#dnd adventure ideas

[theaggressivewriter]

Pf2e Boss Monster Design

The tight math of Pf2e allows for encounters to be built swiftly and without worry, and the same goes for homebrew monster creation. One problem with the system, however, is the boss monster. Creatures with high level stats against a group of players can feel like a slog if the players are unable to reduce the creature's AC or saves enough for damage/cc to go through. It normally takes a lot of items and tactics for a normal group to take a creature down that's 4 levels higher than the party's level (or a +4 monster), and even creature's 3 levels higher (or +3) can still feel like a slog depending on their stat block. If you're designing a boss fight, consider this one trick I've learned over the past 2 years of GMing with the system:

Lie to your players.

For different systems this could mean a lot of things, DND 5e famously is known for its GMs secretly increasing the hp of a given monster behind the screens. But for Pf2e it's less a blatant lie and more of a performance. Rather than throwing a +4 or +5 monster, you could instead throw a +1 to +3 monster and accompany them with either other creatures or traps that you present to your players as that monsters abilities. Let's make an example.

Is your monster a fire breathing mutant bear that is killing other wildlife in the area?

(Art by Deftspex)

Easy. Let's make it an Elite Black Bear (making it L3), then add a Fire Mephit (L1) to the initiative, making the combat a Severe encounter for 4 level 1 players. What does this do, and how can we make this convey what we want?

Mechanically, the Black Bear acts as the base monster that the players can target and kill and the Fire Mephit acts on its own initiative, but what you do is tell your players that it's the bear doing what the Fire Mephit is doing. The bear is the one moving and its base health is the health your party is trying to take down to 0, but the "Fire Mephit" acts on its turn as if attached to the bear. It still takes damage if hit by an aoe, but must otherwise be specifically targeted by an attack rather than the Bear itself (you should give your players some sort of heads up or a description of something that can be targeted in order to remove the ability from initiative, like pointing out that breaking its jaws would remove them on a successful recall knowledge).

What this does is a multitude of things, your solo boss monster technically has more action economy without breaking the math, your players have more tactical choices to make between getting rid of the Bear's fire related abilities, and it should make your players shit their pants from seeing a fire breathing bear.

I have a lot of other tips and tricks for boss monster design for pf2e, due to my notorious one shots being considered "Dark Souls" by many approving players. I'd like to one day turn my knowledge into a published book alongside templates, some homebrew monster designs, and some variant rules, but due to legal concerns will need to wait until I have a lawyer to assist me in understanding what I'm getting into.

#adventure #fantasy setting #setting idea #writing #dark fantasy #dnd #fantasy #pathfinder #sci fi and fantasy #homebrew #ttrpg #dungeon master #monster

[educationaldm]

Adventure idea: A group of modrons search for their creator (The Gygax). I think the Barbarian should be the d12 and the wizard the d6 though.

#Adventure #Idea #Modrons #Dice #Dice Love #Classes #DnD #D&D #Dungeons and Dragons #Fantasy #TTRPG #Roleplaying Games #Something for the weekend #Fun

[morrigan-sims]

Creatures of Legend

a half-orc and a tiefling walk into a tavern...

#ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 CAS #ts4 CAS #adventures in cas #my sims #cas #dnd sims #ts4 dnd #the tiefling is a bard btw #I have no idea what the half-orc is #fantasy sims #ts4 fantasy #but I love both of them a lot #though tieflings will probably always win in my heart #I just realized the outfit the tiefling is in is the exact same outfit I've used on like 80 other sims INCLUDING my other red tiefling... #rip #it's fine #as for pronouns: she/her for the half-orc and they/she for the tiefling

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Perception Check

NA portal fantasy about a young woman whose friend was abducted by demons in front of her when they were kids - and now as an adult she’s convinced her friend is in the Mages tabletop RPG lorebook, as if she was transported into that world

when demons and the Mages world appear in front of her, she and her friends track down the creator of the game and start a quest in the fantasy world to get her friend back

mental health & trauma, queer cast, start of a series

#perception check #the mages of velmyra #aroaessidhe 2024 reads #this is pretty good! not amazing #a little slow going; took me ages to get through lol #I do like the idea of a group of 20-somethings kinda shoved into a Typical Portal Fantasy Adventure #but also they kinda have to deal with mental health problems more than. fantasy stuff #I did find the fantasy quest they’re on a bit boring #I didn’t expect the end twist though!!!!!!! oh damn (it def does not wrap the story up at all tho. this is the start of a series) #an interesting take on a fantasy RPG world that's a little different from dnd at least #(queerness - I think the MC is bi; bi/gay SCs; trans man; demi man)

[miabrown007]

girl who sucks at making OCs needs to make a DnD character send help

#I did make one who was rad but then got vetod by the DM and now I handed in a half-elf wizard but she's just so basic #she literally has no personality send help #and also idk what direction should we take because I have no idea what the other people will be like in the party #and I'm the only girl player there so I don't want for that to be like be a thing and bring a stereotipically girly character #and I could make her like a standard bookish wizard which obviously stands very close to me and would be super easy to play #but that's so cliche and I don't want to be like everyone's mom in game if everyone else is just running around and fucking shit up #but I know that I'll have a harder time playing a more reckless and careless character and if there isn't going to be someone #thinking for the team and we just go headfirst into stuff that also sucks. #and like I like to be someone who thinks about the solutions it just can't just be me being the party pooper if you get me #but poor wizard girl is just so mid with her 'my parents wanted me to be an X wizard but I'm gonna be an Y wizard instead' backstory #like wow such rebellion you're gonna show them girl #but at this point I'm a week behind schedule so I need to have a character like for yesterday #and I don't want to just copy others' dnd characters from D20 but they have like a group cohesion and individual arcs and that's so cool #and I suck at making up little men #miaing #mia's dnd adventures #I'm stressing so much over just making a character and meeting strangers bringing a character with anxiety disorder wouldn't even be rp #I guess great that my sorcerer got vetoed how would I play out being the face of the party

[chalkbird]

on a quest to investigate some paranormal activity that had been reported, your adventuring party has broken down in the middle of nowhere. you have almost run out of food and water supplies under the merciless heat of the sun, but luckily you know of a small town nearby. it is said to be a friendly desert community that prides itself on its welcoming atmosphere. and soon enough, you spot a sign on the side of the road. it spots you too.

Welcome To Night Vale.

#this is the actual intro i wrote for my wtnv campaign #yes i am working on character sheets for everyone #trying to figure out if khoshekh is an aberration or a monstrosity #feel free to drop plot ideas and recommendations in the tags #welcome to night vale #wtnv #wtnv fandom #dungeons and dragons #dnd #dungeon master #dnd homebrew #adventuring party #ttrpg #tabletop #wtnv podcast #khoshekh #disparition

[untitledworldbuildingblog]

guy who regularly has [specific monsters] attacking his farm and hires adventurers to kill them (& bring him the bodies as proof)

also found elsewhere, pretty tough for adventurers to kill & def not civilians, but if you know to harvest them their [body part]s are valuable/useful (may be the case for many such creatures)

turns out guy raises them for [body part]s, easy to harvest(/kill? or nonlethal?) while contained but hard to catch when they escape, having to pay adventurers is worth it to recoup some loss

adventurers eventually try to track down source (bc they get annoyed they keep getting the same job) & find farm

wtf

(do they condemn? do they help him build a better security system? do they report him (nuisance, can't be kept (in city limits))? do they blackmail him? (if so either new "ally" or source of goods) what else?)

(what do other people do w bodies? hard to dispose of, so send them to guy? or do most non-adventurers know & keep them? or do they just leave them? can guy recover bodies, does smth happen to them when left around?)

#might be better for #bitd #rather than #dnd #esp given the adventurers for hire since funds are more important in bitd #blades in the dark #d&d #ideas #inspo #plothooks #stories #plot

[probablyevilrpgideas]

A druid is attacking a small village for no seeming reason. Turns out, the villagers unknowingly killed the druid's poker buddies.

#dungeons and dragons #d&d #dungeons & dragons #fantasy #rpgs #dnd #Adventure idea

[wizardnuke]

dnd players i need your pitches for a oneshot i'm supposed to be dming on friday the 13th. i have a few ideas but i would like some more and ALSO ttrpgs other than dnd itself are fine if you happen to have a different one in mind

#the dnd club leader was like 'preferably scary but that's hard to do' so i'm just trying to find a halloween vibe in general #my two current ideas are #1. oh no vampires #and 2. haunted mansion. half are adventurers and half are haunting it. pvp. unsure how to actually make that work tho

[beebundt]

not me imagining a future little felted mimyr doll 🥴🥴

#my art #mimyr #adventures in ahvria #my ocs #firblog #dnd #dungeons and dragons #dnd 5e #IDK IF IM GONNA DO THIS LOL ive just been thinking abt how this would be such a fun project #i could just pose her in little places around my room... let her sit happily off my shelf... #and i could update her as she continues in the campaign.... #dream idea LOL #this is will be a ref for future me when i have time

[frankensteins-mt-dew]

Yall I'm playing dnd in about 6 hours and have absolutely no character ideas. I'm down for just about anything you got so please give me some ideas 💕

#dnd character #dungeons and dragons #critical role #dimension 20 #adventure zone #rolling with difficulty #character idea #writing inspo #srsly #I'll take almost any idea #I'm down for chaos #d&d 5e #homebrew

[goldenwaves]

sometimes i wish i played asa in my longer running dnd group cause then i could be crazy about her with them because she’s definitely my most fun and favorite dnd character ive ever played and i loveeee her and i have no one to talk to about her that actually is in the sessions with her </3

#also kinda glad i play her in my group that only plays for 3 hours cause oh god i have a headache from her literally possessing me #shes so fun cause shes 13 and everyone reacts to the idea of a 13 year old adventurer the way you’d expect #like What the fuck where are your parents #and shes soo smart and silly and impulsive and lies all the time and cares so hard about her friends and is really scared of the alien in #her brain and she’s just a kid but shes so powerful and shes an accidental murderer and shes so afraid of it happening again #but describing her like this really truly does not capture how i play her i have so much fun she truly possesses me in a way no other dnd #character has

[theaggressivewriter]

Fungus Leshy (Boss Fight #001, 01/29/2024)

Welcome to Boss Fight, where every Monday I take a monster and make a unique boss fight out of official material. Today, we'll be making an official encounter for a L1-L2 party. I'll also be creating an upscaled version of the fight and a reimagining of the fight in the context of my personal setting in reblogs.

Have you ever wanted just a little guy to inspire fear into your players?

(Art by Andrew McIntosh)

In this week's boss fight we bring out a Leshy to take on an entire group of 4 level 1 adventurers. Let's take a Fungus Leshy (L2), and two Vine Lashers (L0) to make a severe encounter. If your party is L2, modify each of these creatures with the Elite template.

How will this encounter go down? This Leshy has a particular connection to its surrounding and can command or use the environment around it to attack and slow down its targets. This making it easier to keep enemy groups together for its aoe ability to shoot spores in a 15 foot emanation. If it has a chance, it should be hiding in plain sight as a mushroom when the party first encounters the Leshy, if it can sense hostile intentions or hear any comments on if the party is looking for it, it will attack rolling stealth for initiative along side the Vine Lashers. The Vine Lashers should use its minor grabbing abilities to deincentivize people from moving so the Leshy can use its aoe or spore pod ability if you want the Leshy to kite the party with ranged attacks.

Plot hooks:

A farmer has been having trouble with its cattle being killed by something nearby, and can't herd anything until the situation is dealt with.

A Green Hag has been kidnapping children of the local village and has said to have a hut, but so far no one has gotten past the forest. Recent eye-witness report that vines attack anyone who get near where the hut is said to be.

A local druid has lost their Leshy familiar. They say that the two of them got into a heated argument, and the Leshy ran out into the forest in hiding.

Check the reblogs to look at some custom lore for my setting involving this little creature or to see how I upgrade it from a lil fungus into a medium sized Mushroom Knight with my step by step process into homebrewing it into creation.

#adventure #fantasy setting #setting idea #dark fantasy #fantasy #pathfinder #dnd #homebrew #tabletop roleplaying #roleplay #pathfinder 2e #dungeon master #game master #ttrpg community

[memento-morri-writes]

I have the desperate urge to write something, but I can't get my shit together enough to put anything down on the page. Literally anything would be nice, but the only thing I've been able to wrote for MONTHS now is d&d character backstories. Plot? I don't know her. Which is a shame, cause I'd really love to write something with a nice big plot someday. But my brain is physically incapable of coming up with plots. Character backstories definitely, worldbuilding maybe, but plots? Nope!!! Even my current WIPs don't have much in the way of plot, and that's what's been preventing me from working on them. maybe??

#I really want to write a high fantasy adventure with a decently large cast but like idk how to go about it #and make it actually good #and I have absolutely zero ideas for plots. just vibes and maybe some characters. idk #but those characters are mostly just inspired by my dnd characters because that's the only kind of writing I can do apparently #unfortunately for me #morrigan.text #delete later #I can't even maintain a plotline in my daydreams #or my actual dreams for that matter #stuff just jumps around randomly. just like my brain

[moonfromearth]

Now presenting...

Evan Madison for @potionio's Guild Amakiir Tryouts!

I was going to do extensive research and craft a perfectly new and original character, but, honestly... This concept is right up Evan's alley. So, here they are, ready for battle.

Some notes about Evan...

Age: YA (probably Race: Human Pronouns: They/Them Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Class: Fighter Subclass: Champion Weapon(s): A sword and they probably have a knife. Background Info: Evan's always been a bit of a wanderer, spending a little time here, a little more time there. They have one goal and one goal only... Make money. They will do absolutely anything if it means getting a paid, be that serving noble lords and ladies, entering sketchy life or death competitions, to scouring labyrinths, if there's gold involved Evan will be there. They'd stumble upon the guild by accident and, upon finding out that becoming a member includes gold and fame, they'd be happy to get involved. Evan also has a lucky coin that they carry everywhere, which just felt important to note. (A side note: Though my efforts for cc armor weren't great I did end up with this outfit which happens to look scarily similar to Evan's original design)

Download Link [Google Drive]

(also the bit in the first pictures was inspired by this)

#i'm so nervous this idea is so cool #i'm kind of a casual fan of dnd so i'm scared but #this is just sooo perfect for evan #i had a lot of fun taking the screenshots but #the lighting turned out so bad #😆 #fun fact: evan was my go to rp character (when i tried that) #so all of their backstory is based off of their adventures #in various rps #GuildAmakiirTryouts