running Frostmaiden and my players are six sessions into the Caves of Hunger. Customization aside, the party slayed Auril and they knew this would end her spell that kept Iriolarthas from using the Mythallar to summon all of Stygia. It's been seven in-game days since then, and the party want to "100% the dungeon." I remind them every session that the world is ending, including above table. They know this is the case, but they do not seem to care because they still want to "100% the dungeon." They are only 50% done. So, do I let the party fail for their apathy, or do I just let it slide?

AkikoPotato

2024-11-28 02:48:33 +0000 UTC

Hello! I love your podcast and the depth with which you explain your views while also listing potential bias! I have a ruling question, I have a player who is playing a satyr and intends to use the "ram" function from his species. During my Monday game he attempted to ram though a metal reinforced door. All players were made aware that the entire building was well made and specifically that the door was solid oak with iron bands reinforcing it. He chose to ram it anyway and I allowed him to make the attempt. He was able to hit the door and deal damage to it however, I ruled that he and the door would also take 2d6 bludgeoning because there was zero give in the structure. My player was fine with this during the game but brought up in our post game talks that he didn't think it was fair that he should not suffer damage for ramming a door. His defense was that goats ram doors all the time and seem unaffected. I explained that had he hit an object that he could break/move or another creature that he wouldn't take damage from the action but when the objects are immovable/have zero give in them that he would take the equivalent of fall damage. I argued that if he were falling and was able to twist to land horn first he wouldn't be free from damage either. I feel like that is a fair ruling but I am wavering. I want the game to be fun for all and if this was a major reason he chose to be a satyr I don't want to rain on that parade. I'm sure I'm worrying over nothing, I have excellent players and they're typically noncombative when there is a ruling they don't agree with but I want to reward that behavior with fair and fun rulings as well. Any help or insights you have are welcome. I'm open to compromise! Thank you for your time!

John York

2024-11-27 21:18:26 +0000 UTC

Mike do you think of the 4th edition DMG? Do you think it’s information is competitive with your forge of foes, DMG 2024, tales of the valiant gmg , and a5e trials and treasures?

Justin Underland

2024-11-26 16:48:17 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike. I think I recall you talking about "jaquays-ing the dungeon" in the past. I think the most important aspect of this is having multiple paths through a dungeon, as I loathe a linear dungeons. Sometimes my players don't always find the alternate paths though. What are some ways to hint at hidden features without a. Making the descriptions too long and b. Hinting so obviously that it's essentially railroading in and of itself?

Brandon Meyer

2024-11-26 00:38:37 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike. We just finished my groups 7th Shadow of the Weird Wizard game (the party got to level up to level 8). We have been playing adventures in an a somewhat episodic way. We have been mostly doing an adventure in a 4 hour session. We have done an adventure in 2 sessions once. I am finding this pace a bit quick. There isn't much space in the adventures for the heroes to breath. The players love leveling up every session. How did you handle the pace of Shadow of the Demon Lord when you ran it? How would you pace SotWW if you were running the game?

Jason Sunday

2024-11-25 22:40:52 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, I’ve been playing 2014 D&D and using D&D Beyond. I noticed an “update available” on my purchased (rented?) copy of the 2014 PHB. My players and I have physical copies of the PHB as well. I’m concerned that updating the digital copy on D&D Beyond is going to get us out of sync with the physical 2014 books. Do you know if the updates make it such that players (and their digital character sheets) will essentially now be using the 2024 rule set? Feels like more evidence (for the advice that you’ve given over the years) that using the physical materials is essential for us to control how we play our games and enjoy our hobby!

Xeno66

2024-11-25 16:03:54 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike! I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the recent piece on your show about alternatives to NPCs betraying characters. It would be great if you could turn that into an article—I’d love to have it bookmarked! I am wondering though, if NPC betrayal is viable if the players are clear it’s a possibility—but not a certainty—from the start? I am in the early stages of developing what I hope is going to be a long term noir campaign. My goal is for the players to interact with a large, shifting cast of shady NPCs over the long haul, and I feel that the constant fear (but NOT the certainty) of double-crossing and cheating needs to be in play for the vibe to work. Other than being open with the players at session zero and getting their buy-in, any tips on how to manage that?

Unfrozen Caveman Roleplayer

2024-11-25 14:15:42 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, hope you are having a great holiday season. I recently upgraded my membership to the higher tier and am loving the readings and reflections podcast as I clean the house and get ready for Thanksgiving visitors. On this weeks GM prep, you talked about picking monsters for an encounter and mentioned that a giant scorpion would have a CR that was too high. What are your reasons for not simply swapping out the statblock for the appropriately-scaled Forge of Foes version? If the reason has to do with the challenge level being tied to the monster’s story, I would be really curious to hear more from you about it! Thanks again!

Daniel Hershman-Rossi

2024-11-25 13:22:00 +0000 UTC

Hello Mike I'm watching your prep videos for the Dragon Empire campaign and noticed you've gone beyond the three steps from Return of the Lazy DM (pitch, truths, fronts), adding things like faction lists, detailing the starting location, and listing adventure ideas. For some of the campaign outlines in your blog or books, you also provide an overview of what could happen at each tier. That said, do you have a list of 'extra stuff' to do in addition to what the Lazy DM book suggests for campaign prep? Things that have been proven useful to multiple campaigns.

Kaique de Oliveira

2024-11-25 12:33:38 +0000 UTC

Hey Mike, love all of your work! I'm coming to the pointy end (maybe last ten sessions) of a 4 year, 150 session long campaign. Do you have any advice or differences in your process when coming to the end of a long campaign, where you may have a very large number of plot threads, high-level encounters, etc. to manage?

Leon Obrenov

2024-11-25 00:56:04 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, I am wondering if you have any tips for working with players who focus too heavily on the mechanics? I have one player in my group who, instead of describing his character narratively will ask "can i roll a... check" pretty much every time. He also chronically dogpiles other players skill checks (I might be the only person bothered by that, but i doubt it). I dont want to be too much of a stickler, I know not everyone is super creative, but he seems to be thinking about D&D like a video game instead of a shared story. I'd like to help him see the potential of his character (which he has made really cool and has some great opportunities for narrative), but i don't want to embarrass or alienate him either. Any ideas are welcome!

Jared Caron

2024-11-24 23:48:18 +0000 UTC

Due to some misunderstandings my player killed a group of city Guards. I talked to them, ( The Pro-tipp:"talk to your players") I don't want them to murder hobo and they okayed. So it probably won't happen anymore. But that aroused my thinking prozess. What do YOU think, which level is the - the City Guard in a small city - the City Guard in a big city ( like Waterdeep) - the Military, how is warfare - how does a merchant protects his wares against suggestion, invisibility, a halfplate or jewelry. So the condensed question ist, what is life and levels outside of the dungeons.

WinterKnight

2024-11-23 20:28:00 +0000 UTC

When worldbuilding how much outlining of the neighboring towns and settlements is it useful to do? I feel like having information like this available to the players is part of what allows them to direct themselves through a campaign, but I’m still new at this. Should it just be a brief description and have some rumors prepared for them or is it wiser to know the makeup of the governing bodies, the way their justice system works, etc? Can you recommend an outline for something like this?

Christopher Leigh-Davidson

2024-11-23 00:23:30 +0000 UTC

Makes sense! Thanks for sharing

Sam P.

2024-11-22 17:08:46 +0000 UTC

I think it's a hard but very interesting thing to run. It's hard to get your players consent for such a thing when doing so ruins the surprise but you might make it clear that a campaign is going to include some gaslighting. My opinions haven't really changed since the Blackweald but I haven't really run a false hydra since then.

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:59:27 +0000 UTC

I think starting them off with running a single encounter might work. Give them a one-hour adventure to run like Rise of Golgoron in City of Arches. Something small and focused. You might ask them to co-GM another group and start passing more and more of the responsibility over to them. Try to help them focus things down to just running what they need to run to have a fun game.

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:58:27 +0000 UTC

Thank you! That was really great to be selected! My top three are: - Mastering Dungeons - Eldritch Lorecast - Morrus's Unofficial Tabletop Podcast A good podcast needs to have a high signal to noise ratio – have fun hosts and guests with good audio quality. Ideally have bookmarks so I can skip to the sections I want to hear.

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:56:07 +0000 UTC

It's correct that a scene always has a location but a location might not show up in a scene if the characters don't go there. We separate them out so we can piece them together during the game when we need them. If you have a 26 room dungeon with a two-word description for each room (https://slyflourish.com/simplest_way_to_annotate_a_map.html) you may not actually run a scene in that room. Scenes is a catch-all step in the 8 steps intended to hold the glue of your session together (https://slyflourish.com/scenes_catch_all_step.html). Sometimes, for a dungeon, a scene might be: "Explore the crypts of the betrothed" You don't know what they're going to do or exactly where they're going to go. Hopefully you have enough prepared to fill it in as they explore (again, with the one or two word descriptions on your map). But sometimes scenes are bigger and each has a location with greater details. That's fine too. Hopefully that helps!

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:55:13 +0000 UTC

I'm actually not great at this myself. I'm a big fan of A5E's Trials and Treasure which has a whole slew of environmental effects: https://a5e.tools/rules/encounter-elements Here's an article I wrote with some options too: https://slyflourish.com/zone_effects.html

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:51:21 +0000 UTC

My feeling is to give the characters the flee action but not use it on the GM's side. Instead, let monsters provoke OAs, let the characters try to stop them with fancy spells and abilities. But if you think it's dragging on and the characters aren't likely to catch them, then you might smash cut and say "at this point the villain is going to get away". Try to do so when it makes sense and isn't taking too much agency away from the players. https://slyflourish.com/the_flee_action.html

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:49:49 +0000 UTC

Thank you so much! It's my life's dream to help GMs run great games and its nice to hear when I've helped them do so! Thank you for the kind words!

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:48:01 +0000 UTC

Hi Dougal! I tend to keep it in the narrative. I think having an outline of potential results that might happen depending on how things go and the actions of the characters is good but I don't want to box myself in with some type of system. Here's more on the topic: https://slyflourish.com/sf_patreon_files_898123050001223/qa/?id=503 https://slyflourish.com/sf_patreon_files_898123050001223/qa/?id=1425 https://slyflourish.com/sf_patreon_files_898123050001223/qa/?id=138 https://slyflourish.com/sf_patreon_files_898123050001223/qa/?id=1331 https://slyflourish.com/running_wars.html there's also a running wars section in the Lazy DM's Companion!

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:47:36 +0000 UTC

That's the secret, Cap! You can't get it wrong! All of the steps of the 8 steps serve you: https://slyflourish.com/secrets_serve_you.html You get to decide what helps you the most when filling out locations. In Return, I suggest thinking of each "room" as a location and filling it out with "aspects" – features that help you make it real and give characters to interact with. But maybe that's too much! Maybe a room only needs a description like "rotted cellar" or "unholy chapel" and that's enough for you to fill it out. Other times you need something bigger with aspects and the like, for big set-piece encounters. But you get to decide what goes in locations – how big or small, how detailed or brief. Those notes serve you. I find that, for big set piece locations, I like having two or three features but much of the time I can get away with one or two words for a location. And a location, for me, is an area the characters can stand in, look around, and see the edges of it.

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:45:06 +0000 UTC

For me, I just get into my character, run with what the GM is putting down, riff with the other players and go with it. I don't think I'd act in any particular way other than just running with the story like everyone else. It's possible some GMs might be nervous but, in my experience, running a game requires all the cylinders firing off already – few have time to worry about whether the experienced player is judging them. For your part, i think diving into your character, working with the other characters, and working with the GM and their story can help them feel comfortable.

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:41:13 +0000 UTC

Situations and a campaign threads are sort of separate things. You can have a campaign thread, like Key of Worlds (which I'm running myself right now) and still have individual situations within it. Each adventure in the campaign can be a situation – or at least some of them if they're not all dungeon crawls. I'll be talking about an example situation on the Talk Show on Sunday! Think of each situation as a bead on a string of beads. Each bead is a situation with a goal, location, inhabitants, and behaviors. But the thread still connects each of these adventures together. Hope that helps!

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:39:17 +0000 UTC

Hi there! I've answered a similar question here: https://slyflourish.com/sf_patreon_files_898123050001223/qa/?id=1816 https://youtu.be/uPLqvLLPmSg?t=3481s Hope that helps!

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:37:19 +0000 UTC

I've never really ran a true sandbox game where the players decide their path and the GM paves the way. Instead, I almost always offer two or three choices for the quests they want to perform and let them choose. That's worked best for me. I think having a set of choices are fine – the Dragon of Icespire Peak model.

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:33:30 +0000 UTC

Hi George! This article has my best advice for playing with fewer players. The most important thing is remembering the effect on the action economy – the loss of characters below four or five has a greater than linear effect on the battle. https://slyflourish.com/balancing_combat_for_one_on_one.html Best bet is to have fewer or an equal number monsters than characters and stick to the LEB: https://slyflourish.com/the_lazy_encounter_benchmark.html

Michael Shea

2024-11-22 15:28:06 +0000 UTC

Hey Mike! What are your thoughts on running a False Hydra? Having previously been on the player side of one, it seems to be equal parts really fun and really frustrating, but it’s difficult to tell if that’s because of how my old DM ran it or because of the base premise of the monster. Has your opinion changed at all since you wrote the Blackweald article in Arcadia?

Sam P.

2024-11-21 15:07:52 +0000 UTC

Hi, Mike. One of the challenges I run into in my afterschool RPG clubs is how to get students ready to DM. Occasionally one really wants to do it, but most of the time everyone seems too nervous to give it a try. What are some strategies I could use to get 10-13 year olds ready to run their own tables?

Robert Parry-Cruwys

2024-11-20 22:33:34 +0000 UTC

I recently saw that you were featured as #1 in a list of the 10 best D&D podcasts (that aren't actual plays). https://dungeonsanddragonsfan.com/best-dnd-podcasts/ All of which got me thinking: what are some of your favorite D&D podcasts for industry news and DM tips (and as a sneaky bonus question: what do you think makes for a good podcast?)

Adam Volk

2024-11-20 17:37:21 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, I'm struggling to understand the difference in your 8 steps between Scenes and Locations. A scene without a location seems impossible to me, while a location without a scene seems pointless. What is it you focus on in these steps? Thanks!

Unferth

2024-11-20 02:20:08 +0000 UTC

Hey Mike. Do you know of any resources that can give me ideas for environmental elements to spice up my combat, particularly theatre of the kind combat. All I’ve got in my repertoire is a glorified game of “the floor is lava.”

Delaney Nevins

2024-11-19 23:26:26 +0000 UTC

Mike, in one of the campaigns I'm in, my DM has considered adding in the Flee Action because our group often feels like retreat is never a realistic option. A related problem is that he feels the same hang-ups players get when having to manually play a retreat, applies to monsters as well. He admitted that his monsters consistently fight to the death simply because it seems tedious and boring to have them retreat, only to be slowly cut down. How do you handle retreating enemies? Would you apply a similar Flee action for them? Apply some kind of Chase rules when they run? How about players that might be worried about enemies retreating "automatically" and having them warn or reinforce others without any means to stop them?

ARC

2024-11-19 22:09:57 +0000 UTC

No question today, just general appreciation of the sly flourish universe! I've just been using the lazy DM generator and monster database (about to start my Theros/City of Arches hybrid game!) and I think someone needs to say how exceptional they are. Your work is much appreciated!

Ben Clarke

2024-11-19 20:51:13 +0000 UTC

My campaign is building up into a climactic battle where the adventurers are going to spearhead a coalition of factions in liberating the evil army occupying their home town. I'm planning on running the battle mostly narratively with the tide of battle influenced by small skirmishes involving the players. I'd like to illustrate the ebb and flow of battle with upbeat narrative for positive outcomes and negative narrative if the skirmishes go poorly and wondered if you had any advice on something similar you've run? I don't want the battle to be just a grim Helms Deep affair with unrelenting violence, mud and blood - I want to come up with some upbeat vignettes that let the players see their leadership, actions and the allies they've made have mattered in the outcome. I also don't want the skirmishes to bog down the narrative as D&D can sometimes be like that. Is there a good method for simulating that beyond simple narrative? I'm pondering having each skirmish have a short clock to accomplish a few objectives, before it runs out and I move on to a vignette illustrating the battles progress and another skirmish scenario. Do you have any suggestions on going about this?

Dougal Cochrane

2024-11-19 13:51:31 +0000 UTC

One thing I'm having a hard time figuring out is the relationship between potential scenes and fantastic locations - I currently assume that "The Sunken Temple of the Raven Queen" isn't the fantastic location itself, but rather "The Waterloged Antechamber" and "The Chapel of Lost Voices and Reflections" is another... two of the 5 rooms in the dungeon. Did I get that wrong? Because it could easily be the other way round: The Fantastic Location is comprised of 5 rooms and each of those is a Potential Scene. And yeah: Obviously, whatever works for me. Just asking for some clarification.

Daren Thomas

2024-11-19 03:26:40 +0000 UTC

As a "Forever DM", on those rare occasions when I get to play, I sometimes find it difficult to transition well to being a player. It gets more complicated by the fact that newish GMs get nervous running a game for me once they know I've been running games since the late 80s. I'm not by my nature judgemental of anyone other than myself, but sometimes it feels that they are concerned about some perceived difference in our experience level as DMs. (Years behind the screen do not mean I'm any better than anyone else, just that I've made my mistakes for far longer, is all.) How do you avoid these issues when you get to game as a player?

Jason Kemp

2024-11-19 02:22:22 +0000 UTC

Hey Mike! I just started DMing a Key of Worlds campaign in the City of Arches and I am super excited to dive in. In this week’s Lazy RPG Talk Show, you really emphasize letting the story unfold at the table and that is one area that I am focusing on in this campaign because it’s an area of DMing I think I could improve on. However, I struggle to get my head around the idea of creating a story together with my players while also executing a good pre-written campaign outline. Could you help contextualize the advice of letting the story unfold at the table around the premise of running a prewritten campaign?

Eric Heisler

2024-11-18 23:08:40 +0000 UTC

I know that you typically do a great job concluding your campaigns, so I'm not sure if you have have this issue regularly, but hoping for some suggestions: Do you have any recommendations for when a campaign is starting to not feel fun to DM anymore?

redhawk2085

2024-11-18 05:39:13 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike. On the topic of railroading vs sandbox, do you recommend leaning towards railroading when it comes to newer players? I ran a session this weekend with 2 first time players in an open world sandbox campaign. I noticed that the freedom of endless choices and ability to go anywhere/do anything was too intimidating for them. Moments where a scene required a more narrow set of choices helped them engage more with the story and understand how to play the game. Are there moments like this where railroading is not only allowed but recommended? Thanks for your time!

Hussain Bukannan

2024-11-16 13:32:31 +0000 UTC

How would you do encounter balancing for less than for players? (e.g. Our game group typically has 2 players.)

George PR

2024-11-15 20:53:28 +0000 UTC

One thing you might consider is copying your old prep notes into your new template each week and then modifying it as needed – or at least copying over the parts you don't need to update. Say your group is going through a dungeon, you don't need to redo the dungeon every time. You can annotate a map and just keep using that. If the characters haven't discovered the treasure hoard you set up, move that forward. Remove any discovered secrets, move forward any they haven't discovered that are still relevant, and add any new ones as needed. Depending on where each session ended, you can wire in a small strong start – nothing that will eat the whole hour but something to propel your session into the action quickly. This is really important for short sessions. Use and reuse the steps that help you run your game and omit the rest!

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 14:14:06 +0000 UTC

That's a great question! I think I'd treat it sort of like campfire tales and lines and veils. You might tell players up front that you're going to have a session, or part of a session, like this. Ask them for the things they've enjoyed so far and the things they'd like to see more of. Ask them how their character fits in so far, what the character sees as their goals and drives and directions. Ask if things are heading the way the players are interested in pursuing. You can run these mini-session-zeroes on level up too so the players can level up together and talk about what they picked up in synergy with the abilities of the other characters.

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 14:11:28 +0000 UTC

You probably don't need to start with too many. Focus on a main patron who can give quests to the characters. You can use this patron as a hub for the characters' backstories during your session zero. Then pick out a handful of NPCs tied to the backgrounds, classes, and other features of the characters themselves. https://slyflourish.com/build_from_the_characters_outwards.html I'd say less is more. Be prepared to improvise with a good list of random names. Write them down and fill them out as you need them instead of trying to guess which ones are going to be prominent in your game. And welcome to the hobby!!!

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 14:09:33 +0000 UTC

Cities are hard to run! That's been my experience overall. I think the main thing is to focus on the important locations that matter to the characters and matter to the story. I wrote more about that here: https://slyflourish.com/build_cities_around_the_characters.html https://slyflourish.com/pointcrawls.html I don't know about hostile cities either. I don't have any specific advice for that. Sorry!

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 14:07:03 +0000 UTC

It can help you get your head around things but I wouldn't overdo it. I'd stay focused on what's happening in the next game and let the world drive forward from the results of that. We GMs have a tendency to think too wide and too long instead of focusing down on what's going to happen in our next game. So campaign secrets aren't terrible, but don't let it get in the way of the here and now.

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 14:00:07 +0000 UTC

Yeah! This is definitely a problem and moreso now at lower levels when we have stat blocks with "arcane blast". I don't have a great answer right now other than to wing it and, I'd say, lean in to the players. Let them use their mage slayer abilities. Let them counterspell blasts. You can always account for it with more monsters if you need.

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 13:58:53 +0000 UTC

I like the idea of environmental effects that scale up as the environment gets more dangerous. Given how odd it can be, it probably works best to just tell players what they can do. Sometimes they might come up with their own ideas based on what you describe to them. Moving some of these actions to bonus actions can help too, so they don't miss out on whatever their characters' big action might be. The more new abilities a character gets at higher levels, the more an environmental effect competes with each of those options. So it has to matter. I think its also ok to not have that happen very often. We don't need those sort of environmental effects all the time. The players already have lots of options and combinations. They create their own effects.

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 13:57:38 +0000 UTC

Sure! This works best for relics – single use magic items with high level spells. These can be used by anyone but only one time. It's a fun way to have the characters run around with a nuclear bomb. Generally, I wouldn't give a daily-use magic item with a spell higher than they can cast. That's probably going to be overpowered, but it depends on the spell.

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 13:55:18 +0000 UTC

Cool ideas! I do want to steer the adventure away from supporting the dragon empire but there will certainly be times to do it. I tend to avoid subsystems for this and instead stay in the fiction.

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 13:54:06 +0000 UTC

I think its best to use other fiction for this. We might find ideas for aboleths, being hive-mind sort of creatures with very long lifespans, from stuff like the plant creatures in the Commonwealth Saga (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Saga). Vampires are also good mirrors since they live for a long time. Or the borg from Star Trek. Those are a few that come to mind but you don't have to mirror any of those perfectly. Just a few hints at its otherworldly thought is enough to get players' minds racing.

Michael Shea

2024-11-15 13:53:12 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike! I had a realization about a lunchtime game I run with some co-workers. We have weekly one hour sessions, and that part’s been working out OK, but my prep each week suffers because I’m trying to do all (ok most) of the steps for each session and it’s almost always too much for what we’re actually able to cover. I want to try prepping for a few sessions at a time. What are some changes to the lazy approach that would make it fit for three one hour sessions instead of one three hours session? I’m thinking also of how to structure my Obsidian session notes template.

Jay Luker

2024-11-15 13:46:15 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, hope your day is going well. My question is; How would you tailor a mid campaign "session zero" differently to a pre campaign session zero. I'm just over halfway into our 20 level campaign. Thankyou kindly in advance. Look forward to your thoughts.

Michael Smedley

2024-11-14 18:39:16 +0000 UTC

I’m a relatively new GM without much experience starting new campaigns (I’ve really only ran one so far) but I’m considering starting up a new one. When starting a new campaign what are the NPCs “archetypes” (e.g. innkeeper, faction leader, quest giver, merchant, villains) that i should put in front of my characters as early as possible? Any tips for introducing these figures elegantly?

Christopher Leigh-Davidson

2024-11-13 20:20:20 +0000 UTC

In my current 5e campaign the players are just finishing off a nice dungeon. As the module moves forwards, it has urban adventures in opposing kingdoms (with a view to overthrowing/turning the people against the rulers). I always find running big towns and cities daunting, and in my games they are usually just a stopover between adventures. But in this module the adventure is in these cities - do you have any experience/advice running adventures in urban environments, and would your advice be different depending on whether the city is hostile? The cities and authorities might not be hostile to the party initially but it's possible if not likely that they will become hostile through the adventures. Some potentially relevant details: we're playing without 6th level and higher spells, the players have their own kingdom which their characters rule (Kingmaker), and the ideal outcome for the characters is to take over these other kingdoms (so not necessarily come in guns blazing as the next oppressors).

Sam M

2024-11-13 07:05:57 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, I have always found secrets and clues to be one of your most helpful ideas when preparing my game. I am starting a new campaign soon, and as I do my campaign prep I am wondering about the value of writing down some campaign-level secrets and clues. These would be larger scale secrets that I anticipate may drive the action over multiple sessions, maybe even the whole campaign––nothing written in stone, since secrets don't become true until they are revealed to the players, but I am thinking there may be some value in thinking about secrets ahead of just the next session or two at this stage? Any thoughts or suggestions about this? Thanks for all you do, Michael E

Michael Ebling

2024-11-12 19:20:32 +0000 UTC

Now that my party has reached Tier 4, I’m hearing a common question in combat: is what they just did a spell? I tend to get tripped up on damage transfer, legendary or villain actions, and my own elaborate descriptions of stacks from general use stat blocks. How do you draw the line between spell, feature, or ability? My Mage Slayer thanks you in advance. Chris.

Chris Hallberg

2024-11-12 09:14:09 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike! Playing at a con yesterday made me think about low leve play and creative actions in D&D. What do you think about the effects of creative actions (swing from a chandelier, push over a book case) being viable at low level, and their effectiveness not keeping up with the spells and features of higher level characters? In my experience, at low level, players can more easily do creative actions because they are easy to come up with and imagine the result. At the lower levels people also like using them because such actions often have big effects and don't cost their sparse resources. At higher levels, this changes. It's harder to find creative actions when you're in the far realms, and they can't figure out if it's better to try and tug a tencale or to just cast disintegrate. Do you think my assumption is right? How do you inspire players to take creative actions, and how do you keep those possible and interesting at high levels?

Bram Bakker

2024-11-11 09:01:20 +0000 UTC

When a spell is a benefit of a magic item, but the player is a 5th level bard and is not able to cast 4th level spells does attunement allow them to cast the spell?

Heidi Smith

2024-11-10 04:15:36 +0000 UTC

Thanks Mike!

Joe G

2024-11-08 18:47:17 +0000 UTC

Any thoughts on giving your dragon Empire party a boon of some kind if/when they do hand over treasure to the authorities? I think it could be an interesting tension if they have to balance keeping the loot, versus some kind of prestige or favour that helps keep their cover as good imperial subjects. There’s also the political game of who they decide to hand the treasure over to, whereby they could give a lower prestige imperial agent a leg up, perhaps to displace a more senior official who is less susceptible to manipulation. Also for a mission idea, there’s the classic: plant loot on your enemy so the enemy’s boss or political rival finds out and thinks they’ve been holding out on proper treasure handling procedures.

Ryan McIntyre

2024-11-08 18:18:32 +0000 UTC

Yup same here paper maps with erase marker... ! LOL LOL ok well thank you for replaying I'm finding your new campaign very interesting, looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

Jonathan Gerolami

2024-11-08 18:09:49 +0000 UTC

Aha! I'm afraid I know basically nothing about them. I use a Pathfinder flip mat and wet erase markers myself! Far cheaper and more flexible!

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 17:22:45 +0000 UTC

LOL It appears to be basically a TV or monitor thats flat for a game board. I really don't know much about them so researching, one of my players are keen to use this over the traditional map and marker. Look interesting as it will save me money on constantly printing out maps by staples. So was wondering if you knew much about them, if there a particular company that out there that makes them, if they are difficult to use. Whatever knowledge you may have would be helpful.

Jonathan Gerolami

2024-11-08 16:24:32 +0000 UTC

Thanks Sly! I think I'll do that, maybe I'll even do like a series of skill challenges summarizing some other plot lines before we get to the actual meat of the session. Thank you thank you!

saphssquatch

2024-11-08 16:22:23 +0000 UTC

I would avoid publishing their artwork and avoid copying and pasting a lot of their text directly. Other than that you should be ok. The real question to ask is whether you're hurting their ability to sell their product or making your stuff look like it's "official". Of course, fair use law is very fuzzy but ask yourself if you're hurting their work. Mostly, avoid directly using their art and text.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 16:17:02 +0000 UTC

Hey Mike, last night the group encountered an Aboleth under Neverwinter and while roleplaying as it, I found it hard to convey its wants and really get inside its head. For more otherworldly monsters or villains do you have any tips on portraying them believably? Thanks

Ben Hodges

2024-11-08 16:16:23 +0000 UTC

Hi Kush! My lazy trick is to generally use the same stat block behind the screen for creatures but describe their attacks differently in the fiction. I might use the same CR 3 stat block from Forge of Foes: CR 3 AC/DC 13 HP 65 Atk/Prof +5 DPR 23 Atks 2 × 1d6 + 9 But for a mage, it's arcane blasts at range and a rogue it might be a couple of dagger attacks. The general rule of thumb is not to use more than two or three different stat blocks. If they're all from one book you can use adhesive tabs to keep track of them and flip the page back and forth. If you use multiple books, you can put tabs in each one. For tracking damage, I track damage done, not hit points up. I write it right on my dry-erase map on my table or an index card or a text editor if I'm playing online. Hope that helps!

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 16:15:13 +0000 UTC

I notice it looks like you only post campaign notes and prep for your homebrew campaigns. Do you think it would be acceptable for a content creator who puts reviews / walk throughs on say a streaming service but then puts campaign notes, prep and rewritten quests for someone else's published content behind a paywall such as patreon?

NegatveSpace

2024-11-08 15:42:41 +0000 UTC

Heya Mike! How do you handle organizing and keeping track of all of the different NPCs you use in a combat? I think I'm going crazy keeping track of everyone's stats, hp, etc in a long combat. Thanks for the help!

Kush poddar

2024-11-08 06:16:49 +0000 UTC

I've got you covered right here! https://slyflourish.com/vecna_tears_of_unmaking.html - Don't make Mordenkainen actually Kas. - Have Kas seeking the pieces of the rod for his own vengeful purpose. - Have the staff grow in power the more pieces one group has so you can't thwart the plan by tossing away one piece.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:22:48 +0000 UTC

Great question! I think a lot of us had that experience going to 100% online games and then back to in-person games now. I'm glad we're back but I'm also happy that online gaming is now as big as it is. I think you'll find playing in person is pretty straight forward. You'll need the right physical tools to run your game and that isn't always intuitive. Last week I forgot my dice!!. Make a checklist of the physical stuff you need. Here's mine: - Paizo flip mat - Wet-erase markers - Index cards - Pencils for me and everyone else - Dice (duh) - Lazy monster tokens - Minis for the characters if I'm not using tokens - A cloth and some water to clean off the map - Your game notes and maps - A lazy GM cheat sheet (https://slyflourish.com/revised_5e_cheat_sheet.html) or other books - A good list of random names - Your game books The hardest part was making a map without a VTT and I found that small wet-erase maps on a pathfinder flip mat worked perfectly for me.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:19:27 +0000 UTC

I think its cool and it's not locking anything behind a paywall because if they make the goal, everyone gets it. I'm sad they're using a "Share Alike" license which limits all other work built off of it to supporting the same license. That limits people a lot in what they can produce since every piece of IP they'd put in a book using this system has to then be released under the same license. I think that's going to push a lot of publishers away. It would push me away.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:16:51 +0000 UTC

I make campaign outlines so you don't have to! If you want, you can try to come up with some general thoughts about the direction a campaign is going but I don't think its nearly as necessary for you as a GM than it is for me as a publisher to give you an example of what a campaign might look like here. I'm running three different games. One of them is using my own COA Key of Worlds arc and even that one I'm changing a lot. For the other two, I really only worry about the current quest, and the potential quests after that. If you find it useful or fun, go with the gods, but I'd spend less time on a full campaign outline and more time on the next session you're going to run and the seeds of the sessions you're running after that.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:14:56 +0000 UTC

Which gaming board are you talking about? I'm not sure what you mean.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:13:11 +0000 UTC

This article may help you: https://mikeshea.net/how_to_make_it_in_the_rpg_industry.html My recommendation would be to start a blog. Post great stuff there that helps the lives of GMs. Start a newsletter and syndicate blog posts to the newsletter. If you have the means, start a podcast and talk about it. Find groups out there on the internet you can belong to and share your work with. Help people subscribe to your newsletter and podcast. You can try to use enshittified social media (X, instagram, threads, bluesky, whatever) but don't depend on those sites. They don't want to help you. It takes a while to build up an audience. Sometimes you get lucky and Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade links to one of your posts. - Write and post good stuff regularly for a long time. - Share your stuff openly in various communities not to promote your work but to make their lives better.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:12:54 +0000 UTC

I don't think players get excited from monster abilities. They get excited by their abilities. They get threatened by monster abilities and feel the challenge of them and enjoy figuring out how to deal with them, but the ability itself isn't great. Players love to counterspell stuff so casting spells that get thwarted is great. If you know you have counterspell-casting characters, hurl spells at them so the players can watch those spells go poof. After running a lot of big hairy monsters and then running very generic Forge of Foes stat blocks like this one: CR 5 AC/DC 15 HP 95 Atk/Prof +7 DPR 35 Atks 3 × 1d6 + 9 I can tell you that my players really don't care or even know the difference (other than FOF monsters hit hard). I think having fancy monster abilities is overrated.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:08:49 +0000 UTC

Good narrative and description is probably the way to do it. Watch good noir movies. Write down the parts that make it feel the way it feels. Maybe read how other RPGs do this like Blades in the Dark. Think about how you build the atmosphere to support a noir-style story.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:06:30 +0000 UTC

The big rule is not to make players feel like idiots. If they discover things that make them smile and say "aha!" that's great. But don't stick it to them. If the players have a chance to learn the truth, that's the important thing. Just don't make them feel dumb.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:05:39 +0000 UTC

This article can help! https://slyflourish.com/reading_published_adventures.html I read a summary so I have an idea what the overall adventure is about. Then I focus on the first few sections to make sure I can see a good adventure there. I want an outline of what's supposed to happen so I know the overall arc and plot but then I focus on what's going to be in front of the characters. If I can, I'll read as much as I can but you don't need to read every room description for a dungeon you're not going to see for six months. You won't remember it anyway. Look for the big beats.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:04:22 +0000 UTC

Think small! Cellar full of angry rats! In my Dragon Empire game, it was a curse in the well from an effigy of the Pale Mother being worshiped by cave dwellers (right out of Bone Tomahawk). The first adventure is really just to stretch the muscles of the characters, it's not something huge and momentous. It does help to have some connection to whatever the larger plots are. In my own, they found headless treasure hunters and their stolen dragon treasure which put the characters in a spot of turning it in or keeping it for themselves at risk and peril. But my big advice is keep it small. Pick a hook, throw them in, and enjoy a nice small 1st level adventure.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:02:37 +0000 UTC

In my Dragon Empire game, it wasn't so much too many factions as too many ranks in the hierarchy of the empire to remember. I flattened it to five and that worked well. I like three factions but your results may vary. Five is good. More than that and it's hard to remember them. It depends on their purpose too. Are these player factions? Villain factions? That affects the useful number of them. But three to five is probably good.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 01:00:23 +0000 UTC

Number one. By far.... Give yourself a break! You're doing great just managing the game! You don't have to be a great roleplayer. You can totally speak in the third person "the bartender asks if you've heard about the strange sinkhole that opened up outside of town". Being some sort of tremendous roleplay actor isn't a requirement for a fun game. If you do want to improve your roleplaying, though, recognizing that this is just a desire of yours and not a requirement for a good game, here are some other tips: - Listen to audiobooks. Hear how the narrator switches characters without going full actor. Subtle changes are fine. - Watch the interview I did with Matt Mercer a million years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVKvjSLt2d4 Gods, that video is hard to watch but has great useful stuff in it. - Roleplay by yourself. Get into character. Go somewhere where you can talk aloud and not be embarrassed and just get into character. Rehearse. It helps.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 00:58:24 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike! Our group is going to run the WOTC Vecna adventure, soon. Given your comments on a recent show, what are maybe three (3) ways you would re-write the quest giver or adventure hook to avoid the "quest giver is a (the) villain" trap ?

BK Flood

2024-11-08 00:58:10 +0000 UTC

Sorry the group went south! That's hard. I might think of putting together a single session game where they face a big boss or something like that and then get to their "one year later" montage so your players can write their own conclusions for their characters. That's my favorite trick for ending a campaign. https://slyflourish.com/ending_campaigns.html

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 00:54:05 +0000 UTC

I really have only one trick right now: Write down where the session ended. For me, that is the number one thing I need and forget. That probably comes from running two to three games a week all with their own plots and stories. Sometimes I just forget where things ended. Another trick is to recruit a scribe who writes down what happened in the game and shares this with the group. This way you can get access to it too. Even if they write it longhand, they can take a picture and share it.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 00:52:57 +0000 UTC

I love my Dwarven Forge and my minis! I have a funny story to tell about needing a particular troll mini I've had for like 20 years and then not finding it until after the battle was over. I was sad. The hard part is using maps, terrain, and minis in an improvisational setting. That's what Theater of the Mind is so good at. You can whip up a battle with just a few words! Frankly, I think the answer is having a mix. Use theater of the mind for some stuff – particularly smaller improv battles – and use fancy maps and minis for big showpiece battles that you know are going to happen. That's what I do and I think it works out well. Oh, one other trick is just to use minis without a map. Just use them as table dressing and run a "Final Fantasy" or "Darkest Dungeon" style battle with a row of characters on one side and the monsters on the other. move them together when they're within 5 feet and maybe move them to show who is behind who, but don't sweat a grid and movement and spaces.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 00:50:17 +0000 UTC

I think bases are awesome. I have loose base construction stuff in Uncovered Secrets Volume 2 (in your rewards) and some of that made it into Summervine Villa (also in your rewards) and finally into the City of Arches! It's just a page or so of ways to expand it out and loose thoughts about the sorts of things the characters can buy. Mostly inspirational. Personally, I don't need a system for such a thing. I like to keep it loose and ensure it lets players enjoy a place to call their own, customize it, spend some money on it, and keep enjoying their adventures. I haven't dug deep into Bastions so I can't really speak to them but I think I like a looser system than what I've heard of it.

Michael Shea

2024-11-08 00:48:12 +0000 UTC

Hey Mike! I'm a recent addition to the hobby only starting in 2019. About the time I started playing a certain event happened that led to everyone being home. So my only experiences with TTRPGS are online. What kind of tips would you give to someone who is transitioning from online only DM'ing to an in person setting.

Mighty Spaceghost

2024-11-08 00:28:20 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, I was looking at the Ars Magica Definitive Edition crowdfunding campaign on Backerkit https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/atlas-games/ars-magica-5th-edition-definitive?ref=followed_pledged_mailer_user_2105680 I noticed that they had stretch goals to put the game into the Creative Commons. I love to see games going into public licenses, but am curious about locking that behind a paywall of sorts. Love to hear your opinion. Thanks!

David Bore

2024-11-08 00:09:05 +0000 UTC

I really enjoy campaign outlines you have your website and in the City of Arches. I actually ran your Harvesters of World campaign outline pretty successfully. Do you have any advice on making your personal campaign outlines? The common advice is only focus on your next session. However I find them helpful even if I divert wildly from them eventually. I really would like to make my own.

Spike Hemphill

2024-11-07 23:57:44 +0000 UTC

Hello Mike, I listen to you talk about VTT , Owlbear Rodio, but do you have a good idea who makes the actually gaming board ? are their companies that create them ? So far I only found Esty that generally sells just the wooden frame.

Jonathan Gerolami

2024-11-07 22:31:02 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, thank you for all the good stuff you put out there for us. My question for you: if you would be completely unknown, the beginning of your career as a publisher - you just created some small adventures, maybe some cool house rules or other tools and gadgets you think other DMs might value - how would you promote yourself? What channels would you use, how would you start and what would all this look like?

Dungeon Master Sam

2024-11-07 21:29:57 +0000 UTC

What’s one of your favourite monster abilities to excite players at the table?

Great Diviner Games

2024-11-07 20:55:25 +0000 UTC

What is the best way to incorporate film noir elements into what you intend to be a buddy cop comedy style story?

SouzaGM

2024-11-07 19:34:44 +0000 UTC

You spent a lot of time in your last episode talking about how you shouldn't have NPCs betray your PCs, but what about unknown information? I have a big bad who's trapped but can still exert influence. The players have been gathering items that give them abilities and can also instead imbue those abilities into another creature. The origin and purpose of these items have been lost to time, but they believe that if a creature receives all 4 of those abilities, they're overwhelmed and destroyed. The player have speculated that this could also free the big bad, which is my intention and then the players have to find and defeat the big bad once and for all. Is this a betrayal of player trust, or a legitimate campaign down beat?

Mike Edinger

2024-11-07 19:05:49 +0000 UTC

Hey Mike, what is your flow when starting a new written adventure. How much do you read ahead and what do you take notes on as you begin session 0 and 1?

Skyler Lehan

2024-11-07 18:40:53 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike! Love the show, the books, and can’t wait for City of Arches when it comes out. I seem to really struggle with intro adventures for new campaigns. Once we get that first session or two out of the way I can more easily build adventures responding to the players. I worry about giving away too much information to make the rest of the campaign pointless. Am I overthinking this? What’s your advice for starting campaigns off with a bang?

Nate Gerlach

2024-11-07 18:21:14 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, there's been some discussion of factions on the Discord this week, and during last week's show I think you mentioned you felt you started with too many factions for your new Dragon Empire campaign. What do you feel is an appropriate number of factions for a lengthy campaign? For context, I'm planning one with 5 major "international" factions the PCs can choose to support or oppose over the course of the campaign, and that might determine which factions become their steadfast allies and which become their adversaries. But I might also have a couple of local factions that are only relevant in their specific region that are also being influenced by the 5 major factions. Thanks!

Joe G

2024-11-07 17:48:26 +0000 UTC

Hi Mike, thank you for everything you do to make our DM/GM lives easier. I have been DMing and playing D&D for 11 years and I think I have a pretty good handle on running games, rules, rule of cool, etc. My biggest challenge is with role playing. I just flat our struggle with RPing especially when it comes to answering PC questions while trying to stay in character, let alone using a voice or accent (I practice accents but then chicken out). Every NPC who the PCs talk to sounds like me just answering their question as best I can. Q: What advice do you have to practice role playing and staying in character during play? Thanks!

Ronald Beason

2024-11-07 17:42:44 +0000 UTC

Sly! Always happy to be here :) I had a campaign crash and burn due to some drama between me and some players. We didn't finish the story, but for the rest of the players I'd like to do something to wrap up their character so that they aren't in limbo forever. I don't want to do like a short campaign, I truly would only want to do like 1 session for this. Do you have any recommendations for systems or strategies to do this? I'm thinking some amount of time skip to either a climax or resolution for some of the story lines, but not sure how to do this. Thank you and I love your content as always!

saphssquatch

2024-11-07 17:22:51 +0000 UTC

Hi, Mike! Do you have any post-session checklist or LazyDM activities you find useful to do just after a session (or the day after)? Anything that might ease the prep for the next session or foster ideas to think in between sessions.

Rafael Padilha

2024-11-07 17:21:30 +0000 UTC

I really like miniatures, maps, dungeon tiles etc. It's a nice hobby in itself to paint minis and make dioramas, like the Dwarven Forge stuff that you've talked about. My issue is that I think that combat is way better using the "theatre of the mind". I feel the players get much more immersed and focus more on the drama than positions and tactics. This bothers me slightly since I'd love to use all my miniatures and stuff! What can I do to make my minis and maps combats more fun and engaging? Thanks for a great talkshow /Jon

Jon

2024-11-07 17:17:29 +0000 UTC

Regardless of what the DMG says, what is your take on players having a base? Is there a Lazy Base System somewhere in your books?

Bernie the Wordsmith

2024-11-07 17:14:13 +0000 UTC

November 2024 Sly Flourish Patreon Q&A

Comments

Can you describe your process for mining TTRPG books for ideas?

Excellent, I would have been happy with any response but this is exactly what I wanted!

Hi Luka! I answered this on the December 2024 Q&A. Thanks!

Hi Luke! I answered this over on the December Q&A thread! Thanks!

Nice tool!

Hi Mike TTRPGs are often described as collaborative storytelling. Some of them are rule light and emphasize narrative approach over simulation. Even D&D has narrative approach in some aspects. Where do you draw the line between narrative TTRPG and straight improvisation class.

Thanks! I’ll keep your suggestion as my focal point. If the answer is yes to both (1) “can the players discover this?” and (2) “is it okay if they do?” — then I’m good.

Thanks, Mike. I've imagined the Sygian incursion as slow, but accelerating - so having some bounty hunter devils seeking the party sounds good. The fight to stop the Mythallar will be tougher the longer they take, but hopefully not impossible. Take care

It sounds like a fair ruling to me. Just be sure to give him some doors he *can* ram through!

thanks Mike. This is a great article. I will be saving this to my obsidian vault for future reference 😄

Mike do you think of the 4th edition DMG? Do you think it’s information is competitive with your forge of foes, DMG 2024, tales of the valiant gmg , and a5e trials and treasures?

Makes sense! Thanks for sharing

I'm actually not great at this myself. I'm a big fan of A5E's Trials and Treasure which has a whole slew of environmental effects: https://a5e.tools/rules/encounter-elements Here's an article I wrote with some options too: https://slyflourish.com/zone_effects.html

Thank you so much! It's my life's dream to help GMs run great games and its nice to hear when I've helped them do so! Thank you for the kind words!

Hi there! I've answered a similar question here: https://slyflourish.com/sf_patreon_files_898123050001223/qa/?id=1816 https://youtu.be/uPLqvLLPmSg?t=3481s Hope that helps!

Hi Mike, I'm struggling to understand the difference in your 8 steps between Scenes and Locations. A scene without a location seems impossible to me, while a location without a scene seems pointless. What is it you focus on in these steps? Thanks!

Hey Mike. Do you know of any resources that can give me ideas for environmental elements to spice up my combat, particularly theatre of the kind combat. All I’ve got in my repertoire is a glorified game of “the floor is lava.”

No question today, just general appreciation of the sly flourish universe! I've just been using the lazy DM generator and monster database (about to start my Theros/City of Arches hybrid game!) and I think someone needs to say how exceptional they are. Your work is much appreciated!

I know that you typically do a great job concluding your campaigns, so I'm not sure if you have have this issue regularly, but hoping for some suggestions: Do you have any recommendations for when a campaign is starting to not feel fun to DM anymore?

How would you do encounter balancing for less than for players? (e.g. Our game group typically has 2 players.)

Cool ideas! I do want to steer the adventure away from supporting the dragon empire but there will certainly be times to do it. I tend to avoid subsystems for this and instead stay in the fiction.

Hi Mike, hope your day is going well. My question is; How would you tailor a mid campaign "session zero" differently to a pre campaign session zero. I'm just over halfway into our 20 level campaign. Thankyou kindly in advance. Look forward to your thoughts.

When a spell is a benefit of a magic item, but the player is a 5th level bard and is not able to cast 4th level spells does attunement allow them to cast the spell?

Thanks Mike!

Yup same here paper maps with erase marker... ! LOL LOL ok well thank you for replaying I'm finding your new campaign very interesting, looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

Aha! I'm afraid I know basically nothing about them. I use a Pathfinder flip mat and wet erase markers myself! Far cheaper and more flexible!

Thanks Sly! I think I'll do that, maybe I'll even do like a series of skill challenges summarizing some other plot lines before we get to the actual meat of the session. Thank you thank you!

Hey Mike, last night the group encountered an Aboleth under Neverwinter and while roleplaying as it, I found it hard to convey its wants and really get inside its head. For more otherworldly monsters or villains do you have any tips on portraying them believably? Thanks

Heya Mike! How do you handle organizing and keeping track of all of the different NPCs you use in a combat? I think I'm going crazy keeping track of everyone's stats, hp, etc in a long combat. Thanks for the help!

Which gaming board are you talking about? I'm not sure what you mean.

Good narrative and description is probably the way to do it. Watch good noir movies. Write down the parts that make it feel the way it feels. Maybe read how other RPGs do this like Blades in the Dark. Think about how you build the atmosphere to support a noir-style story.

The big rule is not to make players feel like idiots. If they discover things that make them smile and say "aha!" that's great. But don't stick it to them. If the players have a chance to learn the truth, that's the important thing. Just don't make them feel dumb.

Hi Mike! Our group is going to run the WOTC Vecna adventure, soon. Given your comments on a recent show, what are maybe three (3) ways you would re-write the quest giver or adventure hook to avoid the "quest giver is a (the) villain" trap ?

Hello Mike, I listen to you talk about VTT , Owlbear Rodio, but do you have a good idea who makes the actually gaming board ? are their companies that create them ? So far I only found Esty that generally sells just the wooden frame.

What’s one of your favourite monster abilities to excite players at the table?

What is the best way to incorporate film noir elements into what you intend to be a buddy cop comedy style story?

Hey Mike, what is your flow when starting a new written adventure. How much do you read ahead and what do you take notes on as you begin session 0 and 1?

Hi, Mike! Do you have any post-session checklist or LazyDM activities you find useful to do just after a session (or the day after)? Anything that might ease the prep for the next session or foster ideas to think in between sessions.

Regardless of what the DMG says, what is your take on players having a base? Is there a Lazy Base System somewhere in your books?

More Creators

It sounds like a fair ruling to me. Just be sure to give him some doors he can ram through!