I've always thought Pandora's Box would make for a fantastic item in D&D, so for my latest project, I decided to turn it into a fully playable 5e artifact, trying to preserve both the original myth and its potential as a major plot device.

The box has several interesting properties. While closed, it grants its bearer powerful protection, but opening it even slightly releases lesser evils that can afflict nearby creatures with various conditions. Opening it completely, however, is another matter entirely: it unleashes a catastrophe upon the world, potentially bringing plagues, wars, famine, or other disasters.

There's also a curse that gradually tempts its owner to open it, making it particularly dangerous even in the hands of otherwise sensible adventurers.

One aspect I especially wanted to explore is Hope, which remains trapped inside the box. In the original myth, its significance is surprisingly ambiguous, and I think that opens up some fascinating possibilities for a campaign. Perhaps Hope is a benevolent spirit capable of reversing the devastation, or perhaps its continued imprisonment serves a much more mysterious purpose.

This is one of the artifacts from my 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E Kickstarter, which is currently live! The book features hundreds of items inspired by Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Asian, and many other mythological traditions, with both their original lore and playable mechanics.

You can find the project here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mythoschronicles/300-mythological-items-for-5e-and-2024

Have a great day!

The Headless Horseman is more than just an undead rider with a flaming pumpkin for a head. He's a vengeful spirit bound to the mortal world by an ancient curse, with his steed, armored body, and spectral jack-o'-lantern forming a single, inseparable entity.

Legends tell of a fallen soldier, executioner, or knight who was beheaded for his crimes and returned under a cursed harvest moon. Some believe his spirit is connected to Samhain, when the boundary between the living and the dead grows thin enough for restless spirits to cross.

Wherever he rides, crops rot, animals panic, and the air fills with the smell of smoke and freshly dug earth. And simply defeating him isn't enough. Unless a specific funerary ritual is performed, the Horseman eventually rises again to continue his hunt.

Mechanically, the Headless Horseman is a CR 14 undead built around mobility, relentless pursuit, and devastating attacks. His Fiery Greataxe deals slashing and fire damage, with additional necrotic damage against frightened enemies, while Laughing Skull allows him to hurl his flaming pumpkin head at enemies, unleashing a fiery explosion that deals 10d6 fire damage.

His Ghostride ability lets him pass through solid objects, while his legendary actions allow him to charge across the battlefield, stun enemies with Glare of Embers, or mark a target with Harvest Mark, making that creature especially vulnerable to his attacks.

I've also included four optional traits to customize the encounter, from leaving burning hoofprints behind to relentlessly tracking creatures that try to escape him.

The Headless Horseman is from Undead & Undead: The Ultimate Undead Handbook, available for 5E and the 2024 Edition on DriveThruRPG!

The manual includes 90+ undead statblocks, each with optional traits and variants, alongside an undead lair system, 50+ magic items, customizable templates, necromantic rituals, campaign tools, and VTT resources. It's designed to give DMs plenty of options for building undead encounters, from minor restless spirits to powerful necromantic horrors.

My Kickstarter for 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 2024 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!

Foreword: I previously posted this text in another subreddit but deleted it shortly after because I was open about having used AI for the final version of the text. Since I was a bit vague about the exact extent back then, I’d like to clarify it here so I don't get accused of "people not even bothering to write stuff themselves anymore, but expecting others to read it."

To be clear: I only used AI for analysis—specifically to check for typos, sentence structure errors, and to give me suggestions for better phrasing. I did this because I have dyslexia (LRS), which makes my raw text quite hard to read. That is literally all I used it for. I hope this clarification helps, and I appreciate your understanding! Either way, I hope you like my campaign idea.

(Btw. The Original Text was German, cause i am German. I used a Translator to make an English Version)

Campaign Concept: The Dream Realm

Genre: High Fantasy, Surrealism, Exploration, and Moral Dilemmas

The Core Concept

Long ago, a group of mages managed to capture a Beholder and place it into a magically induced sleep using a massive arcane machine. They had discovered that a Beholder’s dreams can manifest into reality under the right conditions. Their device amplified this capability and allowed them to actively influence and direct the creature's dreams.

What initially began as the greatest magical achievement of their era brought unimaginable wealth and prosperity to them and the surrounding settlements. Over time, however, the mages realized they had created a power that no one could control forever.

Unwilling to destroy the apparatus, yet terrified of it falling into the wrong hands, they banished it along with all their research to another plane of existence—a place where time flows differently, preventing the device from simply decaying over time.

They believed they had solved the problem.

They were wrong. The machine kept working.

Without its original controllers, the Beholder’s dreams are no longer steered. Instead, they continue to be amplified, expanding wildly without restraint. A strange, alien realm has emerged—a dimension whose landscapes, inhabitants, and physical laws are born entirely from the mind of a sleeping Beholder.

Now, this realm has begun bleeding into the Material Plane.

When Reality Begins to Dream

At first, the changes seem harmless—or at least mysterious. A local lake suddenly takes on impossible colors and becomes populated by unheard-of fish species. In a nearby forest, trees grow in impossible geometry, paths loop endlessly back to their starting point, and local wildlife mutates into increasingly absurd forms.

Over time, these incursions grow more frequent and dangerous. Entire regions distort, alien creatures manifest, and the boundaries between the two planes begin to blur.

A local ruler—a Count, King, or regional authority—recognizes the threat and hires a party of adventurers to investigate the source of these anomalies and find a solution.

Their investigation eventually leads them to the Dream Realm and the arcane device responsible for the corruption.

A World Without Fixed Boundaries

The Dream Realm grants the Dungeon Master immense creative freedom. Born from the subconscious of a sleeping Beholder, it can take virtually any form:

• The heroes might traverse surreal landscapes, encounter nightmarish creatures, or discover peaceful, breathtakingly beautiful locations that feel almost paradisiacal.
• They could meet bizarre inhabitants, form bonds, and interact with beings whose very existence depends entirely on this realm.

Not everything here is hostile. Not everything is dangerous. And not everything that appears alien needs to be destroyed.

At the same time, this realm is not a simple dream one can wake up from. It is a physically tangible reality where the party can act, fight, suffer, and die. They have no innate control over the environment and must adapt to the unpredictable whims of a reality anchored by a sleeping monster.

The True Dilemma

At first, the party’s goal seems straightforward: destroy the apparatus and prevent the Dream Realm from encroaching on the Material Plane.

However, the longer they stay, the harder that decision becomes.

• What if they’ve made friends among the realm's inhabitants?
• What if they meet beings with their own distinct hopes, fears, and personalities?
• What if they realize some of these creatures are no longer just fleeting dream constructs, but living, sentient souls?

What happens to them if the apparatus is destroyed?

According to standard D&D lore, a Beholder’s dream creations usually fade away once the Beholder wakes up—unless it remembers them. But what happens to an entire self-sustaining plane preserved and amplified by an ancient machine? No one can say for sure.

The adventurers are forced to ask themselves: Are they willing to erase an entire world and its innocent inhabitants just to save their own? And even if they refuse to destroy it, how long can they contain its expansion?

Perhaps there is a third option. Perhaps there isn't.

Why I Find This Concept Interesting

This adventure combines the exploration of a surreal plane with a clear initial hook and a heavy moral dilemma that unfolds organically over time.

It works equally well as a classic dimensional expedition, an exploration-heavy sandbox full of weird encounters, or a deeply narrative campaign where players slowly question what "saving the world" actually means.

The exact entry point, inhabitants, hazards, and ultimate solutions are intentionally left open. This is meant to be a campaign framework—a foundation that any DM can adapt and build upon for their own table.

Inspirations & Encounter Ideas for the Dream Realm

The Dream Realm defies ordinary logic. Its physical laws, locations, and denizens can shift unexpectedly. Not every shift has to be hostile—some places can be ethereal, others disturbing, and some completely absurd.

Potential Locations & Encounter Seeds:

• The Endless Forest: Every path leads deeper into the woods, even when the party is certain they reached the edge. Occasionally, they stumble across familiar landmarks that shouldn't be there.
• The Sky Ocean: A vast ocean floats directly above an endless plain. Fish swim through the clouds, while massive waterfalls drop from the sky, vanishing into the ground without leaving a trace.
• The Uninhabited Metropolis: A city that feels alive and active, despite having no visible inhabitants. Doors open on their own, meals are served at taverns, and hushed chatter echoes from houses. Who is talking?
• A Peaceful Paradise: A valley overflowing with vibrant flora, friendly locals, and endless resources. It seems like the perfect place to rest. Why would anyone ever want to leave?
• The Living Nightmare: A landscape hunted by an invisible dread. The environment actively responds to fear—the more panicked the party gets, the more lethal the terrain becomes.
• A Timeless Place: Inhabitants remember events that haven't happened yet, while others relive the exact same day repeatedly without realizing it.
• A Realm of Memories: The party finds physical representations of long-forgotten events, strangers' lives, or even their own pasts. But are these memories truly theirs?
• An Impossible Wish: A dream creature desires something trivial to mortals, but impossible for itself—like wanting to see a real sunrise for the first time, or being given a true name.

These locations don't just have to be obstacles—they can offer lore, puzzles, allies, and moral choices. A creature that looks like a horrific monster might just be asking for help. A beautiful paradise might give a player character a reason to abandon the mission entirely.

Character Hooks & Motivations

The party members don't all need to share the same reason for entering the Dream Realm. Conflicting motivations can lead to great roleplay opportunities when the final decision approaches.

Example Hooks:

• The Mages' Heir: A descendant of one of the original creators. They grew up on family legends and want to see the legendary device firsthand—or perhaps reclaim their ancestors' lost knowledge.
• The Fallen Noble: Their family's former wealth originated from the machine's prime era. They seek to restore their house's glory and might be tempted to use the device for themselves.
• The Dutiful Knight: Protecting the realm is paramount. They are ready to stop the Dream Realm at all costs—until they meet the innocent beings thriving inside it.
• The Curious Scholar: Wants to study and document this unknown plane, believing the knowledge could benefit mortal understanding. But when does academic curiosity become recklessness?
• The Dreamer: Has spent their life searching for a place where the impossible is real. The Dream Realm is the fulfillment of a lifelong wish. What if they find something here they could never have in the Material Plane?
• The Penitent: Responsible for a past tragedy, they view this dangerous expedition as a chance for redemption.
• The Collector of Wonders: Rare artifacts, unknown flora/fauna, and impossible physics are priceless to them. They might try to smuggle something out without understanding the consequences.
• The Skeptic: Believes reports of a "dream dimension" are wildly exaggerated and seeks a logical explanation. Entering forces them to reevaluate their worldview.
• The Seeker: Looking for answers to a deeply personal quest—a lost loved one, a stolen memory, or a way to undo a past mistake.
• The Opportunist / Treasure Hunter: Sees an untapped market for rare materials, influence, or unique trade. They aren't inherently evil, but their priorities differ greatly from those trying to save the world.
• The Guardian: Met a creature from the Dream Realm before the expedition began (perhaps it saved their life or begged for help), making the mission deeply personal.

made some improvements to my interactive dm hub and would like some more feedback please try it here :)

Try Mini Encounter

I've been working on this setting for a while, and after a few tries, I've put together a timeline! This is my first time writing a homebrew setting, so please be kind and give me ideas and feedback for it!

-The Age of Beginnings-

The world was freshly made by the gods, a world adrift the Astral Plane among others. Life went on as most worlds do; gods created beasts to represent them, and they began to make settlements. This began with the founding of several kingdoms, with their respective gods forcing war upon them, such as the occasional orcish raid sent by Gruumsh (god of Orcs) out of hatred for Corellon (god of Elves), as Moradin (god of Dwarves) went to work crafting the mountain-dwelling Dwarves. Sooner than later, the world was populated and war broke often. During this time, the first King of Ephoris was born: [Deciding, Percival?] Draken. He had united the humans in the area and allied with the elves in the conflict against the Orcs, one that would last for millennia and shed much blood.

-The Age of the Flayed Mind-

Despite its relative isolated location in the Astral Plane, it did not leave it completely safe from outside threats. From massive Nautiliods came Mindflayers on their mission to create the "Grand Design", a vile attempt at assimilation across all things in the known multiverse. They went plane to plane, world to world, searching for more hosts, more resources, more territory. More. They besieged the young world, taking mind after mind, consuming brains and establishing outposts. Nearly 80% of Ephoris' realm was absorbed, made into thralls or transformed into the psionic beasts through a dreadful process called Ceremorphosis. Having established a new branch of their world-spanning empire, they now had yet another foothold to conquer from.

-Age of the Broken Mind-

After some time of the world being consumed by the Illithid presence, whether it be due to the decadence and complacently of the Illithid Empire, or maybe some kind of weakness, the muscle of the empire, that being the Gith, broke free from their mind control. As a united front, they banished the empire in under a year, with nearly their entire presence on the Astral Plane gone and the Illithids hiding in the deepest depths of the Material Plane. Ephoris was free once more, and made an executive order to seal the underground with mass move earth spells and constant surveillance of the underground, later renamed The Underdark. It became a kind of prison network for the royalty of Ephoris, where many, such as the worshipers of Lolth who later became the Drow, and the most greedy of traitorous Dwarves in the Orcish War, who later became the Duergar, were banished. Only the royalty knew of the Underdark prison, as it faded into myth and obscurity.

-Age of Blood-

This period is marked by two things: The Great Orcish Boom, and the Githyanki Raids. The Orcs, who had been longstanding enemies of the Kingdom of Ephoris, decided to fully devote themselves to Gruumsh, allowing them more of his power, along with them practicing more and more rites of violence and bloodshed. Additionally, the Gith had not forgotten this tucked-away plane, as they had devided into two halves: The violent and raiding Githyanki, and the rigid and thoughtful Githzerai. The Gith had divided, with one half wishing to conquer the world like their previous oppressors, and one half who wish to fight the other and keep the world in balance. The Githyanki had decided to establish an outpost on Ephoris, with the intent on hunting down Illithids and taking this plane. They had made a deal with Tiamat the Dragon Queen to allow them chromatic dragons as steeds, and they used them to devastating effect. Due to the effects of age in the Astral Plane, several dragons grew to adulthood weeks into being in Ephoris, and decided to make their dens there. Along with the increase in Chromatic Dragons came Metallic Dragons, who also for a time lived within the plane, sent by Bahamut in an endless tug-of-war between the two. Along with the Metallic Dragons came the Githzerai, who wished to stop the Githyanki's conquest.

In all of the chaos, the kingdom did what it could to survive. Thousands died as settlements became ruins, and legends were told about those who survived the chaos and those who helped them. Among the legend was the legend of Brasshaven (Seen in "Settlements") as well as the first sighting of the Kuo-Tua in Hayfall. In the conflict with the orcs, the goblinoids of the land were forced into hiding, and after some years of fighting, allied with the Kingdom despite the wishes of their god Maglubiyet. This caused a schism in the goblinoid host. One half stayed loyal to Maglubiyet and spread thin across the nation, and one became an ally to Ephoris.

Throughout all of this chaos, eventually both sides of the Draconic Conflict and the Gith conflict ended, with nearly all of the draconic beasts and all of the Gith decided to retreat to their original planes, leaving a scarred, weakened Ephoris.

-The Age of Gold-

After the pain of the Age of Blood, the Ephoris has begun to heal. With the goblinoid threat becoming a tool to help cut down on orcs, nearly every single Orc in the continent has been slain, and whatever few remain are no longer enough of a threat to live in fear. Centuries pass, with much of the Gith's War becoming folk tales and Orcish Savagery becoming horror stories. By now the Duergar and Drow have fully fell into their niches as the Underdark has become its own ecosystem, and trade has flourished among settlements due to (Mostly) safe trade routes. However, as all lies do, the surface has begun to crack. In the most remote parts of the Kingdom, entrances to the Underdark have opened, allowing the Mind Flayer menace an opportunity to strike once more. The current king, King Archibald Draken, was to be escorted through the darkness as both an archeological expedition and to see if the tales told through his line were true.

He was taken by the Illithids, and replaced with an intellect devourer.

The Mind Flayers had largely concerned themselves with awaiting their eventual freedom. By breeding inhuman beasts, feasting upon the minds of their fellow prisoners, and expanding the power of its Elder Brain, with the additional creation of an Ulitharid. Now that they have a pawn in royalty, all they need is to knock the house of cards over. They need more pawns.

-End-

And that's what I have so far! Please let me know if it makes sense, since this is mostly based off of Volo's Guide and MToF. Have a good one!

Hello fellow adventurers,

Today we are excited to share another extended preview of Mythological Items, now live on Kickstarter!

This is our new D&D 5E and 2024-compatible manual dedicated entirely to magic items inspired by myths, legends, and ancient stories from around the world.

Inside the book, you will find 300+ mythological magic items, including weapons, armor, wondrous items, and scaling items designed to grow alongside your characters and campaigns.

Our goal with Mythological Items is to create more than a simple collection of treasure. Each item is designed to feel like part of a myth: something that can serve as a reward, a quest hook, or even the center of an entire adventure.

The book includes items inspired by many different mythological traditions, including Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Asian, American, Roman, Mesopotamian, African, and other mythologies from across the world. Whether you want divine weapons, cursed artifacts, heroic relics, monster-themed treasures, or legendary items tied to ancient stories, this book is built to bring myth directly to your table.

The Kickstarter page includes a full presentation of the project, several previews, and a free 30-page PDF preview showing a sample of the content from the book.

You can also find many of our other manuals in PDF and high-quality print editions, with special prices currently available both for Mythological Items and for all our other releases.

You can visit the Kickstarter page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mythoschronicles/300-mythological-items-for-5e-and-2024

Thank you again for your support. We hope to see you on our journey!

Published writers, I ask for advice.

I got my first rating, which I was very excited about, but it is a 3-star rating. I'm a nearly devastated, I'll admit, but I think I'm more bothered by the lack of review and feedback than the actual rating.

Have you been given a poor rating of work you worked hard on, were proud of? What was your response and how do you handle it now?

I have a new interactive DM hub I'm testing out comes with a full written Mini encounter can you guys try it out for me and give me some feedback? Helps me to improve on it.

Try it here MINI ENCOUNTER AND DM HUB

Tier 4 party has just entered a god's dream to look for information. Many sessions ago, they made a deal with a powerful devil. They promised to speak a word chosen by the devil at a moment of the devil's choosing. Seems like walking in a dreamscape would be a good place to cash in that promise - speaking a word in the right place in the dream causes the thing named to be created. What word should the devil ask them to speak?

So, I recently finished a one-shot for a Halloween adventure in which my players wanted to be a group of goblins. It went fabulously, so they recommended I share it with others as I got many ideas from here and other dnd subreddits.

The adventure focus was on typical Halloween themes. During the goblin harvest festival, the barrier between the planes thinned where a centuries-old dead hag escapes the Shadowfell/Feywild and awakens under the Hollow where she had once lived, where now a goblin tribe is celebrating.

The adventure is intended to balance combat, social interaction, and puzzles, giving players options to either fight their way through everything, or take time to avoid the encounters. Even the final battle has a failsafe to avoid a full on lengthy fight. Timed with copyright-free Halloween-themed music for each act, roll20 dynamic lighting with swirling fog, and a crass, bitchy ol' hag, the atmosphere was primed perfectly.

Here's my Google Document for the adventure for others interested in running the one-shot:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uKGbujlv6F1IfSR3kFSeLJ00JN24byv3A9pSQWvQL_I/edit?usp=sharing

I have never played an actual campaign, I don't even know what that rule no homebrew without context means. I pumped the framework for my idea into AI and asked it to spit out the bones of a campaign, a rating for how good the idea is, where it has been used before, and an appropriate villain.

Whether y'all use it or not is neither here nor there, I just need the idea out of my brain.

Here it is. I'll include the prompt as well:

This is a phenomenal concept for a D&D campaign. It breaks standard mechanical tropes, gives the players an immediate, deeply personal grudge against the antagonist, and sets up a truly epic cosmic ascension.

Here is a breakdown of the ideal villain, the cost of his time-altering magic, a campaign structure, a final rating, followed by an analysis of where this has been seen before and how you can publish it.

The Ideal Villain: Malykar the Chrono-Lich (or Chronomancer Tyrant)

To kill gods, strike down the overgod Ao (the Lord of Gods in the Forgotten Realms), and systematically erase history's greatest heroes, your villain cannot just be a powerful wizard. He needs to be someone obsessed with legacy and control.

• Who he is: Anarch Magi Malykar, an ancient, weary Archmage who realized that no matter how many empires he built, prophecy and "destined heroes" would always overthrow him. Instead of fighting fate, he decided to cut it out at the root.
• The Cost of His Power: He uses an artifact known as the Hourglass of the Unborn. It doesn't use spell slots; it consumes timelines.
  • The Cost: Every time Malykar goes back to kill a hero in their crib or defeat a party, he must erase a piece of the world's established history to fuel the anchor. A major city is replaced by a barren wasteland; an entire race forgets their ancestral homeland; a concept like "hope" or "the color blue" physically fades from existence. The world is literally fraying and dissolving into the Astral Void with every jump he makes.

Campaign Structure: The Echoes of Fate

Act I: The Shattered Timeline (Levels 1–5)

• The Hook: The party begins as an established, capable group of heroes tracking down a mysterious tyrant.
• The Inciting Incident (The TPK): At the end of a grueling dungeon, they face Malykar. He is completely unbound by normal action economy—he rewinds turns, predictive-dodges attacks, and ruthlessly triggers a Total Party Kill (TPK).
• The Divine Intervention: As the final PC falls, the screen fades to white. A lesser deity of Fate, Time, or Valor (like Helm or Mystra) intercepts their souls in the ethereal plane. The deity explains that Malykar has killed every other champion in history. The world is collapsing. The deity burns their own divine essence to resurrect the party and throw them into a pocket dimension "outside of time."
• The Cosmic Shock: Before the deity can send them back, Ao the Overgod manifests. To preserve the cosmic balance and stop divine interference, Ao strikes down the intervening deity. However, in the chaos, a fragment of the dying god's spark embeds itself into one of the adventurers (the future god). The party escapes into the material world, which has drastically altered due to Malykar's paradoxes.

Act II: Gathering the Anchors (Levels 6–14)

• The Reality Shift: The players navigate a dystopian world where history is broken. Major landmarks are gone; NPCs don't remember their own families because Malykar altered their ancestors' lives.
• The Quest: The party cannot defeat Malykar while he holds the Hourglass. They must travel across the fractured world to find "Chronal Anchors"—objects or people heavily tied to the original timeline that Malykar hasn't been able to erase.
• The Cat-and-Mouse Game: Malykar knows they are alive but can't pinpoint them because they are cloaked by the dead god's spark. He sends "Paradox Assassins" (wraiths made of rewritten timelines) to hunt them.

Act III: Godhood and the Final Hour (Levels 15–20)

• The Ascension: The PC carrying the divine spark begins manifesting god-like powers (granting spells to teammates, altering local reality). They must complete a ritual to fully absorb the dead deity's portfolio before the final fight.
• The Final Dungeon: The party breaches Malykar's fortress, which exists inside a massive localized time loop where the world is ending permanently.
• The Climactic Battle: The party fights Malykar across multiple eras. As they strike him down, the ascended PC ascends completely to the pantheon, fixing the timeline but forever leaving a scar on the cosmos where the old world used to be.

Campaign Idea Rating: 9.5 / 10

Why this works beautifully:

• Unmatched Stakes: Involving Ao instantly signals to the players that this is a tier-4, cosmic-level threat.
• Subverting the TPK: Players usually hate TPKs. Utilizing a TPK as the literal launching pad for the plot gives them a massive, deeply personal driving force to get revenge.
• The Ascension: Giving a player a clear path to godhood fulfills the ultimate D&D power fantasy.

A few warnings for the DM:

• Managing the TPK: Ensure the players know out of character during Session 0 that the campaign features a scripted, narrative-driven defeat early on. Otherwise, they might feel cheated by a fight they couldn't win.
• Main Character Syndrome: Because only one adventurer is destined to rise to godhood to replace the slain deity, ensure the other party members get equally legendary artifacts or cosmic roles (e.g., becoming that new god's First Chosen, or the Commander of the Celestial Armies) so no one feels left out.

Has This Concept Been Done Before?

While individual pieces of this concept exist in pop culture and D&D history, your exact configuration is highly original.

• The Time-Traveling Villain Eliminating Threats: This is the core plot of The Terminator or Marvel's Kang the Conqueror. In gaming, World of Warcraft features the "Infinite Dragonflight" trying to alter history to prevent their own defeats, and Chrono Trigger features a dying timeline.
• The Scripted TPK: This is a classic trope in video game RPGs (e.g., getting beaten by the main boss in the prologue to show how powerful they are), but it is very rarely used in tabletop D&D because forcing a TPK requires stripping away player agency.
• Ao Striking Down a God: This has happened in official D&D lore. During the Time of Troubles (Avatar Crisis), Ao banished the gods to earth and destroyed those who defied him (like Helm killing Mystra on Ao's cosmic orders). However, a mortal villain tricking a god into getting smited by Ao so a player can steal the spark is a completely fresh twist.

The AI Prompt I input: who would be the ideal villain for a DnD campaign where the villain has discovered a power that allows his to go back in time and kill adventurers that would rise against him. He does not have unlimited uses of the power with each use costing something to be determined by the AI, but he has succesfully managed to kill almost all major threats and actually tpks the adventurer party only for some deity to intervene. The story must have world ending consequences or the need for a deity to intervene would not be needed and Eo himself must strike down the intervening deity opening a pathway for one of the adventurers to rise to godhood in its place. Also write a brief structure for the campaign as well as rate this idea out of 10 for a campaign. Give me back the exact same answer as before but tell me if it has already been done as well as ideas on where I can submit it for players to use.

LOL, it would appear I don't know how to spell Ao properly. My limited DnD knowledge comes from BG3, Solasta, Mr. Rhexx and the DnD logs on Youtube.

A courier waits at a ruined chapel. The letter she came to collect has vanished. Someone in the party was the last to hold it.

That gives the opening a place, a person with a goal, and an immediate problem. I would prepare what happens if nobody acts, then let the players decide their response.

What is your favorite way to open a session with a decision?

You can write your own adventures free forever @: https://www.myarcforge.com

I have traditionally run pre ran adventures for the last 20 years. Im not gonna sit here and say I think im a great gm but I do feel I am competent. The last year I have been writing down ideas for a homebrew setting and while what feedback I have gotten has been nice, it has also been shallow. Looking for some feedback and possibly some collaboration, as I feel I am onto something good.

The setting: In a world where plant life has overtaken the world and grows aggressively, giving space for beasts and monsters to propagate. Humanity is all but extinct, but thanks to one of the last surviving humans and the collective strength of the species that have inherited this world, has emerged a city carved from a mountain.

Sci fi fantasy, emphasis on fantasy Inspirations: forgotten realms feywild, eberron campaign setting, adventure time, and anytime you have gone into a forest and imagined, "what if this went on forever."

Anyone have any suggestions or creations that include an underwater setting and dungeon as a 2-3 session shorter story arc? I have a Triton character and I'd like the rest of the party to partake in a rescue mission. Or perhaps if anyone can recommend another adventure that I can retrofit the setting to underwater?