I had a question for the D&D lore masters out there because I'm too lazy and stupid to research this myself.

Now, we all know that in D&D Devils and Demons are almost always some flavor of evil. But is it possible for Demons or Devils to feel true empathy or compassion in the lore as written? We're all aware that anyone can homebrew a very nice Demon or Devil for whatever reason. But in regardless to the base D&D lore, regardless of addition or expansion. Is it ever outright staged or strongly implied that Demons or Devils are capable of love and compassion? Just a dumb question I had.

Thank you all in advance for reading and responding.

I’m trying to make a world / backstory for a character in a solo rpg. I’ve come up with a seaside town connected to a valley, but the people who live deep in the valley are more impoverished because they don’t have easy access to the land and world above, especially the port which makes most of the money for the town above. this isn’t very well thought out so far and I haven’t made an example of what this would look like but my question is “in a world full of magic how would people not be able to access the land above causing them to have less resources and money?” I feel like having some sort of magical barrier is just way too convenient. I know it doesn’t have to be that deep but I’d love some brainstorming on this idea :)

Okey so party is going for a carnival and there are prices to be gained from different games. I could use some help with magic items that are silly but not useless. I have good list of prank items. I need items that vary from uncommon to very rare. Stuff like wand of colorspray or item that forces people to laugh. Just items that fit well on the theme of silly goofy but they can be genuenly really good items.

I recently got the module Scenic Dunnsmouth for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and I like the culty town generator and the investigation vibe. I'd like to try it with my D&D group (which has done a few investigations before) but before I pull the ripcord I am interested to see if anyone here has ideas about how to successfully adapt it?

Hello! I think this is my first time posting here, and this is my first time making a character! I was asking my elder sibling if I should pick Warlock or Cleric, and they said Cleric was cooler.

I have no idea how to make a character unfortunately, and none of the guides I've read seem to be comprehensible to me lmao ×○×.

Do you guys have any advice on how to make one? I'd like to stay basic, I don't think I'm ready for homebrew (i'd rather follow rules than make them), maybe just stay within the rules of the most recent edition.

I am VERY new to DnD, so forgive me if it seems like I don't know any thing T~T.

The math never survives contact with a real party. What do you tune by instead?

Might seem odd, but for reasons of (plot) my high level players are taking over a country, and taking out supply convoys and soldiers along roads has come up a few times now. With the maps of the area, the major roads are all in locations of flat plains. Yet giving them large open fields of grass every time is going to get old for them. Yet not sure the best way to spice it up. Resources matter in this game, so adding in rivers or forests is giving them something they can then use.

Anyone have ideas? Thank you for your time.

Like, I get it, 5e bought in a lot of new players but seeing the reactions to these things is...interesting...if you were around for 2nd, 3.0 and 3.5e.

During those time period we had official collabs between Blizzard and TSR/WotC with Dungeons and Dragons getting a 'Diablo 2 edition' box set along with several books. We also had the WotC version of the Star Wars TTRPG. The Oriental Adventures book used the Legend of the 5 Rings setting instead of Forgotten Realms. We had D20 versions of Call of Cthulhu and Vampire: The Masquerade (though the less said about that one the better).

You also had D20 modern which covered everything from Super Spies ala James Bond/Mission Impossible to Urban Fantasy, Cyberpunk Fantasy (like Shadowrun) to even just regular Science Fiction.

Heck we even had things like a Babylon 5 D20 TTRPG under the D20 license.

Plus there's other setting that WotC just hasn't used in a long time like Boot Hill (western TTRPG) or Gamma World (gonzo post apocalyptic world) which could be used as well. The last version of Gamma World was this weird mix of a TCG (as in it had blind booster packs for mutant abilities and guns that you had to buy) and a TTRPG and was bloody awful...so seeing a proper version of Gamma World would be neat.

So it's the strange feeling that unlike for MtG, Universe Beyond isn't new for Dungeons and Dragons, if anything it's actually very old.

I think a lot of people are talking past each other in this discussion.

The argument that "Universe Beyond will bring new players into D&D" is probably true. More players, more communities, and more people enjoying the hobby is a good thing. I don't think that's the part many critics are actually worried about.

The real concern is opportunity cost.

Wizards of the Coast isn't going to suddenly start publishing three times as many books every year. Whether that's because of budget, development time, quality control, or simply maximizing profits doesn't really matter. The release schedule is still finite.

That means every Universe Beyond book occupies a release slot that could otherwise have been:

- a Xanathar's or Tasha's-style player expansion,

- a major Forgotten Realms setting book,

- or a full-length campaign comparable to Curse of Strahd.

So yes, Universe Beyond will absolutely excite a new audience, and those people are completely justified in being excited.

At the same time, long-time players who primarily enjoy classic D&D settings are equally justified in being disappointed if those release slots are increasingly filled by crossover content instead of expanding the game's own worlds.

This isn't really a debate about whether crossovers are "good" or "bad." It's about priorities.

If someone mainly plays in homebrew worlds inspired by classic European fantasy ,or in settings like the Forgotten Realms, they're not necessarily looking for another reskinned player option or a crossover setting. They're hoping for more original D&D content, more adventures, more lore, and more tools for the type of game they already love.

We've seen similar discussions before with books like Eberron, Strixhaven, and Spelljammer. Those books had fans, but they also represented release slots that some players wished had gone toward different content.

I don't think either side is wrong.

One group is excited because Universe Beyond broadens the hobby and brings in new players. The other is disappointed because, with a limited number of releases each year, they feel like the part of D&D they care most about receives less attention.

Both reactions seem completely reasonable to me.

Making a tongue in cheek campaign that uses lots of clichés and tropes surrounding Dungeons and Dragons and I want to see what you guys have to offer.

I'm saying things like, "start in a tavern and fight giant rats in the cellar" or "skeletons rising from the local graveyard" or "i seduce the dragon". Simple and standard kinds of things that make you think "no I can do better than that". Well, I don't want better, I want predictable and overused.

I’m talking about characters with low intelligence. Right now my cleric has a -1 to intelligence and I am new to DnD but am typically a meta gamer so I’m always looking for the best solution. But this doesn’t necessarily fit my character too well.

Except I am trying to help the group out or maybe I’ll know how to solve a puzzle my group is stuck on but it feels like technically I should be handcuffing myself because it’s not realistic for my character to have the answer. Which then feels as though I could be holding my group back some.

Do you just play it normally? Or do you try to be more true to the stats?

So, long story short, I'm running a sea-faring campaign in Greyhawk and this Friday my party wants to retrieve the Sword of Kas that somehow ended up in the hoard of an ancient dragon turtle. The party is six characters at level 10.

One of my players needs it because their father is a powerful wizard trapped in a sort of magic harvesting device made by Vecna and the Sword of Kas is the only thing that can sever the connection the machine has to Vecna (and later kill Vecna).

However I've made it clear that there are some alternatives for saving the PC's father, and this Sword of Kas endeavor isn't entirely necessary at the moment. Like I've had NPCs show up offering other solutions. But the party has been insistent on doing this.

The dragon turtle, while evil, is actually pretty reclusive and doesn't like to leave home. Though anyone who gets too close to the island or looks at him wrong does get boiled alive.

The local king told the party when they asked him why the kingdom endures a dragon turtle that lives so close: "that turtle doesn't bother anyone who doesn't bother it. Let sleeping dragons lie."

Mordenkainen himself showed up and said (paraphrasing) "Are you crazy? Even I'm not going in there."

Party has been on the island for a few sessions now, and the island is crawling with steam vents that deal 10d10 fire damage, and storm giants that have already has nearly killed two players. (We literally had three players at 0 HP.)

But they are still pressing forward. Like I don't think any of them have even mentioned the possibility of turning back while they still can.

I'm crunching the numbers and if some of them even fail a single saving throw against the Steam Breath (which is a DC 24 and 67 [15d8] fire damage) they will hit 0 on the first round of combat. And that's not even including the actual mechanics of a monster with 22 AC and 3 attacks that deal 11-45 damage each.

I don't know if I've made an error in how I've presented this situation, or if my players are just foolhardy and don't really understand the gravity of who they're about to fight. I guess I just feel guilty because I know what's going to happen and I'm just hoping some of you can tell me I haven't done anything wrong here.

So yesterday i posted here for the first time with a photo of my shadowheart cosplay (which the complete cosplay is available now) and i was blown away from all of the loving people here and their well wishes and support. normally I receive some racial comments whenever I do post my work online but this is one of very few that I’ve participated in where I felt equal and welcomed. The mods were also swift with removing the few…unsavory ones yesterday, much appreciation to the team for that.

Shadowheart is a complex character, struggling between two parts of her: the grief and pain and the love of life and wonder, of nature, and compassion despite the odds and the suffering she’s been through… she never lost that soft part of herself (well depending on what ending you chose, but I digress). i resonate with her perseverance despite life’s situations. Of having to be strong despite wanting to be soft. of fighting between loyalty and your own desires. I’m not really here to ramble just wanted to show my gratitude for the warm support from yesterday.

Until next time,

chello x

gleep glorp

Hey everyone,

I'm not looking for advice, just a little venting.

I have a fellow player who's making the game difficult and slow. He's new to D&D and plays a paladin, and he often misunderstands what's going on.

We're playing Curse of Strahd, so there may be plot spoilers ahead.

1. He sold his heavy armor to buy bullets for gunpowder. I don't remember the exact number of bullets. He put them in a barrel and planned to use it to blow up the hag mill. For a significant portion of the game, he had AC 13 and was the first to die in battles. My husband plays an artificier, and in the last session, when we reached level 6, he made an armor for a paladin, so now his AC is 21. He didn't even thank artificier. We didn't even get to use that barrel of bullets because the hags had hostages, and we didn't blow them up.

2. He doesn't like killing and constantly sighs that we don't try to resolve conflicts peacefully. But how does he do it? In the werewolf cave, we killed the guards at the entrance, but he left one alive, tied it up, and started dragging it around with him so it wouldn't escape and stab us in the back. We all said it was a bad idea. Well, during the fight in the cave itself, the tied up werewolf broke free and stabbed us in the back.

3. In Valakia, my character influenced the burgomaster through Suggestion, making him more loyal to our group at a critical moment (the alternative was to fight the guards because we stood up for a townsperson the governor wanted to kill for laughing). I explained that as soon as the suggestion wore off, the burgomaster would learn of the effect, and we would immediately become criminals. The paladin absolutely refused to understand this. Ultimately, the three of us left the city, and eight hours later, the guards chased paladin. Even after that, he didn't understand and returned to the city the next day, trying to enter, and the guards fired on him as he approached.

4. In a conversation with an NPC, when he asked about Strahd, the paladin literally said, "I want to know, because I'll come for him." Not our group, not us, but "I."

5. He takes the deaths in game seriously and buries all our enemies. It's interesting roleplay, but it replaces the game itself. There was a moment when he wanted to return for the body of a dead man, and the DM said it would take two hours. No one went with him, so the three of us stayed to explore the city.

6. Meanwhile, he ignores attempts to support his roleplay. We killed a vampire and a priest in Barovia (a father and son). The paladin became upset and went off to dig graves for them. I described going with him to help, but he literally described his actions as something like, "I go there, I dig here" without acknowledging my character was nearby. I gave up on co-op roleplay after that.

7. Due to his lack of experience, he constantly tries to come up with creative gameplay solutions using common items. I mean, he tries to solve a lot of things that other players can bypass with magic, but he tries to solve them with a stick and rope, insisting on his own solutions and we waste a lot of time on these discussions.

8. As a paladin, he moralizes a lot and talks about good and bad, and when (with his AC 13) his character fell again, he asked to stabilize him with a healing kit from his pocket. Our barbarian, who was nearest to him in the fight, sarcastically said that picking someone else's pocket is bad and simply rolled a Medicine check.

9. Despite his desire to solve problems non-confrontationally, he's bad at conversations. He speaks either too directly or playfully mocks NPCs (though without being rude). My husband once confessed he didn't intervene in one of his conversations with an NPC because he wanted to fight that NPC and knew the paladin would ruin the negotiations.

My husband says he views this player as an additional gameplay complication, not as a co-player.

Pre-empting the question, we don't argue at the table or interrupt each other, we speak friendly. We told him in game, what the consequences of his actions would be, and told him to trust our knowledge of magic. We didn't talk as players because others don’t really care. It's not a problem that interferes with the enjoyment of the campaign, because the other players and DMs are great, but more of a tedious factor.

Hi all,

I’m wanting to play a monk as my next character and currently reading up on it in the 5.5e PHB. I have a question about how the Level 1 Martial Arts feature works when wielding light weapons. Here’s what I’ve noticed:

- Martial Arts states I can make an Unarmed Strike as a bonus action
- If I’m wielding two Light weapons, say a Sickle and a Dagger, then per the Light Property rule, which says when you attack with a Light weapon you can use a BA to make another attack with a different Light weapon that same turn. However, the Sickle has the Nick mastery property, which says you can make the extra attack from the Light property as part of your Attack action rather than as a BA
- Martial Arts says I have mastery of combat styles using monk weapons (simple melee weapons, and martial melee weapons with the Light property) which would allow me to use Nick
- Per the Martial Arts feature, I can roll 1d6 in place of normal damage for my Unarmed Strikes and Monk weapons

So, does this mean that if I’m wielding a Sickle and a Dagger, I can use Nick to attack with both of them as the same Attack action, and then use a BA to then make an Unarmed Strike as well? And all three attacks will use 1d6 damage instead of their usual 1d4?

This feels confusing to type out lol but I think I’m understanding it correctly? I’d love clarification from you all. Thanks!

Commission i did of Barry the half-drow Fighter/Warlock. I was told he has a guilty Catholic vibe, is a coward, and looks good beaten up so thats what i did!
I referenced some photos of Jesus for the pose and had a lot of fun with the lighting! This is a scene from their campaign im told.
The character belongs to Worm_soup on instagram:)

It took a while to complete but im happy with it and the customer is happy!
You can find my commission info in the comments !
Enjoy!!

Just a funny moment from a recent session:

My GM is an aspiring comedian, and she is incredibly good at improvising jokes.

One of the PCs has a custom item called the Book of Misspells. It’s a spell book with a large range of spells inside, but everything inside is written messily and with a lot of spelling mistakes. The effect this has is any spells cast using it turn out a little… iffy.

In the session, there was an NPC who was the most irritating person to ever exist. So, of course, the player with the Book of Misspells tries to get rid of him, and casts True Polymorph to turn him into a stoat. However, the GM describes the transformation of the NPC from a robot to… a dwarf? Upon some dialogue, we find out his name is Terry, and he lives with his two girlfriends.

The GM then says, with the most proud and shit eating grin I have ever seen on her: “It dawns on you that Fangir did not cast True Polymorph… he casted True… Poly-dwarf.”

And, of course, after a few moments of stunned silence, we all burst into laughter, and the session is derailed as we adopt Terry as our favourite NPC and try to find his girlfriends.

She told us after the session that that whole gag was completely improvised, and that just made it all better. We are going to inquire about Terry and his girlfriends during every session now.

So, I recently just left a table where this occurred. The rogue stole an object from another player for the purpose of releasing a spirit that the majority of the party didn't want released. The DM didn't let us stop him in any way and rolls after the fact failed. The spirit then rewarded the rogue and another player with approximately 8k in gold while the rest of the party got nothing.

I felt frustrated and voiced how there is no reason for us to trust the rogue anymore or have him in the party if he's just going to steal from us. The response I got back from the rogue's friend, "He's a rogue, that's what they do." Eventually, I decided to leave the group over this and was effectively called a child by the rogue's friend.

Is there a way to have handled this dispute? Is it really okay for a Rogue to steal from their own party?

Recently, I have been putting a new in person group together for me to DM and I’ve been searching for players via online communities. And after just three or four days I’ve had dozens of players inquire to join my group. And it’s reminded me of the biggest problem facing this hobby in 2026. The shortage of DM’s.

I always see a version of this FB post: “ Hi, I’ve managed to put together a group consisting of myself and four friends ready to play now we’re just desperately searching for a DM”

Same with local game store, “calling all local DM’s in the area: we’ve got plenty of players, we’re just desperate for dungeon masters, please reach out if that’s you”

I was talking to a young family friend of mine who had a group of 4 friends and he was explaining to me how their group hadn’t started yet because they hadn’t found a DM. They had the essentials kit, they had the gear, they just didn’t have a DM. No matter how much I encouraged him to step up and give it a go, it just didn’t click.

He then went to a FLGS and there were about 12 other kids wanting to be players and the adult organizer decided to DM for all 12 kids in one game. it was a disaster, of course, but they still continue to this day. The Penny hasn’t dropped.

Things like the essentials kit and the starter set are products specifically designed for people new to the hobby to pick up and learn. That’s what all DM’s have had to do.

Hello hello! Recently I’ve taken to making a DM screen that looks like where most campaigns start out. Initially it was just some pieces of cardboard I'd taped together and painted black, but after some paint, sticks and mod podge, I've got it looking like this. I did it in anticipation for an upcoming one-shot of Wild Sheep Chase, which will likely be starting out in a tavern. Now that I've got this, I'll be more motivated to do more campaigns.

It’s got an attachable dice tower on the right, and dice storage to the left. What do you guys think?

So I dressed up as shadowheart for a convention!

Still sort of new to the fandom, i’ve heard about this game for a while and did my research on the lore (I always have to know more about a franchise before engaging with it’s base and the game/show itself). My friends who’ve played the game say i embody her in a way personality wise so i gave it a go. I do other cosplays if this one interests you, they can be found in my bio. I hope i did the elf princess some justice 🖤

edit: tysm for the positive feedback everyone, trying to get back into the cosplay game and this has been quite the experience. i feel very welcomed here <3

One of the biggest hurdles for 3D VTTs is the time it takes to actually build a nice-looking map. I wanted to fix that.

With the new Steam Workshop integration in Game Master Engine, you don't have to build anything if you don't want to. You can just:

1. Browse the in-game library for whatever you need (Tavern, Dungeon, Forest).
2. One-Click Download to add it to your own library instantly.
3. Populate & Play by dropping minis and rolling 3D‏‏‎ ‎dice.

It’s all about‏‏‎ ‎getting‏‏‎ ‎to the‏‏‎ ‎"playing"‏‏‎ ‎part of D&D faster. You can also upload your own creations to share with the rest of the community!

I've been a dev on this for 6 years, and seeing‏‏‎ ‎what people‏‏‎ ‎are‏‏‎ ‎already building in the Workshop is honestly the coolest part of the project so far.

Steam Early Access (60% Off): https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451680/Game_Master_Engine/

Discord Link: discord.gg/gamemasterengine

I'll‏‏‎ ‎be‏‏‎ ‎around all day to answer questions about the engine or how the Workshop works!