I'll start with the actual scenario that occurred in our last session.  Our party,  of which I am one of the PC's came across a nasty trapped/warded dirt wall.  We figured out that the trap was only triggered by contact with metal and resulted I in utterly destroying the metal. After some discussion,  we decided that we would just have to spend the time digging through it with our bare hands to avoid setting off the trap.  Now,  as a player,  it slipped my mind I was wearing rings made out of metal. Kaboom,  and a magical ring and one finger later,  I find myself accidentally triggering the trap.   Now,  I accepted the gm ruling on this because I felt stupid for forgetting such a basic thing and it was my fault for forgetting.   My question is, as GM's,  should you remind your players about things that their characters should not have forgotten,  especially as obvious as a trap that they just discovered?
123817
To make a long story short, a campaign I was playing in [as play-per-mail] has come to a standstill. The cause of this is the following:  My character dove into the river, to retrieve something that was lost, and spent some time in the water. When he emerged, I was told to "maybe take it easy from here on, because my character was close to fainting." When I asked how this had happened, the reply was that it was winter [something I was told a couple of sessions ago--when it was still played around a table--but had long since forgotten] and that the water was almost at a freezing temperature.  I feel like the GM should've at least reminded me of these facts before I dove into the water, as I might've forgotten this, but it is something that would be totally obvious to my character. Was this my responsibility to check?   How should we proceed after this? [As the state of my character is kind-of important at the moment of emerging from the water.]
51018
The ranger and rogue in my game were asking about setting traps in preparation for a battle that was coming. Another player is convinced rogues can make traps because he saw it happen in D&amp;D sessions online (in streams). But the only information about making traps that I can find seems to be addressed at DMs, in the context of designing dungeons and such. Research Rogues do get proficiency in , but this only lets you disarm traps (not create them):  This set of tools includes a small file, a set of lock picks, a small mirror mounted on a metal handle, a set of narrow-bladed scissors, and a pair of pliers. Proficiency with these tools lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to disarm traps or open locks.  PCs are also able to buy . So it would make sense that nifty rogues could backwards-engineer traps that they can buy and/or disarm, but I'm curious whether the books cover guidance in this regard. Related:   (only covers &quot;hasty traps&quot;)   Question What are the options for player characters to create traps? By 'traps' I mean methods or mechanisms designed to influence, hinder, or expose enemies, which must be set up before use, operate on a trigger (set off by target or by trapper are both fine). For this question I'm excluding spells that function as traps.
99301
New GM attemping to get ideas for a campaign down something similar to a tabletop fallout game.  How much info is too much info for general prep? Can there ever be too much? Or is there a general balance between the GM's plans and the PC's being PC's. Level differences aren't too big a deal in the game I'm running (All Flesh Must be Eaten) but they can happen. Do I want to specify everything in the room and say how things are meant to be used if they find them? or allow more creativity on their part.  eg: Going with an "If it's reasonable for it to be there approach let it be there" or "I didn't say specifically anything interactable was there, so you can't use it."
14083
Background  I am a brand-new DM, about to lead a game for brand-new players.  I have a lot of knowledge of rules from playing Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights over and over, leafing through a friend's books, and finally buying the three basic books for myself.    Question  How much information should I give to my players about monsters they encounter?  Should I essentially read the entire MM entry to them, or let them figure out how the enemies operate through experience, or (as I assume), something in the middle? Keep in mind, only one of them has even peripheral experience with D&amp;D (they are very good sports for giving it a shot!), so they won't be bringing background knowledge to the table.  For example, do DMs generally let players know what immunities creatures have, or do they let them figure it out by trial and error?  What about offensive abilities?  For example, if a player has a potion of fire resistance, should I give them a heads-up about the fact that the chimera they're facing has a fire breath attack?
48806
One of the assumptions I make as GM is that the players should always be in the spotlight.  Sometimes the players find themselves in a situation where they watch NPCs speak to each other.  I don't like using this kind of situation, because it forces the players to watch me talk to myself and that turns them from active participants into an audience.  Usually I handle it by avoiding the situation.  I try not to write scenes that the players watch.  Instead the players speak to the NPCs one at a time.  When I do come across an exchange between NPCs I opt to summarize the conversation instead of acting it out.    I don't like this limitation though.  It gets a little contrived when all conversations in the game feature 5 PCs and 1 NPC.  Any suggestions? Either how to avoid doing it, or how to effectively role play a conversation between two (or more) NPCs that the characters may or may not be interacting with?   How do you keep clear which character is speaking? How do you make sure that the conversation feels like a real one and not like one person playing both roles?
60271
Everyone in this story works mostly together. Some work friends and my wife were talking about playing D&amp;D, and I was appointed the DM. I've played the game once 20 years ago, so I've spent the past few months buying the resources and learning as much as I can about the game so I can make it as enjoyable for then as possible, we are yet to have our first session.  But to make it easier so I don't have to teach them literally everything I asked them to read the Basic Rules so they have some idea of what they are in for and the expectations of them and me are.  But they came back with "its too hard to read it, I learn by doing, that's what we have you for".  I'm super pissed by this, I've spent so much time and effort learning this game and they can't be bothered to put any effort in.  My question is should I let them know how much it's annoyed me, and reiterate they need to know stuff, or just ignore it and carry on?
21081
So in a 5e campaign I'm running, the party Druid has recently been doing some scouting of the local monster caves in spider form to avoid notice. I've also described how the goblins and kobolds who live in these caves use a variety of tunnels too small for Medium sized creatures in order to get around. Since the party doesn't have any halflings or gnomes, I didn't really think the party would ever get into those tunnels. But obviously if a goblin can fit, so can a spider, so there is the possibility that the Druid might try to scout them out.  But what if something goes wrong? What if the Spiderdruid were to get lost and run out of time in Wild Shape, or encounter a hungry lizard and drop to 0 Spiderhealth?  Is there anything in the rules to suggest what should happen when somebody tries to revert to their normal size in a space where they normally wouldn't fit?  With a space sized for a Small creature such as in my game, I might just rule that he's stuck unless he makes difficult Dexterity checks or waits to get his Wild Shape back. However, what if it was an even smaller space, such as a burrow or a pipe or a deep crack in the rock? Someplace where his human body literally won't fit?  If there aren't any rules for this, I'm open to suggestions on how it can best be handled.
30248
A generic question across most board games: once a player has taken their turn (taken their finger off the piece they are playing), should they be allowed to change their mind?  Similarly, if a player forgets to take a privilege, such as an occupied building in Puerto Rico giving an extra worker, or plantation, if they remember a few moves later, should they be allowed to take the privilege?  Very few rules explicitly express how these events should be dealt with, so they are generally left up to the group. However, my group's rules will change depending on the personality of the players playing (not all members are available each time we play). I would like to make this consistent, and would appreciate feedback on how others deal with this scenario.
96423
My players have been scheming with rapid entry tactics for the megadungeon I've recently started running. Unfortunately, the monsters are aware of the adventurers, and this has lead to a weird question of priority. Given the following situation (which I'm pretty sure is going to happen next session in some form or another) what happens?     Alice the adventurer readies an action; if her teammate Carlos opens   the door, she's going to throw the alchemists fire through the door,   which should do enough damage to kill any goblins hiding there.      Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Bob the goblin is lying in   wait. He readies an action; if the door opens, he's going to hit the   switch to open the trapdoor in the next room, which should drop any    pesky adventurers into a pit with spikes at the bottom.      Carlos opens the door.   I know what happens when , but what happens when multiple readied actions get triggered at the same time? My guess would be an opposed reflex save or initiative check of some kind to see who goes first, but that's entirely just intuition speaking. The rulebook doesn't seem to speak to the issue.
80133
Do you get to use the additional attack from the Extra Attack feature as well when you Ready an Attack action?  One of my players, a monk, decided to Ready an action as an earth elemental was about to attack. The trigger was the elemental moving within five feet of him. When this occurred, he took his Attack action, and then proceeded to take the extra attack as well.  I was unsure at the time whether or not the extra attack would also happen, and I haven't had much luck figuring it out.
101234
What is a "Session 0"?   When is it done? What does it contain? Is it recommended, if not mandatory? What is each person's role (DM/GM, players, etc.)? What topics are best discussed there?   Usually with my groups, we go directly to the meat of the game right after the character creation, but I see a lot of answers that basically say "you should have a session 0", but it's never explained what it is made of, so it's kind of an enigma for me.
52070
says:     A humanoid killed by this spell rises at the start of your next turn as a zombie that is permanently under your command   If a player is hit by finger of death and dropped to 0hp, do they turn into a zombie immediately? If they subsequently fail death saves and die, do they then turn into a zombie?
100502
Because my players' suspension of disbelief began to suffer when exploring more "normal" dungeons, I have created some big dungeons which are based on bigger, realistic structures: castles, towns, military structures, bunkers, etc.  However, another problem has come up. A structure which is able to hold a regiment contains many repetitions: kitchen, bathroom, sleeping room, again and again, because a place where people live is more utilitarian than most fantasy dungeon designs.  Now my group isn't suffering a lack of suspension of disbelief, but I suspect they are a bit overwhelmed: their normal routine of sifting through every room is not possible anymore, and they get restless. I suspect they fear losing out on interesting information now that the dungeon isn't linear.  I am not sure how to keep the players busy and focused in a dungeon that has many equal rooms. How can I GM these larger structures without the players becoming frustrated in this way?  Some information about the current background. The group explores the structure with a map which is under a glass plate covered by rice (sand is leaking too much for my taste). The advantage is that I do not need to describe every room and they can make maps (naturally I have the master map with undiscovered features like traps, hidden rooms etc.), the disadvantage is that they realize how vast the structure is and that I gave them the freedom to explore. The structure itself has a very specific and very important purpose which is the reason why it is so vast, the constructors had no choice. The reason was temporary, so the inhabitants left bit by bit. The inhabitants and their reason to live there changed rooms and build hidden ones without never finding all rooms of their predecessors. So the current explorers (my group) find plundered and vandalized old rooms and sometimes an older trap which is not working anymore. But the last sessions they found out that someone left fresh traps and a message that their presence is not welcome >:)
107420
I have played and tried to GM games since I was in elementary school, beginning with games like Shadowrun, Earthdawn, and Champions. Recently, I've gotten dack into gaming with a variety of other games (newer Shadowrun and Earthdawn, plus TOON! and Outbreak:Undead).  I've found examples of actual play and advice on how to actually GM a game in games to be lacking. I can only help but feel I am not alone as someone who isn't already a LITERAL dungeon MASTER.  I fully realize that there are an unlimited number of GM styles, personalities, etc. I do not think I am a very good GM though. No one else wants to be the GM, and few care enough to learn the complex rules that I often have to assist with and explain AS WE PLAY. Being left with the responsibility is quite overwhelming unless I create dynamic encounters or make it all up on the spot. I'm often left having no idea what to do.  Examples of Why I Think I Need Help  This question isn't about these examples so please don't dig into them in the answers - they're here to explain the basic things that leave me feeling like I don't know how to proceed as a GM.  I've read preparation is important, but last time I tried to make a story, the players immediately killed the primary character (a friendly person.) within about 2 minutes of starting the game. While I realize now that I let the dice take control over the story, it was rather difficult to continue a story that relied on this friendly character, with the players making enemies with the character's faction. It is still discouraging when my only other attempt at a prepared story ended with the players wanting to go in a complete opposite direction of where I planned. Both times, the hours of work I put into it were completely wasted, leaving me as ignorant as I always was before.  My group often wants to play Shadowrun, Earthdawn, or L5R- but I feel as though I am a horrible GM. The last time we played Shadowrun, I was bored out of my mind as we rolled hundreds of dice to do an obvious straight-forward "kick down the door" mission.   If I make security as I believe it should or as the forum threads describe their security or a few example missions I can scrounge up (examples of stories, not actual gameplay), my players literally feel completely hopeless as to how to achieve their mission without total failure.   One time when I was a teenager, I had players blow up at me saying "We have no idea what would work. You're telling us that our character's experience or the ally operative says that would get us killed, but what else can we do?" Since there are no examples of what players can do - I am left with the same feeling as the players. As an adult, I've had a similar occurrence where a player said to me, "I don't know what to do. I don't think we can even begin this mission." I had to make something up and just go with it, creating an NPC group (that fit in with the story) that goes in before the players to do something stupid so they don't have to. Mainly because I ALSO didn't know how to accomplish the mission, so I acted as the players would using my NPC group. Extremely boring and IMO a failed dungeon run.  I've had successful stories, but I've had more boring encounters than successful ones. Seeing as how roleplaying takes endless hours to complete a story, I do not see benefit in an activity that wastes more time than is enjoyable.  How Do You Learn To GM?  Where are the resources? Books, blogs, gameplay examples? Am I missing them? How did YOU learn to be a good GM? Or do you feel as bad at this as I do, even when it's a successful, fun encounter?
39859
I am currently running Lost Mines of Phandelver for a fluid group of about 10 people. We play once a week and on a given night 4-6 people will show up. We've been doing this for 4 months now. I have very limited experience as a DM so for all intents and purposes, I am new. At this point most of the players have a working understanding of how their classes work and what their various class and race specific quirks and abilities are.  Whenever someone forgets something relating to their class, I'll pass them the PHB or basic rules and let them look it up on their own. If there are questions regarding the rules, I look up the answer myself. I've never explicitly stated this but it's the precedent. It is very important that players are expected to be as self sufficient as possible because we have a large group and I'm stretched thin.  I have a problem player (PP) who wanted to be a sorcerer. I told him that he'd have to keep track of his spells and more stats than everyone else and that he'd probably have more fun playing a non-magic class but he insisted. I handed him the PHB to choose his spells and he chose all of them at random.  Below are the primary issues, most of which come up during combat, and what I've done to remedy them:   PP does not know what any of his spells do but tries to cast them anyway. Whenever he casts a spell I'll ask him what it does or if he has the requisite materials and he'll say he doesn't know. This turns into me pausing the flow of the game to look up the spell, explain it to him, and then continue. I have tried asking him to write his spells down but that results in the next problem. PP takes horrible notes. He'll write out a couple words on a spell that he can't decipher later or straight up write the wrong spell down. He does the same with his ability scores and stats. We've had to reroll his health before because he was not tracking max health. He is so inconsistent and disorganized that we have to recalculate his stats for every relevant action he takes. This also annoys the other players because he is constantly losing items. I give him unlimited crossbow ammo as a courtesy and match his xp to the average of the other players. I've asked PP repeatedly to print out all his spells from the wiki or something but he forgets every time. I would do this for him but then I'd have to do it for everyone (I have far too many players) and I don't want to set a precedent of being a nanny. Also I'm afraid that if I give him any more help he'll expect me to track everything for him. So, I keep holding up the game to look up spells and ask him to do something about this. He understands the problem but does not deal with it. PP does not understand the larger meaning behind any of the numbers. All of the other players understand that difficult actions require higher rolls and they have a feel for when their health is low. PP doesn't get this and won't do anything (including self preservation) but fire his crossbow unless the other players ask him to. I encourage him to read the PHB. I've sent him links, I've put the book in front of him, he'll open to a page to humor me but won't actually read. I don't want to lend him my PHB to read on his own because he has a history of forgetting things at home.   I don't want to kick him out. He really shines during the RP segments (he even uses spells outside of combat very effectively) and he's a fun player but he is such an impediment during combat that I need help dealing with him. Other players will occasionally memorize spells for him or look things up while I'm doing other things but we're all new and the table gets easily frustrated.  What should I do?
31762
Do you have tricks or techniques to remember all the rules to the games you're playing? I would like to run my first game as a gamemaster, but I'm struggling with remembering all the feats and competency rules.
81824
While running a session recently, one of the players chose to "assist" his companion who was in melee with a goblin, by firing an arrow at the pair of them. I couldn't find any particular rules for this scenario so just had him roll at a disadvantage, counting a miss as a hit on his companion (damage to be ascertained by a second roll).   This seemed to work okay, and became a running joke for the night as the arrow bounced off the companions back, but are there specific rules for this scenario?