Building Stronger Friendships through D&D
Keotep, a Patron of Sly Flourish asks: Online tools, like Discord, create amazing opportunities to meet and play D&D with many new people from literally everywhere. Do you have any top tips on...
View ArticleExperiences Running Wild Beyond the Witchlight
I had the distinct pleasure of running the Wizards of the Coast hardcover adventure Wild Beyond the Witchlight for my home group and I loved it. I don't think I really understand what an adventure...
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A Simpler Checklist for Jaquays-style Dungeon Maps
Good dungeon designs include loops, multiple paths, multiple entrances, an asymmetrical design, secret doors, and short cuts. Keep these concepts in mind when choosing dungeon maps for your own games....
View ArticleSandwich Mechanics with Story
Sometimes, when we're elbow-deep in the mechanics of our game, it's easy to forget that we're sharing a story. The more complicated the mechanics, the more tools or systems we use, the more we forget...
View ArticleThree Tips for Being a Great D&D Player
Regularly on the Sly Flourish Patreon I get a question from DMs who find themselves in the player seat. There are many variants but it almost always comes out to: "How can I be a good player?" I offer...
View ArticleYou, Me, and the D&D Open Game License
On 5 January 2023, Linda Codega of Gizmodo described a new leaked version of WOTC's Open Game License. This new license heavily impares third party publication of D&D compatible material. Worse,...
View ArticleFeedback to WOTC on the OGL 1.2 Draft
Wizards of the Coast released a new draft of their "Open" Gaming License version 1.2 including releasing the core mechanics of the original 5e System Resource Document version 5.1 under a Creative...
View ArticleTop Ten Notable D&D Products for 2022
Over on the Lazy D&D Talk Show I spotlight D&D products — primarily third party products but also those published by Wizards of the Coast. Looking back, here are the top ten D&D 5e...
View ArticleSeven Fantastic Tools to Play RPGs Online
More people than ever play RPGs online. Over the past few years the suite of tools to play RPGs has grown and improved as well. Today we're going to look at one "stack" of tools to run awesome games...
View ArticleWhat 5e in the Creative Commons Means to You
On 27 January 2023 Wizards of the Coast released the 5.1 System Resource Document, a 400 page PDF of the core rules, races, classes, monsters, and magic items for D&D 5th edition, under a Creative...
View ArticleThe Near Perfect RPG Session
Thinking back over the games you've run, which ones do you consider your near perfect games? Which ones hit just about every mark? What was it that made them near-perfect? We're avoiding "perfect"...
View ArticleDescribe your GM Style
Fengh, a Patreon of Sly Flourish asks: "How do I describe my style of play to players I don't really know?" This is a fantastic question. Just as we should try to define the characteristics we look...
View ArticleTwenty Things to Do Instead of Checking Social Media
Read a sourcebook, campaign book, or world book. Read some third-party campaign books. Think about what your villains are doing right now. Watch a movie or show with great characters and fantastic...
View ArticleBuild a Quick Monster with the Forge of Foes
The Lazy DM's Forge of Foes is live on Kickstarter right now! Back the awesome 128 page book of guidance, tools, tips, and tricks for building, customizing, and running awesome monsters for your 5e...
View ArticleUse Static Initiative for Monsters
There are lots of little lazy tricks we can use to streamline our 5e RPGs. I'm a big fan of using static monster damage for example. I find anything to help speed up and streamline the game...
View ArticleMultiple Solutions to a Single Problem
We're on the last week of the Forge of Foes Kickstarter! If you haven't yet checked out the 30 page free preview and pledged to get the book, now is the time! If you're as excited about the project as...
View ArticleConverting Adventures Between Systems
With all of the great RPGs out there, sometimes we want to run an adventure or campaign from one system but with the mechanics of another. Maybe that awesome 5e adventure sounds like it'd be fun in...
View ArticleSpiral Campaign and World Building in D&D
Often DMs and designers build worlds from the outside in. The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide describes worldbuilding through gods, religious organizations, the cosmos and planes, and the geography of the...
View ArticleHow Many Players are Ideal for a D&D 5e Group? Four.
5e works with as few as one player and one DM up to maybe seven players and one DM on the high side. Larger groups aren't unheard of but I imagine they look quite a bit different than what we normally...
View ArticleBuild Your World with Immersive Daydreaming
Our imagination is an amazing gift. With a little focus and some fine tuning of our environment, we can use it to build fantastic worlds we and our players can enjoy for the rest of our lives. What...
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