My campaign (dnd 5.5e) has been going pretty steady (thanks to many of you here who jumped in with advice for me and the Fishel bros. books) and we've just had a bit of a summer break. Essentially the group is gearing up for a big rescue mission. I'm familiar with the concept of dialing up and down the difficulty level but I was wondering what you all keep in mind for running something like this: They are rescuing a party members long lost grandfather who has a special time traveling ability. They're fighting kind of like a fascist organization of dwarves who are aligned with an evil wizard group (that is after a different party member). The party has yet to align with some factions they might share similar interests with. My teen son who is in the party has told me my combat has been getting better, (originally was hard for me to think past the monsters lol) this is what I've been doing, I'm looking for just any other ideas you keep in mind when planning combat. - having interesting terrain, traps, objects - Maybe having countdown clocks at different points - Smarter monsters , monsters that turn into other monsters, different waves of monsters Thinking of adding more innocent bystanders, maybe unclear bystanders. Also more height or trench/ underground possibilities. Maybe this is enough but thought I'd check with you all here! I'm aware that maybe the best way to make combat more interesting is to use a different system 🤣 but this is what everyone is into.

I’m seeing that many here aren’t familiar with the system. I would like to remedy that. I know at least myself, I can read a ruleset multiple times but it doesn’t really sink in until I’ve experienced it. If y’all are interested, we can set something up to remedy it. I utilize Forge/Foundry (so everything is web based), as well as Discord for voice (again, web based, with camera optional. I have numerous options for setting and stories. One in particular is terrific for new players. List what kind of story/setting you’d be interested in, let’s find a time. I’m generally free Th, Fr, Su evenings.

It's time for a community workshop. This Sunday evening at 7pm Eastern, come talk about your ongoing game(s) that you're running. This event is for GMs who are using (or moving towards) a proactive approach to running the game. We'll talk about: - Your PCs' goals and how to sharpen them - How you could react to those goals with factions, NPCs, and locations - Encounter design that's fun and also moves the story forward in a meaningful way These are pretty fun and usually pretty small (3-4 people), so come with your notes and prepared to talk in detail about your game. Also please come ready to give other GMs ideas - it's best when we all riff together. (This event is for Gold members only - if you aren't Gold yet, you can read about what it is here).

I know Dnd 5.5e is not popular with a lot of folks, just wondering why. Also curious what systems are your favorites and why? I'm in my first year of ttrpg-ing and don't feel I can take on learning a new system yet but I'm just wondering in this group what factors influence your likes and dislikes about various systems. I have played some independent systems at conventions and enjoyed them, and I do like the combat mechanics of Pathfinder, but Dnd is really big where I live and I already have a lot of the physical materials so I'm pretty invested in it for awhile. Open to any thoughts though, thanks!

Welcome to the Game Master Laboratory! This is a place for people who are running (or planning) TTRPG games to brainstorm ideas with other GMs, share ideas and resources, and test their creations with each other. I recorded a short video to get you started, which you can view in this post. It's all about what we do here, but it's also about how to use Skool, so if you're new to Skool, make sure to check that out! If we haven't met you yet, we would like to. Please make a post in the "General Discussion" channel to introduce yourself and tell us... 1. Which systems you like to play/run 2. A bit about the games you're running right now Glad you're here. DM us if you have any questions.