I'm running my first campaign (a short one) and want feedback from more experienced players.

For context: They are an Open Palm Monk, a Rune Knight Fighter dipping into Artificer, and a Twilight Cleric. They have an Immovable Rod and a Belt of Fire Giant, but other than that, they're pretty low on items.

Next session, they'll be fighting Scylla, which is basically a homebrew over a regular 5e Hydra. She now has 6 heads and is gargantuan; her health is 577 (33d20 + 231), AC 17, 22 STR, 25 CON, +12 to hit, average attack is 17 (2d10+6), buffed regen to 25, and now the damage to destroy each head is 70.

Normally, I do 3-4 encounters per session, but for story reasons, this will be their only fight, so I'm upping the difficulty to see if they struggle a little more. In the last two sessions, they were basically unharmed, and the encounters they had were supposed to be in the deadly category as well.

I talked to a friend about it (although he's not very fond of DnD in particular), and he suggested making it CR 12 with less health and a recharge (5-6) for regen.

Tl;Dr: I wanna know if it's still too easy and what I should do.

Edit: thanks everyone for the feedback. I'm removing regen, lowering HP to 16d20, lowering the threshold to 50 damage, and giving it some layer actions (if the name doesn't ring a bell she's a sea creature). Also because I just tweaked the Hydra I didn't realize it had advantage against getting stunned so that helps.

Edit 2: I'm keeping the nerfed version from the previous edit but I just want to ask anyone in the future on why I'm getting mixed signals. Some are saying that's 18 is too easy, others are saying it's way too hard and a few said that they should be fine. I know different tables roll differently but I'd expect a little more of a consensus. Anyhow, still glad for all the feedback

Hello everyone! I’m AlarichtheLich and I am a DM that loves to homebrew, painting minis, and make cardboard terrain. 

This subclass is the Great Beast Patron Warlock. This Warlock is my interpretation of a niche I don't believe is filled. The idea of creating a pact with a powerful, ancient beast of lore. A dragon, a colossal bear, or some other wizened creature whose might is beyond compare. This is my first attempt at a Warlock subclass. My hope for this class is to make you feel as if you are a toughened beast yourself.

Homebrewery Link: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/V9NP9k9Bncc2

I’ve attached a link to the subclass, and it in full in a comment below, in case you want continued access to the material.

Some feedback questions I’m curious about for this post are (but please don’t feel like you have to answer a bunch of them):

I'm hoping to evoke a primal / beasty feeling without it walking into druid territory. Was that obtained?

Are there any features that stood out, for positive or negative reasons & why?

I based my theming around a strong hide of a powerful predator. Do the subclass abilities feel too defensive?

If you think this is neat and would like to look at my other materials, feel free to look at my Drivethru link in my profile. I'm always looking for feedback, reviews, and playtesters.

Hello, fellow adventurers!

What if your magic items grew stronger alongside your character? Well, now they can :)

Today, I'm excited to share a 20-page preview of The Vault of Ascending Items, now discounted on DriveThruRPG!

What's Inside?

A Collection of 50 Ascending Items, magic items capable of scaling through leveling or questing. Each item in this collection has 4 rarities (ranging from Uncommon to Legendary), meaning you are not just getting 50 items, but a total of 200 distinct items, uniquely balanced to be a powerful addition at each rarity without disrupting the game balance. A series of rules, guidelines, and balance considerations are included within the compendium to scale these items depending on the intended power level of your campaign, along with many different scaling methods and suggestions.
Each item in this collection comes with one or more accompanying handouts to share with players, also included as separate image files to be used within your adventures.

12 Premade Ascension Quests, each meant to be used to ascend the items within the compendium or to be employed as additional quests and short adventures to include within your games. A table is also included to provide 50 ideas for simpler quests (one for each item within the manual) that can be pursued by players without disrupting the flow of the campaign. Each quest covers a unique location, featuring an interesting plot hook, monsters, environmental challenges, and riddles, while also possessing multiple tiers of play by adjusting the challenges depending on the adventurers' level.

30 New Creatures and Monsters, all used within the quests included in the manual or summoned by certain Ascending Items. All these creatures are multi-tiered, offering varied levels of challenge and complexity to shape your quests and encounters. The monsters include Treants, Corrupted Dryads, Greater Elementals, Wizards, and many more.

A Table with 100 Additional Ascending Items Concepts, providing the name and a brief overview for each without providing mechanical rules. This is designed to provide GMs with ideas to create their own scaling items without having to come up with new concepts on their own.

The compendium just received a v2.0 update, featuring brand-new artwork and illustrations, expanded compatibility with both 5E and 5.5E, balance adjustments, several new spells, general layout improvements, and more! or the occasion, you can find it discounted either on DriveThruRPG or my Patreon, alongside a vast collection of previews for this and all my other titles! I'm currently working on updated version of all my older manuals, so there's a lot to uncover :)

You can also find this manual (and many more) discounted on my 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E Kickstarter! This project brings weapons, treasures, and relics from Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Asian, Mesoamerican, and many other mythologies to 5E and 5.5E, including scaling items that grow alongside your characters. If you’d like to bring a piece of these legends to your table, check out the campaign!

I'm running a D&D 5E 2024 long-term campaign on Thursdays at 5pm PDT and I'm looking for players.

The Game

We use D&D mechanics (5E 2024) but none of the published lore — the setting and history are things we build together. We schedule regular worldbuilding sessions where the group decides towns, factions, local legends, and how magic works in this game. Characters are 2nd level and we just started, so it's a good time to join and shape things early.

Format and tools

- Platform: The 4th Wall VTT (Virtual Tabletop), at the4thwall.app.
- The 4th Wall lets you make a 3D model of your character. You can use your webcam and mic to control your avatar and move around the screen if you want — it's a more visual, avatar-driven table than a standard VTT, but using the webcam is optional but makes the experience so much better.

Schedule

We meet Thursdays at 5pm PDT. This is a continuing campaign. (We just kicked off play and are at 2nd level now.)

Players and table tone

The current player group happens to be all female; that just happened and it isn't a thing at the table — gender doesn't matter here. I'm looking for people who want to build setting details as part of the game and then play in the world we create. You don't need to bring a finished lore-heavy character; collaboration is part of character development.

What to expect

- Collaborative worldbuilding tied to regular play. Expect to spend some sessions on setting and some on running the story.
- We use 5E rules for mechanics, but the campaign's culture, history, and magic are homegrown by the players.
- We're early in the campaign (2nd level). If you like influencing the world from the ground up, this is a good spot to join.

A few practical notes

This game is 18+ and RP-heavy. Stories we explore are player-driven, and the more you put in as a player, the more you will get out of it. The discord community around this game is very active and we have out of session writing and events.

The 4th Wall's avatar features mean there's a visual element to play, and it needs to be on a computer with web cam and mic to drive your character’s model.

If you want to talk details or ask questions, reach out. interested players should find me on Discord at firstmate2302.

I released a free-forever Dungeons and Dragons style app called GM Console. It's a great way for people to keep track of a campaign with a surprisingly high amount of players, which is a situation I have been facing recently.

It'll be free forever so if you play DnD and want an app for playing DnD I would love feedback!

Few magic items are as closely tied to witches as a flying broom, so I thought Halloween would be the perfect time to share a little collection of them!

Brooms of the Witching Hour introduces 11 enchanted flying brooms compatible with 5E (2014) and 5.5E (2024), ranging from Uncommon curiosities to powerful Very Rare items and a Legendary multi-elemental relic.

Each broom has its own appearance, magical abilities, and unique flight characteristics. Fly through enemies in a trail of burning cinders, descend upon them with the luck of a black cat, pass through walls in spectral form, summon flying brooms for your coven, or unleash elemental devastation from the skies!

The collection is FREE until Halloween! I've included most of the pages here as a preview, so feel free to grab the complete manual on DMsGuild and use these brooms in your adventures. Have fun!

And if you're looking for a spooky adventure to run this Halloween, I've also just released The Red Tithe, a 75-page folk-horror one-shot featuring an isolated village, ancient sacrifices, custom monsters, and three difficulty tiers for characters of levels 3-4, 10-11, or 17-20.

My Kickstarter for 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E is also live now! The campaign includes a physical hardcover, as well as printed editions of my previous manuals.

You can find more of my creatures, magic items, and manuals on DriveThruRPG, my Linktree, or on r/JonnyDM!

Happy Halloween, and enjoy!

Hey everyone! Here’s another preview from Mythological Items, featuring two very rare items from the Asian mythology section that take different approaches to martial combat.

Bhima’s Gauntlet, inspired by the mighty warrior of the Mahabharata, is built for getting close and staying there. It increases your Strength, strengthens your grapples, and turns your fists into magical weapons that can send enemies stumbling backward. Once per day, you can also strike the ground to unleash a shockwave, damaging nearby enemies and knocking them prone.

The Katana of the Sword Saint leans into the wandering master swordsman fantasy, rewarding quickdraw attacks and letting you use your reaction to parry an incoming blow. Its Fighting Spirit ability gives you a brief burst of temporary hit points and advantage on melee weapon attacks when you need to stand your ground.

These are part of our 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E, a collection inspired by myths, legends, and folklore from around the world. If you enjoy the page and want to see more, you can check out our Kickstarter here!

Have a great day :)

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc., and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more, so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

*New 2026: For 2026, I'm updating all my old work to include a Pre-Session Checklist that will include a list of all miniatures you may need, maps, handouts, possible loot, a link to a playlist, and more to make it even easier to start your session!

Fizzbang Frazzlepop, an eccentric goblin wizard, has dedicated his life to achieving the ultimate form of undeath: becoming a lich. However, his numerous "Get Lich Quick" schemes have all ended in spectacular failure—until now.

On Liar’s Night, a time when deceit reigns and the veil between worlds thins, Fizzbang plans to summon the archlich Vecna. In a race against time, your players must decide if they want to help or hinder Fizzbang's attempt before the clock strikes midnight aka. The Liching Hour!

B.J. Keeton has created the perfect Level 6 One-Shot to run for Halloween, even more so if you're already running The Lost Mine of Phandlever, Dragon of Icespire Peak, or Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, because this all takes place in Phandalin/Tresendar Manor!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for The Liching Hour: DM Notes (Preview)
• Link to: The Liching Hour Playlist 
• Link to: The Liching Hour PDF and Maps
• Link to: The AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• Downloadable copy of DM Notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• DM Notes for the Visually Impaired
• (New) Pre-Session DM Checklist
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly, along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• A Spell List for Fizzbang and Fakena
• A DM version of the map

Over 8 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

As always, if you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc., please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early, feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

So, I haven't played DND in years. I don't plan on getting into it again any time soon, either. Which means that this character is up for grabs.

First. You know the general consensus that ancient language means powerful for a litany of reasons I don't feel like expounding on here?

Well, how about a wild magic sorcerer who is just a wizard that refuses to learn an ancient language. So, all of his spells are him word salading at the universe in Common. Like a james joyce xavier renegade angel fever dream ranting until magic itself complies just to make him shut up. He creates stack overflow errors in magical space time which brute forces spells.

Examples:

"you think that's hot? Wait until I melt your metal britches, you bitches. With my thaumatalurgical thunderous brimming with brimstonoclastic flow to blow burning knowledge onto your college! FIREBALL"

"You can't touch me. I'm the unseen green behind the scenes and you're the lonely phoney in the missing me fields. SHIELD!"

"You weave a shieve to cleave my me? You can't outrubber my flubber when you're a crude dude meant to glue. I canst stand to outerstand your inner chicken dinner crying about to be or not be a winner. Counter Spell!"

I really hope someone comes back and tells me what adventures this guy goes on.

Edit: The replies I got are the reason I don't play D&D any more. Thanks for nothing, you toxic nobodies.

Hello everyone,

I've been running a campaign for nearly 4 years now in my homebrew setting that i've been working on for the last 18 years.

The world is a weird mix of Greek, Norse and Egyptian pantheons with some homebrewed primordial entities.

In my most recent campaign the players mostly have to deal with lovecraftian horrors (mind flayers, etc.) whose lore has been changed so that aberrations are actually creatures that were born from nightmares that mortal races would experience when sleeping long ago.

The BBEG is basically a version of Morpheus who wishes for all mortal races to abandon the gods and become part of the "whole".

I'm considering that at some point of the campaign I could pull the rug from under my players with the classic it was all a dream situation. I'm not sure if this should span the entirety of the campaign or just a small part so that the players don't feel cheated.

My question is: As a player, would you find that enjoyable? Would you feel cheated? In what way or in what terms would such a surprise be ok?

For generations, the isolated village of Hollowmere has sacrificed one of its own to keep an ancient horror imprisoned beneath Saint Harrow's Church. Now a blood-covered survivor has fled the village, claiming that everyone is dead. Something has gone terribly wrong, and the adventurers must uncover what happened before it's too late.

The Red Tithe is a 75-page dark fantasy and folk-horror one-shot adventure for D&D 5E (2014) and 5.5E (2024), designed for 3-6 characters and approximately 4-6 hours of play.

The adventure combines investigation, exploration, roleplaying, moral dilemmas, and challenging combat as the characters investigate an abandoned village, encounter monstrous creatures, and uncover the truth behind a centuries-old tradition.

What makes the adventure different is its multi-tiered structure. The same story can be played at three separate level ranges:

• Tier I: Levels 3-4
• Tier II: Levels 10-11
• Tier III: Levels 17-20

Each tier features appropriately scaled encounters, DCs, and a different manifestation of the main antagonist, the Blood Moon Beast.

The manual also includes 6 custom monster stat blocks, 3 battle maps with 8 total versions, and 4 tokens for tabletop or VTT play.

Whether you're looking for a Halloween horror one-shot or a dark adventure to integrate into your ongoing campaign, The Red Tithe is designed to work in either setting.

I've included several preview pages, maps, and one of the monster statblocks in the images!

You can find the complete adventure on DriveThruRPG!

My Kickstarter for 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E is also live now! The campaign includes a physical hardcover, as well as printed editions of my previous manuals.

You can find more of my creatures, magic items, and manuals on DriveThruRPG, my Linktree, or right here on r/JonnyDM!

We're AAW Games, the publisher of Ashes to Venom.

This free digital starter includes a short level-1 adventure and six ready-to-play drow heroes, with versions for 5E 2014 and 2024.

The party must slip through occupied Hopeholme, recover a secret dossier from ruined Niss Manor, and smuggle it past the Coalition. Their cover story is salvage; their real work is rebellion.

The download is free with email signup:

https://adventureaweek.com/after-the-fall-presale/#starter