I think my favorite aspect is the way the procedural elements guide you into expected and unexpected drama, chaos, and humor. The game, the rules and conventions of it, act like a skilled improv partner. They push you into scenarios where you have to think on your feet, and they play along with you and amplify your performance. This is also one of the game's weaknesses, of course. It doesn't know how to help you out when you try to play out certain kinds of scenes, even within its own genre.
But the joy of someone casting a Speak with Animals spell on a nobleman's pet cat, and the DM figuring out just how to handle it? The horror of a critical hit taking out a key player before they can enact their plan? I mean, I can hang out with my friends in any number of contexts, and I can generate memorable tales in other games, but D&D has a wonderful way of producing these moments, which could otherwise be stressful, frustrating, or hollow, from rules which give you a sense of security and reason, even if it's just an illusion. It's quite the trick.
Also, it's worth saying that the "rip it apart and build your own" mentality promoted by the game, while not wholly unique in the TTRPG space, is still hugely influential and inspiring. I doubt there's anyone alive who has played D&D and not had an idea of something they might change, and that sounds like a bad thing, like the game is broken, but it's the opposite. Because most of us have also gone ahead and made that change, right? We've all hacked the game for ourselves in one way or another. Everybody wants to DM eventually. It makes you want to get your hands dirty. It makes you take ownership of your own experience, to a degree, and the experience of your friends, and it's one thing to pick a game that's fun for everyone, but to CHANGE a game to make it MORE fun for everyone, I mean, it's just a beautiful thing.
Since then, I have mostly been thrust into the role of DM since no one else wants to do it--which is fine by me, I enjoy creating new worlds and the madcap joy of trying to react to the utterly ridiculous things my players come up with.
This is honestly one of the best things about being a DM. The ability of players to come up with the most absurd shenanigans in response to the most mundane things gets me rolling with laughter all the time. I have a homebrew campaign going where all I said was "It's a very nice hat" and suddenly they have a thing for hats and the end of the world and stuff. Absolutely fantastic.
Another fun - "Let's Talk D&D - No OGL Thread" should anyone like to partake in that thread too. (While here's a little of everything, that one specifically talks about - enjoying different aspects of D&D). Figured I'd come here and make folks aware of it should they wanna share some stories, favorite D&D classes, favorite characters, and all that stuff.
Since I would hate for this thread to stay on page three for long, here is a new question: What is your single favourite in-game kill you ever did?
For myself, our party was fighting the Chardalyn Dragon in Icewind Dale. The DM was angry at me for rolling high on some diplomacy checks he wanted me to fail and rather petty about it (he was a bad person and a worse DM), so, when we got the monster to half health, he just said “and then I grapple your character and fly away with you” with a tone of voice that said “I am finally going to kill your character off.”
Up and up and up we flew, until we were 500 feet up. “I drop you, you fall and take-“ “Actually, I still have my Aasimar wings up—I can fly and you are out of actions. Bonus action, Thunderous Smite, roll to hit” *hits* “I need a strength save” *DM fails strength save* “Your dragon is knocked prone; a flying creature knocked prone falls 500 feet, so looks like you’ll be the one taking 20d6 bludgeoning damage.” *dragon dies*
It was a delightful turn of the tables and rather satisfactory end to that fight.
Since I would hate for this thread to stay on page three for long, here is a new question: What is your single favourite in-game kill you ever did?
For myself, our party was fighting the Chardalyn Dragon in Icewind Dale. The DM was angry at me for rolling high on some diplomacy checks he wanted me to fail and rather petty about it (he was a bad person and a worse DM), so, when we got the monster to half health, he just said “and then I grapple your character and fly away with you” with a tone of voice that said “I am finally going to kill your character off.”
Up and up and up we flew, until we were 500 feet up. “I drop you, you fall and take-“ “Actually, I still have my Aasimar wings up—I can fly and you are out of actions. Bonus action, Thunderous Smite, roll to hit” *hits* “I need a strength save” *DM fails strength save* “Your dragon is knocked prone; a flying creature knocked prone falls 500 feet, so looks like you’ll be the one taking 20d6 bludgeoning damage.” *dragon dies*
It was a delightful turn of the tables and rather satisfactory end to that fight.
I have two, one D&D and one non-D&D:
1) The non-D&D was from an old Rolemaster campaign, the system with the giant open-ended critical tables. Our party climbed down into crevasse and found a dragon's lair, which included its child. Still old enough to be a threat though, and when it attacked we killed it. We started grabbing some treasure, then heard mama coming back. Everyone else scrambled up the crevasse... except for my character, who failed his climb role miserably. I hid instead, the dragon came in, saw dead baby, sniffed the air, and came at me. Sighing, I stood up from behind the pile of coins I was behind, pulled out my bow, and proceeded to roll something ridiculous like four or five straight crits on my shot (96 or better on d100). We added them up, checked the chart, and I'd one-shotted the poor thing straight through its eye. Instant death
The GM wasn't happy, and soon after we junked that campaign for a new one with completely different characters. So I basically one-shotted the campaign too
2) The D&D one involves Tomb of Annihilation spoilers, so if you don't want to know, don't look. In the final battle, my tabaxi wizard Chasing Waterfalls
had used the bead of force we found in the beholder's area to encase the atropol and take it out of the fight while we dealt with Acerarak. He eventually had to burn a turn freeing it, which helped us do enough damage to him to force him to flee. That still left the atropol. We were all kind of tapped out of big damaging stuff, but I had bigby's hand up, so I just pushed it down into the lava and held it under. I think there was some mention of the smell of rotting bacon being cooked
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Man, Caerwyn, that DM sounds like a time. I can see why you'd cherish that kill! (In a bit of synchronicity, I also killed the chardalyn dragon with my Aasimar character's wings bamfed out. Mine was much more prosaic, though: I cast Call Lightning.)
My favorite kill was actually a three-person effort that included me, and it was about 5 levels later in RoTF (spoilers ahead). Our DM gutted and rewrote the plot for that adventure, so our campaign climax was actually a fight against Auril. Auril had an army of evil snowmen and vampire kobolds, but she also had a lieutenant - our very own bard, who had died when we were level 2 babies.
When he had died, the DM had Auril snap up his soul to offer him a deal: serve me and I'll resurrect you. He told her to stuff it, so she tried my fighter next: serve me and I'll resurrect your boyfriend; defy me and I'll torment him forever. My fighter also told her to stuff it, and instantly swore she'd kill Auril and find a way to save the bard. Well, the party got into TPK-level trouble a little while later, and the DM had Auril approach the tormented dead bard with a deal in exchange for saving us. This time, the player decided he'd agree - and thus the bard became her vampire lieutenant NPC.
Fast forward to the end of the campaign: We're standing in the ruins of Bryn Shander, our paladin's hometown. Our beloved bard is sending his kobold minions to kill us and we're doing all we can to get through to him without injuring him. And then Auril shows up. My fighter proceeds to play chess with Auril, strategically attacking minions, appealing to the bard's emotions, and riling Auril up. It works, and Auril realizes her vamp strategy is a failure - so she kills the bard. My fighter then shoots Auril in the heart...and destroys her first form. The paladin gets a critical smite and destroys her second form. And the bard's player, with his crazy little warlock, manages to butterfly net Auril's third form in his bag of holding which gets destroyed, sending a beat-up Auril straight into the Astral Plane.
As a player, my favourite (and possibly only big-bad-boss kill) was Klarg, the Bugbear in Cragmaw Cave during my first game I played.
As a DM, my favourite kill is probably the aforementioned Gorthok the Thunder Boar encounter.
Can you tell I'm a forever DM? lol
Edit: just remembered the Black Spider fight from when I first ran LMoP (I say it was a fight, but it was more of a complete and utter thrashing). Sibling was playing the Starter Set rogue, friend was playing a drow bard.
Bard cast Heat Metal, rogue got a bunch of sneak attacks in, then bard cast some spell I don't remember, to practically ragdoll Nezznar into the air and slammed him into the ground. Hilarious.
Since I would hate for this thread to stay on page three for long, here is a new question: What is your single favourite in-game kill you ever did?
Technically not a "kill" because we were doing a special arena fighting arc, but in an arena group fight with our party facing off against three gladiators, my Tempest Cleric found himself squared off against a Halfling Fighter. She hit me and triggered a strength save, which I failed, knocking me prone, but I used Wrath of the Storm to damage her and Thunderbolt Strike to push her. The push launched her into a boulder, and the combined damage was just enough to knock her out. So the mental image of my Cleric falling and zapping her into a rock so both fell to the ground simultaneously with one not getting back up was awesome.
Edit: just remembered the Black Spider fight from when I first ran LMoP (I say it was a fight, but it was more of a complete and utter thrashing). Sibling was playing the Starter Set rogue, friend was playing a drow bard.
Bard cast Heat Metal, rogue got a bunch of sneak attacks in, then bard cast some spell I don't remember, to practically ragdoll Nezznar into the air and slammed him into the ground. Hilarious.
LOL, my LMoP story from that boss fight probably needs a trigger warning for anyone with a spider phobia. My warlock took two of the spiders out of the fight using a fear spell. After we'd won, the ranger talked to them and turned them into allies and animal companions. Which was great... until about 10 sessions later, when we noticed one of the spiders had a giant lump of about a thousand babies on her back...
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Life tough but we get through. No matter what you gotta keep moving forward, you can’t go back but you can look to your future and go towards your dreams. Your destiny, cease it!
Like most other games and group activities, my favorite part of D&D is spending time with people I cherish. But what sets D&D apart from others is that I get to act and use voices, and as a GM, I do a lot of acting and voices.
Like most other games and group activities, my favorite part of D&D is spending time with people I cherish. But what sets D&D apart from others is that I get to act and use voices, and as a GM, I do a lot of acting and voices.
I wish I had people to cherish and to do this and have fun with.. Nevertheless I shall believe someday some people or someone will share interests with me and we’d get along. 😊
Like most other games and group activities, my favorite part of D&D is spending time with people I cherish. But what sets D&D apart from others is that I get to act and use voices, and as a GM, I do a lot of acting and voices.
I wish I could do voices. I can half-ass a few accents and do really bad impressions of some actors if I work at it, but that's about it
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Like most other games and group activities, my favorite part of D&D is spending time with people I cherish. But what sets D&D apart from others is that I get to act and use voices, and as a GM, I do a lot of acting and voices.
I wish I could do voices. I can half-ass a few accents and do really bad impressions of some actors if I work at it, but that's about it
You don’t have to do accents to “do voices,” just change your voice however you can. Make it a little higher or lower, or talk like a mushmouth, or put a li’l lilt in your voice or a drawl…. Anything really, accents be damned. I can’t do accents either, at least not well, but I can still do voices.
Like most other games and group activities, my favorite part of D&D is spending time with people I cherish. But what sets D&D apart from others is that I get to act and use voices, and as a GM, I do a lot of acting and voices.
I wish I could do voices. I can half-ass a few accents and do really bad impressions of some actors if I work at it, but that's about it
You don’t have to do accents to “do voices,” just change your voice however you can. Make it a little higher or lower, or talk like a mushmouth, or put a li’l lilt in your voice or a drawl…. Anything really, accents be damned. I can’t do accents either, at least not well, but I can still do voices.
Seconding the above. Most folks are going to be happy that someone else is DMing for them and the DM is at least attempting to give the character an accent that actual quality is drastically less important. Frankly, bad accents are almost as much a part of D&D as the party completely misunderstanding the DM's hints--they're almost expected to exist in the game! I know I can do a few decently, and use the above tricks often, but my consistency is often lacking. Still, problems and all, it's been nothing but fun for everyone (even when DMing for professional actors who run circles around my accent work).
Like most other games and group activities, my favorite part of D&D is spending time with people I cherish. But what sets D&D apart from others is that I get to act and use voices, and as a GM, I do a lot of acting and voices.
I wish I could do voices. I can half-ass a few accents and do really bad impressions of some actors if I work at it, but that's about it
You don’t have to do accents to “do voices,” just change your voice however you can. Make it a little higher or lower, or talk like a mushmouth, or put a li’l lilt in your voice or a drawl…. Anything really, accents be damned. I can’t do accents either, at least not well, but I can still do voices.
Seconding the above. Most folks are going to be happy that someone else is DMing for them and the DM is at least attempting to give the character an accent that actual quality is drastically less important. Frankly, bad accents are almost as much a part of D&D as the party completely misunderstanding the DM's hints--they're almost expected to exist in the game! I know I can do a few decently, and use the above tricks often, but my consistency is often lacking. Still, problems and all, it's been nothing but fun for everyone (even when DMing for professional actors who run circles around my accent work).
Going to... what?... third this?
While I do some voice acting (see link below in my signature for my web series, I do one of the main characters and a bunch of other side characters with a few lines)...
Usually when I am DMing, all of my Dwarves sound like that have an accent that comes from Ireland and Scotland crashing into each other. My Tieflings all sound like the Devil who enjoys drinking at bars. My humans all have my voice, just a little deeper.
But... no joke, just this last session - the characters were in a small hamlet (I talked about this in another thread) - but for zero reason, I went to do a voice for one of my human NPCs, and I did it with a southern accent (as stated in the aforementioned thread) - it was "very Tennessee-like" (I'd spent 2 years of my life there) and all my players got a laugh out of it - so I turned this entire hamlet into "Southern folk." While the other NPCs pretty much all sounded the same with that Southern Accent, my players didn't care. It was a lot of fun and something I hadn't done in terms of "voices" for my campaign so everyone - myself included - was having a lot of fun. I drew from those "typical/stereotype" slogans and sayings, "Well, you all jus' sit right on there, and take a load off them feet! You've had a long day fightin' those trolls! It would be down right rude if we didn't take some time to celebrate all you've done for us!"
So you don't need to be great at doing voices! Not even a little. Some DMs don't even do it at all. As long as you're crafting an adventure your players enjoy - that's what matters. Maybe do voices from time to time? Whenever the inspiration hits. Or if you want the town to sound a specific way? No need, certainly, to do it all the time.
Like most other games and group activities, my favorite part of D&D is spending time with people I cherish. But what sets D&D apart from others is that I get to act and use voices, and as a GM, I do a lot of acting and voices.
I wish I had people to cherish and to do this and have fun with.. Nevertheless I shall believe someday some people or someone will share interests with me and we’d get along. 😊
It is difficult making friends, and that is coming from me who can make friends easily! It is definitely one of the hardest soft skills to learn and practice, I just got lucky and happen to be in the right time and place with the right friends. The only soft skill harder than that is getting a date and keeping a partner in my opinion; the stakes are far higher since you are literally planning your life around another person. Being able to make friends easily definitely makes things a lot easier and is very rewarding.
The most important thing in making friends is time. You need lots of time to bond with people to build that relationship. Some of the best places to do that are jobs, schools/classes, volunteering at non-profit organizations, church or spiritual communites, group/club activities (D&D at your local game shop!), etc., basically anywhere that you can see the same person over and over again consistently.
The next most important thing is to be clear you want a friendship with that other person. You do not want to ask strangers "Do you want to be my friend?" cause that is just creepy, but you do want to plant the friendship idea in their head and let them know relatively early. You do not want to waste time and effort on someone who does not want to be your friend. If you are still really shy after you and the other person have exchanged a few conversations, an easy way to plant the friendship idea into their head is saying something like "Hey, we are friends right? Can I get your honest opinion on this blah blah blah...", and most of the time you will get a new friend. If you get some generic ass response with no enthusiasm, which you will occaisionally, that means it is best for you to move on.
Another thing is to show appreciation. From my experience, the easiest and quickest way to get someone to like you is to buy them food and drinks, and it does not have to be expensive. In the US, Arizona drinks are still dirt cheap at $0.99 per can, and pizzas are an inexpensive way to feed a group of people. You do not have to spend money either, spending time and effort on them counts too, and people will notice (if they do not notice, you probably should not be friends with them, they are mooching off of you!). Verbal appreciation is good too, and it is free, just make sure it is genuine and you actually mean it.
And what separates a close friend from an acquaintance-that-is-called-a-friend is vulnerability. At some point, if you really like someone as a friend and you want them to be closer, you will need to show vulnerability. To put it simply, being vulnerable to someone is giving them the tools seriously hurt you and break you, and trusting that they will not do so and backstab you. Take your time with this one though, and do not rush it. Just as you are not going to share the keys to your heart with a random guy or gal you met at the bar, be careful with who you let in and make sure they are really your friend.
Like most other games and group activities, my favorite part of D&D is spending time with people I cherish. But what sets D&D apart from others is that I get to act and use voices, and as a GM, I do a lot of acting and voices.
I wish I could do voices. I can half-ass a few accents and do really bad impressions of some actors if I work at it, but that's about it
What!? Half-assed accents and bad impressions are exactly why I do voices! I am bad with voices, and that is why I find it so fun and entertaining. In fact, I do NOT want to improve my voice, because I want to laugh at myself and make my players smile and giggle.
The only voice I can really pull off is the Valley Girl voice. "Like, oh my go~sh, you got to hear this! I went on a date with Jacob last night, and like, he is sooooooooooo ho~t and cu~te. Like, the way he licks me feels so good it drives me CAH-RAY-ZEE! Like, can you believe how adorbs werewolves are~? GAH!!!" Yes, I am very proud of my home state accent.
Frankly, bad accents are almost as much a part of D&D as the party completely misunderstanding the DM's hints--they're almost expected to exist in the game!
100%. Our last campaign's funniest moments were when our DM tried his best to do a Mexican accent for an NPC in our cowboy adventure. It was barely recognizable as speech, lol.
I think my favorite aspect is the way the procedural elements guide you into expected and unexpected drama, chaos, and humor. The game, the rules and conventions of it, act like a skilled improv partner. They push you into scenarios where you have to think on your feet, and they play along with you and amplify your performance. This is also one of the game's weaknesses, of course. It doesn't know how to help you out when you try to play out certain kinds of scenes, even within its own genre.
But the joy of someone casting a Speak with Animals spell on a nobleman's pet cat, and the DM figuring out just how to handle it? The horror of a critical hit taking out a key player before they can enact their plan? I mean, I can hang out with my friends in any number of contexts, and I can generate memorable tales in other games, but D&D has a wonderful way of producing these moments, which could otherwise be stressful, frustrating, or hollow, from rules which give you a sense of security and reason, even if it's just an illusion. It's quite the trick.
Also, it's worth saying that the "rip it apart and build your own" mentality promoted by the game, while not wholly unique in the TTRPG space, is still hugely influential and inspiring. I doubt there's anyone alive who has played D&D and not had an idea of something they might change, and that sounds like a bad thing, like the game is broken, but it's the opposite. Because most of us have also gone ahead and made that change, right? We've all hacked the game for ourselves in one way or another. Everybody wants to DM eventually. It makes you want to get your hands dirty. It makes you take ownership of your own experience, to a degree, and the experience of your friends, and it's one thing to pick a game that's fun for everyone, but to CHANGE a game to make it MORE fun for everyone, I mean, it's just a beautiful thing.
This is honestly one of the best things about being a DM. The ability of players to come up with the most absurd shenanigans in response to the most mundane things gets me rolling with laughter all the time. I have a homebrew campaign going where all I said was "It's a very nice hat" and suddenly they have a thing for hats and the end of the world and stuff. Absolutely fantastic.
Another fun - "Let's Talk D&D - No OGL Thread" should anyone like to partake in that thread too. (While here's a little of everything, that one specifically talks about - enjoying different aspects of D&D). Figured I'd come here and make folks aware of it should they wanna share some stories, favorite D&D classes, favorite characters, and all that stuff.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Thanks for shedding some light on my thread! I do agree that my thread is a bit more "optimistic" if you know what I mean
If anybody would like my GMing playlists
battles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mRp57MBAz9ZsVpw895IzZ?si=243bee43442a4703
exploration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qk0aKm5yI4K6VrlcaKrDj?si=81057bef509043f3
town/tavern: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/49JSv1kK0bUyQ9LVpKmZlr?si=a88b1dd9bab54111
character deaths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k7WhylJEjSqWC0pBuAtFD?si=3e897fa2a2dd469e
Since I would hate for this thread to stay on page three for long, here is a new question: What is your single favourite in-game kill you ever did?
For myself, our party was fighting the Chardalyn Dragon in Icewind Dale. The DM was angry at me for rolling high on some diplomacy checks he wanted me to fail and rather petty about it (he was a bad person and a worse DM), so, when we got the monster to half health, he just said “and then I grapple your character and fly away with you” with a tone of voice that said “I am finally going to kill your character off.”
Up and up and up we flew, until we were 500 feet up. “I drop you, you fall and take-“ “Actually, I still have my Aasimar wings up—I can fly and you are out of actions. Bonus action, Thunderous Smite, roll to hit” *hits* “I need a strength save” *DM fails strength save* “Your dragon is knocked prone; a flying creature knocked prone falls 500 feet, so looks like you’ll be the one taking 20d6 bludgeoning damage.” *dragon dies*
It was a delightful turn of the tables and rather satisfactory end to that fight.
I have two, one D&D and one non-D&D:
1) The non-D&D was from an old Rolemaster campaign, the system with the giant open-ended critical tables. Our party climbed down into crevasse and found a dragon's lair, which included its child. Still old enough to be a threat though, and when it attacked we killed it. We started grabbing some treasure, then heard mama coming back. Everyone else scrambled up the crevasse... except for my character, who failed his climb role miserably. I hid instead, the dragon came in, saw dead baby, sniffed the air, and came at me. Sighing, I stood up from behind the pile of coins I was behind, pulled out my bow, and proceeded to roll something ridiculous like four or five straight crits on my shot (96 or better on d100). We added them up, checked the chart, and I'd one-shotted the poor thing straight through its eye. Instant death
The GM wasn't happy, and soon after we junked that campaign for a new one with completely different characters. So I basically one-shotted the campaign too
2) The D&D one involves Tomb of Annihilation spoilers, so if you don't want to know, don't look. In the final battle, my tabaxi wizard Chasing Waterfalls
had used the bead of force we found in the beholder's area to encase the atropol and take it out of the fight while we dealt with Acerarak. He eventually had to burn a turn freeing it, which helped us do enough damage to him to force him to flee. That still left the atropol. We were all kind of tapped out of big damaging stuff, but I had bigby's hand up, so I just pushed it down into the lava and held it under. I think there was some mention of the smell of rotting bacon being cooked
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Man, Caerwyn, that DM sounds like a time. I can see why you'd cherish that kill! (In a bit of synchronicity, I also killed the chardalyn dragon with my Aasimar character's wings bamfed out. Mine was much more prosaic, though: I cast Call Lightning.)
My favorite kill was actually a three-person effort that included me, and it was about 5 levels later in RoTF (spoilers ahead). Our DM gutted and rewrote the plot for that adventure, so our campaign climax was actually a fight against Auril. Auril had an army of evil snowmen and vampire kobolds, but she also had a lieutenant - our very own bard, who had died when we were level 2 babies.
When he had died, the DM had Auril snap up his soul to offer him a deal: serve me and I'll resurrect you. He told her to stuff it, so she tried my fighter next: serve me and I'll resurrect your boyfriend; defy me and I'll torment him forever. My fighter also told her to stuff it, and instantly swore she'd kill Auril and find a way to save the bard. Well, the party got into TPK-level trouble a little while later, and the DM had Auril approach the tormented dead bard with a deal in exchange for saving us. This time, the player decided he'd agree - and thus the bard became her vampire lieutenant NPC.
Fast forward to the end of the campaign: We're standing in the ruins of Bryn Shander, our paladin's hometown. Our beloved bard is sending his kobold minions to kill us and we're doing all we can to get through to him without injuring him. And then Auril shows up. My fighter proceeds to play chess with Auril, strategically attacking minions, appealing to the bard's emotions, and riling Auril up. It works, and Auril realizes her vamp strategy is a failure - so she kills the bard. My fighter then shoots Auril in the heart...and destroys her first form. The paladin gets a critical smite and destroys her second form. And the bard's player, with his crazy little warlock, manages to butterfly net Auril's third form in his bag of holding which gets destroyed, sending a beat-up Auril straight into the Astral Plane.
As a player, my favourite (and possibly only big-bad-boss kill) was Klarg, the Bugbear in Cragmaw Cave during my first game I played.
As a DM, my favourite kill is probably the aforementioned Gorthok the Thunder Boar encounter.
Can you tell I'm a forever DM? lol
Edit: just remembered the Black Spider fight from when I first ran LMoP (I say it was a fight, but it was more of a complete and utter thrashing). Sibling was playing the Starter Set rogue, friend was playing a drow bard.
Bard cast Heat Metal, rogue got a bunch of sneak attacks in, then bard cast some spell I don't remember, to practically ragdoll Nezznar into the air and slammed him into the ground. Hilarious.
[REDACTED]
Technically not a "kill" because we were doing a special arena fighting arc, but in an arena group fight with our party facing off against three gladiators, my Tempest Cleric found himself squared off against a Halfling Fighter. She hit me and triggered a strength save, which I failed, knocking me prone, but I used Wrath of the Storm to damage her and Thunderbolt Strike to push her. The push launched her into a boulder, and the combined damage was just enough to knock her out. So the mental image of my Cleric falling and zapping her into a rock so both fell to the ground simultaneously with one not getting back up was awesome.
LOL, my LMoP story from that boss fight probably needs a trigger warning for anyone with a spider phobia. My warlock took two of the spiders out of the fight using a fear spell. After we'd won, the ranger talked to them and turned them into allies and animal companions. Which was great... until about 10 sessions later, when we noticed one of the spiders had a giant lump of about a thousand babies on her back...
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Hey guys, how are you all?
Life tough but we get through.
No matter what you gotta keep moving forward, you can’t go back but you can look to your future and go towards your dreams. Your destiny, cease it!
Like most other games and group activities, my favorite part of D&D is spending time with people I cherish. But what sets D&D apart from others is that I get to act and use voices, and as a GM, I do a lot of acting and voices.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
I wish I had people to cherish and to do this and have fun with.. Nevertheless I shall believe someday some people or someone will share interests with me and we’d get along. 😊
I wish I could do voices. I can half-ass a few accents and do really bad impressions of some actors if I work at it, but that's about it
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
You don’t have to do accents to “do voices,” just change your voice however you can. Make it a little higher or lower, or talk like a mushmouth, or put a li’l lilt in your voice or a drawl…. Anything really, accents be damned. I can’t do accents either, at least not well, but I can still do voices.
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Seconding the above. Most folks are going to be happy that someone else is DMing for them and the DM is at least attempting to give the character an accent that actual quality is drastically less important. Frankly, bad accents are almost as much a part of D&D as the party completely misunderstanding the DM's hints--they're almost expected to exist in the game! I know I can do a few decently, and use the above tricks often, but my consistency is often lacking. Still, problems and all, it's been nothing but fun for everyone (even when DMing for professional actors who run circles around my accent work).
Going to... what?... third this?
While I do some voice acting (see link below in my signature for my web series, I do one of the main characters and a bunch of other side characters with a few lines)...
Usually when I am DMing, all of my Dwarves sound like that have an accent that comes from Ireland and Scotland crashing into each other. My Tieflings all sound like the Devil who enjoys drinking at bars. My humans all have my voice, just a little deeper.
But... no joke, just this last session - the characters were in a small hamlet (I talked about this in another thread) - but for zero reason, I went to do a voice for one of my human NPCs, and I did it with a southern accent (as stated in the aforementioned thread) - it was "very Tennessee-like" (I'd spent 2 years of my life there) and all my players got a laugh out of it - so I turned this entire hamlet into "Southern folk." While the other NPCs pretty much all sounded the same with that Southern Accent, my players didn't care. It was a lot of fun and something I hadn't done in terms of "voices" for my campaign so everyone - myself included - was having a lot of fun. I drew from those "typical/stereotype" slogans and sayings, "Well, you all jus' sit right on there, and take a load off them feet! You've had a long day fightin' those trolls! It would be down right rude if we didn't take some time to celebrate all you've done for us!"
So you don't need to be great at doing voices! Not even a little. Some DMs don't even do it at all. As long as you're crafting an adventure your players enjoy - that's what matters. Maybe do voices from time to time? Whenever the inspiration hits. Or if you want the town to sound a specific way? No need, certainly, to do it all the time.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
It is difficult making friends, and that is coming from me who can make friends easily! It is definitely one of the hardest soft skills to learn and practice, I just got lucky and happen to be in the right time and place with the right friends. The only soft skill harder than that is getting a date and keeping a partner in my opinion; the stakes are far higher since you are literally planning your life around another person. Being able to make friends easily definitely makes things a lot easier and is very rewarding.
The most important thing in making friends is time. You need lots of time to bond with people to build that relationship. Some of the best places to do that are jobs, schools/classes, volunteering at non-profit organizations, church or spiritual communites, group/club activities (D&D at your local game shop!), etc., basically anywhere that you can see the same person over and over again consistently.
The next most important thing is to be clear you want a friendship with that other person. You do not want to ask strangers "Do you want to be my friend?" cause that is just creepy, but you do want to plant the friendship idea in their head and let them know relatively early. You do not want to waste time and effort on someone who does not want to be your friend. If you are still really shy after you and the other person have exchanged a few conversations, an easy way to plant the friendship idea into their head is saying something like "Hey, we are friends right? Can I get your honest opinion on this blah blah blah...", and most of the time you will get a new friend. If you get some generic ass response with no enthusiasm, which you will occaisionally, that means it is best for you to move on.
Another thing is to show appreciation. From my experience, the easiest and quickest way to get someone to like you is to buy them food and drinks, and it does not have to be expensive. In the US, Arizona drinks are still dirt cheap at $0.99 per can, and pizzas are an inexpensive way to feed a group of people. You do not have to spend money either, spending time and effort on them counts too, and people will notice (if they do not notice, you probably should not be friends with them, they are mooching off of you!). Verbal appreciation is good too, and it is free, just make sure it is genuine and you actually mean it.
And what separates a close friend from an acquaintance-that-is-called-a-friend is vulnerability. At some point, if you really like someone as a friend and you want them to be closer, you will need to show vulnerability. To put it simply, being vulnerable to someone is giving them the tools seriously hurt you and break you, and trusting that they will not do so and backstab you. Take your time with this one though, and do not rush it. Just as you are not going to share the keys to your heart with a random guy or gal you met at the bar, be careful with who you let in and make sure they are really your friend.
What!? Half-assed accents and bad impressions are exactly why I do voices! I am bad with voices, and that is why I find it so fun and entertaining. In fact, I do NOT want to improve my voice, because I want to laugh at myself and make my players smile and giggle.
The only voice I can really pull off is the Valley Girl voice. "Like, oh my go~sh, you got to hear this! I went on a date with Jacob last night, and like, he is sooooooooooo ho~t and cu~te. Like, the way he licks me feels so good it drives me CAH-RAY-ZEE! Like, can you believe how adorbs werewolves are~? GAH!!!" Yes, I am very proud of my home state accent.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
100%. Our last campaign's funniest moments were when our DM tried his best to do a Mexican accent for an NPC in our cowboy adventure. It was barely recognizable as speech, lol.
Feels very sensationalized at this point.
I recently picked up miniature painting and it’s been very fun and challenging! I’m excited to get to paint some this weekend.
May the Dice be ever in your favor!!