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I have started a campaign with, "And goblins attack the town!" more times than I'd like to admit. Works every time.

That's why I like the, "Traveling by Caravan" trope to start with. You can literally have ANYTHING happen and all everyone has to do is describe themselves first.

started my party off by having a collective nightmare where they were nearly killed by their future selves and needed to solve puzzles to escape and wake up

I started my campaign with all my players being robin hood-style pirates and raiding an Imperial airship. Threw them right into combat, everyone did a superhero landing and went to town on some Imperial bad guys. It was great and everyone loved it

"You meet in a clinic. After a smooth delivery of blood to treat the local plage, you are asked to hunt the beasts all over the shops outside." "Be careful!" An NPC says. "If infected... you'll be one of them. Sooner or later."

I know this video is relatively old by now, but for the discussion on using less treasure, I recommend using the "Grain into gold" conversion. I actually made a google doc, converting the equipment section of the PHB to use numbers based on this supplement. It should be said that it is not actually strictly a D&D supplement, rather it is just a logical take on rpg economies, with the first chapter starting off by assigning a copper value to grain and then working out how much bread would logically cost, then basing the value of everything else off of that. This results in a silver economy, rather than a gold one.

I put the players on the opposite side of a war. Then asked them why they are friends now, when they were strangers before the war began. They created a reason for their players to know and trust each other even when they are mortally at odds with each other. *Why should I do all the heavy lifting?*

I did the skyrim you're finally awake trope😭😂

I had all the pcs wash ashore on an uninhabited island because the boat they all happened to be on was ruined. in this case monster attack destroyed lots and ate people. they lost most of their starting gear and got lots of new stuff from wreckage washing up.

So, basically, a date.

I was thinking maybe you're in a live gameshow where you have to do tricks to impress the audience (using your good skills, showing PCs strengths) and fighting deadly enemies to show fighting prowess and style. If you fail, you get zapped to near-death or death based on a coin flip.

I deepened the meeting in the tavern a little. they ALREADY know each other because they have been in the tavern for more than one day, waiting for a customer or whatever. And they tell what their new acquaintances have learned about them during this time

Lack of travelling rules is not first on a list of why 5e doesn't work for Middle Earth. 5e doesn't work for most things, it only works ok for one thing and that is super hero bland fantasy melting pot. Many other systems do that better though. Don't try to fix 5e, start from a better system. There are already official rules out for this sort of thing and they're not great. The best TTRPG for this is Middle-Earth Role Playing (MERP). Use that.

My dm made one of my favorite openings where we just slayed a gang of goblins, stole their loot, and celebrated at a nearby tavern only to wake up the next morning with a heavy hangover only to find out that all the loot we had was gone, our memories of each other and what happened last night are gone (so we have to reintroduce ourselves), and the leader of our party is missing. And yes, our dm stole that idea from The Hangover lol

My first campaign i started them boarding a ship the rogue was returning to her home town after a job so she knew she was gonna get paid soon. The fighter and barb were hired body guard for a wizard and his apprentice which was the pc, the bard was going to join a bards college and a druid was on a pilgrimage and needed to cross the sea to continue. Yeah my first group was six player characters

Isn't this what happens in The Lord of the Rings Role-playing 5E conversion of the The One Ring RPG? It was specifically made for travel.

i love meeting in a tarven, classic, but yeah he's right on the fact there has to be a reason to suddenly become life partners with complete strangers

I had one where the party awoke in a corpse pile

🥳🫂👍🏿

I once had all my party living in the same village, then a litteraly immortal enemy shows up and destroys the village. So they fought it together and lost (because immortal), and they all wake up in the same hospital room. They were bound instantly by they desire for vengeance

Hey i wanted to try to play a bloodborne dnd campaign. I wonder, do you know how i could do online and if theres any maps for DND based in bloodborne?

Very late to the video, but worth pointing out, the 6-8 encounters between long rests includes skill challenges not just combat. So anything where you can expend resources to complete a task. It covers this in the section talking about how many encounters a party should have, but people seem to over look this so I assume most people know this rule by word of mouth rather than first hand reading.

Why limiting to treasure? Every other aspect, exploration, combat, interactions, etc. Should be made more interesting and cool.

Not DnD, but a different ttrpg called Kids on Bikes. Our DM started us off in a variant of this--we met at the grand opening of an arcade. But, to bring us together, we one by one began to disappear and reappear in this viscera-filled void...and that's why we ended up becoming a party, for survival. I though it was a cool twist on a typical meeting.

As a dm i use the funeral introduction and it was great

Bro what is that gay ass art

I had described my characters daily lives plagued by nightmares and reams about a set of ruins they seemed drawn to. On the same night they found themselves all there, drawn by a mystical force and then were attacked by wolves. They felt a mutual ‘what the heck am u doing here’ and went to consult an oracle together. Honestly without an NPC that traveled with them the party wouldn’t have been held together for so long. It was a bounty hunter barbarian, a noble wizard (who promptly changed her character), and a literal child rouge. It worked out in the end but having a common lack of information helped them work together.

I love that ending "I'm gonna steal them" haha a dnd system that my table tried out was "Nimble" it changes some core mechanics of dnd but in a good way. If you want a faster and more engaging session, give that system a shot.

You just gave me a place to start my book

One word, roleplay. But gamers never want to buy a cool new house. Never want to go out and eat fine foods. No reason to get cool clothing. Like in the real world. No chance to go on great vacations. Nothing to buy like games and stereos. And that's sad.

Insert the critical gold horizon (I think that was what it was called) once someone has amassed too much gold a dragon will decend upon them to take it for their hoard. And this isn’t just a problem for the players, have cities be very carefull about how much gold is within its walls 😂

I know it's not exactly the same, but my first dnd experience was online, and VTTs can make life for both DM and player easier once you've gone past the initial learning curve of the VTT. (eg. Foundry, Roll20, ...) And nobody says you can't use a VTT to keep track of some stuff and do other stuff more traditionally (e.g. the map, character sheets, dice rolling, ...). This won't be for everyone of course. For turn order specifically, nowadays there are plenty free online and mobile combat trackers if you feel like a VTT isn't for you, but still want to loosen the cognitive stress of having to track the order. That being said... for in-person DnD I certainly see the advantage of seeing your turn coming up as a player. To avoid always having the same order you could figure something out with your group so you sit at random spots at the table every session, instead of always sitting in the same spot out of habit/convenience/preference (looking at my own irl dnd group I play with 😅) Finaly, at the end of the day, everyone has their own preferences. I might personally prefer to keep track of things digitally, while others prefer to stick to pen(cil) and paper. Nothing wrong with that 😀 PS: subbed :)

I would like to mention regarding the initiative rule: that is very much a situation where you should let your players know before your game starts, just so they don't build around initiative. For example, I play a harengon Chronurgy Wizard in my brother's game, which means that the minimum I can roll is 11, and the maximum I can roll is over 35. He has a homebrew rule, to where natural twenties always go first regardless of what the highest score is. For example, if I get a natural 19 on initiative and then add my +9 +1D8, and Mr. Martial Man with -17 gets a natural 20, he will go first - regardless of the 20 point initiative bonus lead on him. It's a frustrating rule for me, but only because I built specifically around initiative. So the point of this comment is just to say, communicate with your players beforehand.

My group has been doing this for a while and its really helped me. Sometimes i space out during combat when it isnt my turn, going clockwise arouns the table has really helped me. Its easier to keep track of when im going and give me time to prepare. Its a little hard to fully explain whats going on in my head but it has made my turn faster ans others in our group as well.

Normal initiative takes me about 20 seconds to set up. To help speed things up, I group larger sets together in groups of 4 or 5. I use average damage, and estimate HP with a d6 for unimportant combatants. I will also narrate the end of combat when it is clear what's going to happen (except important fights). Don't roll if you are just going to go around the table. Just go around the table. Getting second place and going last feels really bad. Everything here can be resolved by a player that pays attention. On your first turn, note who you follow. Pay attention when it's not your turn. Roll damage and to hit together. And by god, be familiar with your abilities! No D&D is not better than bad D&D. D&D is awesome and fun to play even when it's not a table you plan to stick with. You should always give a bad D&D game a chance to improve by communicating with your other players about what you find fun, rather than quitting.

I think it'd be interesting if hexs with roads or paths are moved through the guide rolls with advantage

Hey Beef (can I call you beef?)! I don't typically comment on videos, but you make quality stuff and I'm sure the algorithm will enjoy the added engagement! I know our community can be really hostile when defending their opinion so please see these comments as just me, talking about a topic I like, and not someone that thinks he's got everything figured out and everyone should do the same :P I don't love the first rule, I think that with preparation the DM can have the fight set up to start quickly (and can use little cards on his dm screen so that players can track initiative, so they know when they play next. these would take time to set up on the spot, but that's where the dm's prep comes in. have the sheets ready, initiative rolled before the game, and sheets stacked in order). My biggest problem with clockwise turns is that for big encounters, monsters play all at the same time and can burst down several players with no option to retreat, heal, down damage dealers, etc. I don't hate the rule, but for me it's not worth the downsides. Maybe split the monsters' turn in 2? half at the DM's turn, half when half the players have played? Ending the battle when the battle is decided is pure gold though. Like you said, they can surrender/flee. Alternatively, finishing off low threat, damaged monsters in a "cutscene" (describing, no rolling) can save a few round that have no tension. As long as you let the players describe a cool way to finish the enemy, they'll still have fun in my experience.

Yesss, i need more beef in my cereal

🥳🫂👍🏿

I’ve been doing around the table for a bit now and really like it - I just have the player who initiates / is attacked roll against what they’re calling static initiative now - then we go around the table with me inserting monsters or doing legendary actions between some of the players

I don’t see the link in the description you mention at the beginning - would you mind linking it?

Hooty hoo

Good advice.

I joined a group after they started, the way they met my character was that they saved her from being a human sacrifice of a cult in the sewers. I loved that game and I wish it could continue, but we got the boss of all games. The scheduling boss.

I seeded the players way to the Tavern. All have different reasons to be there. Something happens while they are there, now everyone has a motif

Don't forget about taxes

I usually solve this problem for my DMs. A "base" is not nearly enough for me, so instead of a mansion, castle or tower, I will spend ludicrous amounts of gold to build actual settlements around my base. You can customize access to certain resources that way. One of my characters accidentally became a king like this

The 100GP x Level doesn't work after level 5, because at the level 5, level 11, level 17 tier of play changes, things become exponentially more expensive and the amount of gold ends up not affording much. Treasure tables account for this already. What I do for gold is bring back the rule of getting XP for each equivalent GP retrieved and split evenly amongst the party of old school D&D, while cutting monster XP in half. This incentivizes earning treasure and exploring over killing monsters, making the treasure objectives for dungeons as well as treasure encumbrance a little more fun as players try to retrieve as much as they can while assessing risks and challenges. Originally this was 1XP per GP, but because of how much XP is needed on a level up in comparison to treasure table I switched it to 2XP per GP. Now Gold is exciting because it can represent their experience in dungeoneering and their ability to level up. When they have enough to level up they also have to spend an amount of gold and a week of downtime, which scales by tier of play, representing all their training, studying, carousing, and component expenses for the next level of features and spells as well as spreading renown of their adventuring deeds. This built in downtime training to level up also paces the campaign automatically to allow other downtime activities which all are good expenditures of treasure.

"You all meet in a prison cell," is the best go to starting point for a campaign when a more bespoke option isn't on the table.

Have you tried, like, not asking for a roll then? Because the issue with your advice is that it changes the world based on the capacities of the pcs, instead of leaving the world intact and checking the capacities of the pcs. Let's say that a pc with average athletics climbs a cliff succesfully and then the athelic pc tries to climb it and fails. It's the same cliff, nothing has changed, so what sense it makes that the 2nd pc failed due to the "imposible odds" of the cliff? Why did the 1st pc climb the cliff if they are not as good as the 2nd pc? The answer is a combination of external factions (represented with the dice) and their capacities (stats). You can't make it make sense otherwise. EDIT: Another thing that comes to mind. In the first example of the barb bashing down the door, what should be done is not ask for a roll (make it succeed automatically). And then ask for a low dc acrobatics roll as to not fall prone. And if the intended consecuence for falling in the first example was the goblins, then it doesn't make sense that if someone else (with less str) were to bash the door, that they wouldn't had encountered said goblins. There's many contradictions that renders player agency out of the equation.