r/DnD_Beginners

Hello all!

I am currently working on a report paper with the general topic being "Is D&D demonic?"

I am looking for input and evidence for both sides (Demonic or Not demonic). Providing a concise report that supports both sides is something I feel would help a lot of people, since finding a collection of unbiased data for both arguments is very difficult. I plan to share this report with people who are wresting the idea of D&D, and I would hope this would solidify their beliefs on the game.

Thanks!

I want to know if it's possible and if it is how to go about making a gambit style character, not necessarily his persona but his powers? I know he uses kinetic energy to charge either himself, his bo staff or playing cards normally. Is it possible to make a character that is inspired by his mutant abilities?

I'm new to this but I've been playing the game as a player for several years. I've been trying to create a homebrew and half of the players have already created their characters and I've set up parameters for them to create said characters however every time I try to start creating the campaign I feel so stuck and lost on what I should be doing or how I should be doing it. Any advice from other dungeon Masters would be majorly appreciated. I have a history of writing, short stories and such. However, I've never done a campaign and I don't want to let my group down even though they're aware and very kind about it being my first time. I just want to impress them. They're a great group of friends and I don't want to disappoint them with how terrible my homebrew is

I have come to realise through talking to a friend that we have very different ideas of what a DM should do. My friend will often say that the DM is god and can do whatever they want such as disregarding rules, rolls, or hit points etc… I can understand the need to bend rules to maintain a storyline and not have people break things etc, or to make encounters more interesting, but completely disregarding whatever and “doing what they like” doesn’t seem like a good attitude for a DM. I don’t have much experience with DnD, but I feel like having some faith in the integrity of the DM is important. My friend said that it’s not even really necessary to keep track of a monster’s hit points and DMs might just decide when a monster dies when they feel it’s the right time. I’m having a problem with this idea. If damage and hit points means nothing then neither does gear, class… I know there are some people who play in different ways such as “theatre of the mind” or whatever where nothing is really tracked strictly, but if you are playing with characters sheets and combat maps and rolling dice, then surely there needs to be some kind of rules that should be followed by the GM. I’m just kinda interested to see everyone’s opinions and stuff on this topic. My friend keeps saying that I’m not looking at things properly and I don’t know what I’m talking about when I talk about DM stuff. But I feel like I know what integrity and honour are, and I feel like being a god who does what they feel like is not what a DM should be @_@

How futuristic can a dnd world be

I'm completely new to DMing and I'm really confused on what items my players should have for their level as my players are just level 2 in my custom DnD campaign and I've given them upwards of 3000 gp and serval magic items like the Lamp of everlight, bracers of the iron ox, rings of spell weaving and greaves of lightning stride.

They haven't used them to their full potential but I feel like the could dominate the game if they put their minds to it.

I'm in college so it should be kinda easy and I've never played an actual campaign so I'd rather do it in person. Is there an easy way to find a group that isn't asking random people if they have a DND group I can join?

New to DnD, made a character I am proud of but don’t know how to go about finding people to play, my friends don’t play

Hey everyone! As my title says I want to dm for either family or friends depending on which happens first and I have an idea for a unique campaign that I think could be particularly fun I would love help on how to make homebrew stuff to make it work balancing and how to run interactions storytelling and portraying the narrative to the players in a fun way that let's them explore and make the story themselves too.

The main idea I have involves an npc recruiting a group of adventurers to take down these evil cultist leaders mob bosses and dark wizards who are trying to take over the city like an underground gang war and the city is trying to prevent them from taking over. Throughout this the npc that hired them would function as my way to talk to and guide the players being a mentor. They wouldn't participate in fights and would give guidance and help the party prepare but let the party run mostly independently. Their quest will be to capture the leaders to imprison them so the city can use the leader as leverage to keep the other crime groups at bay etc... during this the mentor character will be secretly killing the captured evil guys and taking a power of theirs through a dark magic and being led by an evil God who in exchange for the knowledge of how to take those powers and conquer the city for himself in exchange for letting the God out and the God then rules that area trying to take over the world. This campaign would involve a lot of heavy playing by me as the mentor turned evil npc that the party then has to vanquish at the end making a bitter sweet twist battle I hope where they fight someone who has all the powers of the bad guys they fought previously.

I don't want to take away from the players ability to enjoy and play the game they want to but I also want to tell them a fun story and give them a grand adventure with emotional highs and lows and have a satisfying and fun conclusion. How do I find this balance not overriding their free agency while also guiding them to that fun conclusion?

Similarly how should I go about balancing things giving the characters enough resources that they can reliably win the battles but it's not a cake walk?

Lastly how do I go about homebrewing the powers and magic systems in a way that leads to subtle foreshadowing and the twist while also not making it op and broken, something that fits the power scaling of dnd itself?

Lets say someone wont be Able to come today and every one is free can i like say he was injured in battle and he is recover in an inn so the rest of the players can play and we can fill him on what happened last time

I'm brand new to dnd. First game DMing or playing at all, though ive been interested in the game for years and have read many stories and anecdotes over that time. Im playing with my spouse and 2 kids.

Tldr: Am i just creating more headaches for myself allowing a semi-permanent npc "tank" to join the party? Would appreciate hearing if it worked well at your table or if it was a nightmare. If i do let him stay, id scale him down to match party strength and hp.

So, session 1, they captured a kobold dragonshield who was leading a handful of smaller kobolds. I was expecting them to use a guard tower ballista to 1-shot or severely damage him, but of course they shot one of the weaker flying kobolds instead. I ruled to let the Bard use Charm Person on the kobold dragonshield (yes i know RAW it doesnt work on goblins or kobolds in 5.5e) and had him surrender, throwing down weapons and asking to be spared. He's now shackled and under control of the party, still under charm for the next hour.

The dragonborn ranger doesnt know draconic due to character background reasons. He wants to let the kobold join up and teach the player the draconic language over time. I thought that sounded like a cool idea, but thats where we ended session. I can just as easily require them to turn-in the kobold to the town guard. Or the kobold might dislike his clan and the new dragon giving them orders, so he joins the party. And now they have a dragon bbeg for later on.

I personally dont feel that including this npc (again he will be nerfed) will cause me headaches for balancing encounters.... but im new. I have no idea. I figured i could also give the kobold a Deck of Many Things just for fun.

Just kidding. Or am i?... lol, Thoughts?

edit: we kept our new kobold friend. Since kobold sounds like cobalt, his name is Blue. As one of these commentors suggested, hes hoing to be cowardly and greedy, but will follow his new dragonborn master's commands.

I'll be careful not to have him outshine the party. Thanks for all the advice!