I do enjoy D&D. I enjoy long campaigns and epic storylines. I have been fortunate enough to have multiple groups throughout the year that have suffered me through multi year campaigns. Unfortunately, at one point I have to admit that regardless of the group and the story, these campaigns became harder and harder to run and well... to enjoy.

I don't think it is a particular hot take to say that high level play is problematic and hard. I always found it to be lacking.

For a long time I tried to find solutions and I looked at 3rd parties, I developed my own homebrews and Iooked at how things were handled in the past. That's how I learned of BECMI. And something clicked. I became enamored with the ideas presented there, it was mostly what I have been looking for. But even BECMI, with all its ambitions had problems and things were wobbly starting from the Master set and became even more so with the Immortal set.

Even with this, I think it is the best approach D&D had to high level so this article will look in depth at why that is and perhaps more importantly, why it failed. We will also try to provide some alternatives for those of you who, like me, will find that conceptually BECMI hits the right cord.

I hope you enjoy the article and I am very much looking forward to see what your experience with it and with high level play is!

Hey there Dungeon Masters!

Should your adventure take you upon the open sea, here is a versatile and varied set of open ocean maps for you to use! Great for using ship tokens for sea battles et cetera.

Comes in several versions:

• Day
• Night
• Sunset
• Fog
• Storm

Join the noble ranks of my Patrons today to gain access to all variants, as well as hundreds of other battlemaps for you to add to your collection!

https://www.patreon.com/11559618/join

A class has been reborn from the ashes!

Venturing into the darkest of lairs, where many other adventurers would not dare to go, the Blood Hunter enters without fear. The truly horrific abominations are what Blood Hunters specialize in exterminating. And why do they walk with such confidence? Because they house a bit of those monsters in themselves.

I'd say behind Monk, Blood Hunter is my favorite Class. As edgy as it is, using your blood to power your abilities is just really cool. Plus, being able to take on and use aspects of various monsters, without fully transforming like a Druid just has such incredible potential both in combat and roleplay.

This rewrite includes two Subclasses:

1. Order of the Dragon - A Phoenix Quill original that focuses on being an "all-rounder" sort of Subclass for the Blood Hunter, that boasts increased defenses and enemy control. In addition to unique Blood Curses that allow for area effects.
2. Order of the Thaumaturge (Formerly Order of the Ghostslayer) - A major change from the original one penned by Matt Mercer, this version of the Subclass allows you to command spirits that cry out for justice, not just destroy them. The unique Blood Curses available to this Subclass allow you to cure creatures of various mental conditions, in addition to other effects that help you take on spectral enemies. (This Subclass went through several revisions, and will likely see more in the future. But, I wanted to get it out to see what everyone thinks. I know what I want it to be, but the execution for this particular theme has admittedly been a bit difficult when Phantom Rogue exists.)

Notable Changes and Design Philosophy

• Blood Curses
  • Hunters now get more uses per Short Rest. It felt very odd that Blood Hunters, even high-level ones got extremely limited uses of their key-stone Feature.
  • They have been vastly expanded, so that Subclasses are not limited to a single unique Curse.
• Hunter's Bane is now Hunter's Grimoire
  • In addition to granting benefits to track and researching Checks, it also grants bonuses to Attack and Damage Rolls. The Advantage on said checks was nice, but ended up feeling very lack luster and easily replicable by other Features and Spells.
  • Speak with your DM about treating the Grimoire with the same rules as a Wizard's Spellbook. If they so choose, they can have it be that you lose the benefits if you lose your Grimoire.
• Crimson Rite
  • Certain damage types are no longer locked behind high-level play. In my opinion, having damage types like Necrotic and Thunder requiring Level 14 felt unnecessarily limiting. They may be on the more uncommon side, but there wasn't much mechanical reason in practice for them not to be available. Also, Poison not being one of the base damage types available for a Rite was very odd to me.
• Hunter's Persistence
  • As compared to my version of The Fighter, which also gets their 3rd Attack at Level 10, the main difference is that the Blood Hunter MUST have an active Crimson Rite to do so.
    • I designed the Blood Hunter to get more of their power from the base Class, as opposed to their Subclass like in my version of Fighter.
• Hardened Soul
  • Now grants Immunity to being Charmed and Frightened, as opposed to just Advantage.
• Dark Augmentation
  • Moved to Level 14 to be in line with similar Features from other Classes.
  • No longer increases Movement Speed.
  • Instead of giving flat bonuses to multiple Saving Throws, which is far more powerful, it now just grants Proficiency in Strength and Dexterity Saving Throws.
• Brand of Tethering is now Brand of Condemnation
  • Moved to Level 17, as it did quite a lot for Level 13.
  • The damage for failing to teleport now uses your Hemocraft Die.
• New 20th Level Feature: Morbid Metamorphosis
  • The original Sanguine Mastery Feature was very lacking for a 20th Level Feature, and didn't offer much reason to put all 20 Level into Blood Hunter.
  • Its new effect of increasing multiple stats not only falls in line with the precedent set by other official Classes like Barbarian and Monk, but I found it made the most sense narratively. You are constantly evolving with Hemocraft power, and it eventually just pushes you over edge physically and mentally.

You can get the PDF version of the brew HERE

Artists in Order of Appearance (Credit Also Next to Art on the Document)

1. CD Projekt Red
2. Anato Finnstark
3. Lisha Du
4. Nezt Oss
5. Erik Nykvist
6. Aleksandra Skiba
7. Andres Zambrano

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Patrons get exclusive content, starting with a fully original class: The Witch, and full access to all Patron-only posts. Paid members also get access to our Discord server, where you'll get behind the scenes updates and the ability to vote on future brews!

World building:
The city of Thul-Barad, named after dwarf bard, poet and composer Thul-Barad.
Made with RPG Map Maker, the cozy city builder / map maker I am working on

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!

White Plume Mountain is an absolute classic Adventure for level 8 players; one that has been talked about for years and has been redone time and again. Heck, it was even ranked the 9th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004. This is the perfect Adventure for those of you who are looking for a bit of combat and a whole lot of puzzles!

Three magical weapons have been stolen recently. Clues in the form of a poem lead those in power to believe the weapons have been brought to a volcano, which was once the hideout of a powerful wizard named Keraptis. These are no mere magical weapons, but sentient artifacts. Can your players survive the perils of White Plume Mountain and retrieve them!?

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for White Plume Mountain Part 1: DM Notes
• Link to: DM Notes for the Visually Impaired
• Link to: White Plume Mountain Playlist
• 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
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks, organized neatly, along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• Spellsheets for all relevant encounters
• Note from Krepatis and Hiring Letter Handouts
• Custom Battle Maps

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

Here are a few psionic magic items built around psychic power, telekinesis, mind control, and mental defenses. The Sword of Psionic Manifestation is the main one here, giving a character that classic psychic warrior feeling with a manifested psionic blade, extra psychic damage, a reactive mental shield, and telekinetic strikes against distant enemies.

The page also includes the Helm of Telepathic Command and the Staff of the Psionic Overlord, which lean more into domination, telepathy, and spellcasting.

The second page features the Staff of Mind Mastery, a legendary item for spellcasters who want to boost psychic damage, cast powerful mind-affecting spells, retaliate with mental force, and protect themselves from charm, fear, and other psychic threats.

I really like psionic items as rewards because they let you bring mind powers into a regular 5E campaign without needing an entire psionics system. They work especially well for psychic warriors, aberration-themed campaigns, mind flayer plots, alien ruins, strange lost civilizations, or any player who wants their character to feel like their power comes from pure willpower instead of traditional magic.

These items are part of Psionic Magic Items, a collection of unique psionic magic items. You can also check out my bundle of small D&D manuals on DMsGuild, which includes Psionic Magic Items.

You can also subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on upcoming projects, including a Kickstarter launching in the coming months: Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E, inspired by myths from around the world. By joining the newsletter, you can download a free 30-page PDF preview of the upcoming Kickstarter. We only send emails occasionally, and only when there’s a new release, important news, or exclusive free content and discount codes to share.

For more of my creatures, items, and manuals visit DriveThruRPG, my Linktree, or r/JonnyDM!