What do y'all do when you need to fulfill the dnd need but you aren't at session time yet? I've tried a few self dming things and I've never really stuck with them. Does anyone have any good dnd related activities that aren't actually playing the game?
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I will protect those I hate. Even ... even if the one I hate most ... is ... myself.
Most people I know spend time thinking of new characters to play in the future, looking online for character art to use (or drawing art if you're so gifted), or texting the group chat about what happened last session. Other than that? Memes.
I frequent the forums, create character and NPC models in HeroForge, and revise my character sheet and rules I may need to know or just understand what else the party can do. Between sessions there's not a whole lot I have to do, we're usually good at deciding what we're going to do before the next session to save umming and arring during play.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
As a player, i would probably go back and analyze prior situations the party has endured as well. In any session, there are potential situations where you as a group might have left the potential to get more information on the table rather than taking advantage of it, especially if it's more roleplay rather than direct combat and murderhobo'ing every session.
If it is a homberew, often times as a player i would try to sort out whether or not specific people are balanced better than me or worse than me, and look at ways to resolve such issues of balancing the party so that the DM has less work to do there. This can definitely increase the chances of survival beyond the initial few sessions. As reference, in a campaign with new and veteran players, the veteran players will sometimes look to create homebrew characters or characters with subclasses that enhance their damage not to the point of min-maxing the character they play but to at least bring their utility or their output up a bit. The new players for the most part (not always) default to more melee heavy or non-casters and so i would work to try and improve their long term outlook by recommending tweaks either to them or running them by the DM with a thought process.
I had a friend that was really good at creating town maps beyond the basic maps you can use freely online, and they offered a lot of these maps to me the DM. Cities/Towns and those maps are less likely to be important to a fog-of-war combat oriented scene, so offering to help with creativity if you have that gift could also increase the visuals and take work off the DM, but i would again make sure they want it.
You ultimately have the best feel for the group you are in and your DM, so i can't say that any of the above situations in general are applicable here. But I would focus efforts on making the campaign go smoothly for all so that you get the most mileage out of a campaign if you enjoy it.
This depends on your equipment or your willingness to buy it, but I've been going overtime printing and painting minis for the games. For the campaign were about to resume, I had to do over a hundred of them...that took quite a lot of time and effort to do, so I've been busy the last few weeks having my 3D printer going, then getting the minis from printed to painted to varnished and ready to go. I'm coming to the end now (most just need finishing touches and varnishing), but it's been a crazy ride trying to get them all ready.
For me, that process is almost as much part of the experience as playing the game. It's different, obviously, but it's pretty awesome watching your minis being used. We finally got around to playing with them for an entire session with just minis (previously we've had to use standees with names written on to pad the encounters out) and it was a great feeling watching them all being used. Now I've got to start thinking ahead for the next campaign...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
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What do y'all do when you need to fulfill the dnd need but you aren't at session time yet? I've tried a few self dming things and I've never really stuck with them. Does anyone have any good dnd related activities that aren't actually playing the game?
I will protect those I hate. Even ... even if the one I hate most ... is ... myself.
Most people I know spend time thinking of new characters to play in the future, looking online for character art to use (or drawing art if you're so gifted), or texting the group chat about what happened last session. Other than that? Memes.
I frequent the forums, create character and NPC models in HeroForge, and revise my character sheet and rules I may need to know or just understand what else the party can do. Between sessions there's not a whole lot I have to do, we're usually good at deciding what we're going to do before the next session to save umming and arring during play.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
As a player, i would probably go back and analyze prior situations the party has endured as well. In any session, there are potential situations where you as a group might have left the potential to get more information on the table rather than taking advantage of it, especially if it's more roleplay rather than direct combat and murderhobo'ing every session.
If it is a homberew, often times as a player i would try to sort out whether or not specific people are balanced better than me or worse than me, and look at ways to resolve such issues of balancing the party so that the DM has less work to do there. This can definitely increase the chances of survival beyond the initial few sessions. As reference, in a campaign with new and veteran players, the veteran players will sometimes look to create homebrew characters or characters with subclasses that enhance their damage not to the point of min-maxing the character they play but to at least bring their utility or their output up a bit. The new players for the most part (not always) default to more melee heavy or non-casters and so i would work to try and improve their long term outlook by recommending tweaks either to them or running them by the DM with a thought process.
I had a friend that was really good at creating town maps beyond the basic maps you can use freely online, and they offered a lot of these maps to me the DM. Cities/Towns and those maps are less likely to be important to a fog-of-war combat oriented scene, so offering to help with creativity if you have that gift could also increase the visuals and take work off the DM, but i would again make sure they want it.
You ultimately have the best feel for the group you are in and your DM, so i can't say that any of the above situations in general are applicable here. But I would focus efforts on making the campaign go smoothly for all so that you get the most mileage out of a campaign if you enjoy it.
This depends on your equipment or your willingness to buy it, but I've been going overtime printing and painting minis for the games. For the campaign were about to resume, I had to do over a hundred of them...that took quite a lot of time and effort to do, so I've been busy the last few weeks having my 3D printer going, then getting the minis from printed to painted to varnished and ready to go. I'm coming to the end now (most just need finishing touches and varnishing), but it's been a crazy ride trying to get them all ready.
For me, that process is almost as much part of the experience as playing the game. It's different, obviously, but it's pretty awesome watching your minis being used. We finally got around to playing with them for an entire session with just minis (previously we've had to use standees with names written on to pad the encounters out) and it was a great feeling watching them all being used. Now I've got to start thinking ahead for the next campaign...
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.