Balancing Roleplaying in Combat Combat can be one of the most memorable parts of a session—but not just because of the dice rolls or tactical maneuvers. Some of our favorite combat scenes come alive because of the roleplaying woven into them. But how do we strike that balance? How do we include character moments without …

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One of the core principles we can return to again and again as DMs is this: Build the world around the player characters. In today’s article, let’s apply that principle to one of the most important elements of our games: Creating NPCs (non-player characters) based on the PCs (player characters). Why Build Around the PCs? …

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The Only Worthwhile Cutscene Cutscenes are for video games. In D&D, they almost always get in the way. With one exception: the after-credit scene. When we narrate a scene in which the characters are not present, we’re putting story over play. We’re turning our players into an audience instead of participants. If players can’t act in …

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The D&D 2024 revision of the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook brings a host of small mechanical changes to the game. If you’re a Dungeon Master already familiar with the 2014 ruleset, here’s a focused guide to what has changed—and how it might impact the way we run our tables. Rather than being a full …

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Preparing Urban Chaos for the Table A city can breathe fresh life into any fantasy RPG. They’re where intrigues are born, gold changes hands, and alliances get sealed or shattered over a drink. But when we GMs need to prepare one, especially for just a session or two, cities can feel like an overwhelming tangle …

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Hit Points Are a Lie (and That’s Okay) In a previous article about the Encounter Damage Tally, we explored a clever way for tracking monster damage: rather than counting down hit points for each individual monster, we tally up the total damage dealt in the encounter. When the tally reaches a monster’s average HP, we …

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