I'd like you to address the idea of players wanting to play the most absurd character races all the time. If you look at a modern player character party, finding a human, elf, dwarf, gnome, or halfling is a total rarity. Some players want to play warforged even in a setting that has no provisions for such things. What's your stance on this topic? I want players to be able to play these races in moderation, but it shouldn't feel like the classic D&D races are going out of style!

Worldbuilding: Creating/ Tweaking the Magic System

Shillegah just replaces using your Strength for attack and damage with using your Wisdom; Duelist and the +1 damage should carry over, as long as you only use one hand to wield the weapon. Which you should, as even one handed Shillegah still uses a d8 for damage rolls!

I think a one-player tutorial adventure would be great for teaching new players how to read their sheet and when to roll which dice. You could split the page up into different sections, so it works kind of like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" novel, and the new player could follow a link to the corresponding section. And along the way, they're incrementally preparing themselves for their first real game.

Quote from Unicornelius >>

how do i calculate spell slots for a multiclass of eldritch knight and arcane trickster?

 

 You would add up a third of your levels (rounded down) in Fighter and a third of your levels in Rogue and refer to the multiclass spellcasting table in chapter 6 of the PHB. So if you’re a fourth level Eldritch Knight and a sixth level Arcane Trickster, you would refer to the row for a third level multiclass spellcaster, which gives you 4 1st level slots and 2 2nd level slots.

It think articles on rules lawyering. When is it good and useful and when it is bad. In particular, it would be fun to teach DM's how to describe precedent and having to read the rules carefully.  For instance, the pact of the tome warlock. has several featured that involve replacing their spellbook over a short rest. There is a lack of specificity to it such that it never says the book has the same group of spells, if you keep the spell in the book of ancient secrets, or who chooses the actual cantrips you get. do you get new cantrips when you replace the book? Do you need to re-inscribe the ritual spells? The lack of specificity means you have to arrange that meaning between you and your players. how do you define a precedent for stuff like that?

I NEED to know how to Play and know the stats for my war dog

https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/mastiff

Quote from zmurdercat >>

Were to find a online D&D game.

 

 Someone may have answered this for you already, but if you check out the forums here on D&D Beyond, you can find campaigns that are looking for players. :)

That might be a good question to ask in Session Zero. You could ask players how open they are to surprises related to their backstories, IE, finding out that something about their past was different than they thought it was. I think it really depends on the player you're talking about, and what they have in mind. Some people wouldn't mind that sort of surprise in the game, and other people might be upset about it because they had a certain idea of what the father, for example, was like.

Quote from Walker_the_Wanderer >>

As a relatively new DM, I would love some advice on helping new players develop backstories and incorporating player backstories into the larger narrative.

When it comes to backstories, how in-depth people go will depend on the players you're working with. Certainly having a good idea of the world your campaign is set in is important when assisting the players with backstories, because you'll probably need to work with them make some adjustments to their backstories so they fit the world. Also, you'll want to share information about the world with them to give them inspiration about their backstory, and share information with them that they'd know because of their past. So, in short, it's important to know the world, and to encourage backstory building for anyone who is willing.

Then, when they've created their backstories, there will be characters and events that you can connect to the campaign's plot. For example, one character in my campaign had a powerful, evil father who he was enemies with. I made this PC's father an important nobleman, and gave him connections to other evil groups. This NPC has played a role in the first two adventures of the campaign. Events can also be woven in in a similar way. For example, a different PC's father had gone missing in a fight at sea (he was a pirate). Well, it turns out he wasn't dead as everyone had thought, and finding him is going to be its own adventure. 

People's backstories definitely can add a lot of depth to the campaign. So, to sum up, know your world, encourage backstories and share information about the world, and then pay attention to the characters and events in those backstories to make them important in the campaign you plan.

Quote from ArceusMaster106 >>

How do you start a campaign in a way that’s exciting for your players? I avidly followed your world building article but found myself lost after that.  

 I'd say there are a few keys here that I like to use as best I can. 

1. Give the PCs each a unique adventure hook if you can, or at least a unique reason for being where the hook is presented. 
2. Try to provide motivations that apply to each PC. Some PCs are motivated by money, some by excitement, some by doing something they consider good, and others by certain causes.
3. Make the stakes high. 
4. Provide a mystery with questions that the players really want to have answered. 

I have a new player who isn't very familiar with his class features. I decided that rather than pulling him aside and telling him how to play the character, I would create an NPC as a mentor. Over time this mentor would advise him on spells, battle tactics, and events in the world.

I'd like to see advice on creating and running these type of characters.

Hi. First post. So we started homebrew right off the bat and my group has been playing for about 3 years now every week. The trouble we have all had is water. Swimming, going underwater, weight, attacks, breathing, magic, moving, vision, and pressure and all that. We make up our own stuff, but it all seems to lack something. Any guidance?

I am running a campaing as DM, and we started in the lockdown. My players were new to the game, I had already played D&D for a year. When they face an encounter, the group waits a long time before deciding what to do, and it slows down the game a lot. How could I help them react faster to encounters? 

Underwater environments are described on pg. 116 of the Dungeon Master's Guide, breathing mechanics are desribed on pg. 183 of the Player's Handbook, and Underwater Combat is described on pg. 198 of the Player's Handbook.

(quick summary if you don't want to check:

Swiming: each foot of movement costs 2 feet of movement unless you have a swimming speed

Weight. I don't think there are actually any rules to govern the weight of things like armour, so up to you how you run it. But the Player's handbook suggests that maybe Strength (Athletics) checks be required for some situations (DM's discretion) so maybe you might like to use that for wearing armour or carrying too much

Attacks: Here's wht the PHB has to say: "

When making a melee weapon attack, a creature that doesn't have a swimming speed (either natural or granted by magic) has disadvantage on the attack roll unless the weapon is a dagger, javelin, shortsword, spear, or trident.

A ranged weapon attack automatically misses a target beyond the weapon's normal range. Even against a target within normal range, the attack roll has disadvantage unless the weapon is a crossbow, a net, or a weapon that is thrown like a javelin (including a spear, trident, or dart"

Breathing: PHB tells us this: "

A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds).

When a creature runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 hit points and is dying, and it can't regain hit points or be stabilized until it can breathe again.

For example, a creature with a Constitution of 14 can hold its breath for 3 minutes. If it starts suffocating, it has 2 rounds to reach air before it drops to 0 hit points."

Magic: Works as normal, although here's an important point:

Fire: Creatures completely immersed in water have resistance to fire damage, which may affect spells dealing fire damage

Moving: I'd assume walking along a seabed or the like would eb similar to swimming, each foot of movement costing 2 feet of movement.

Vision: DMG tells us this:

Pressure: We also get this from the DMG:

"Unless aided by magic, a character can’t swim for a full 8 hours per day. After each hour of swimming, a character must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion.

A creature that has a swimming speed — including a character with a ring of swimming or similar magic — can swim all day without penalty and uses the normal forced march rules in the Player’s Handbook.

Swimming through deep water is similar to traveling at high altitudes, because of the water’s pressure and cold temperature. For a creature without a swimming speed, each hour spent swimming at a depth greater than 100 feet counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining exhaustion. Swimming for an hour at a depth greater than 200 feet counts as 4 hours.").

Hope that helps!

(Edit: Just read through this myself, and thought I'd point out this: make sure you've prepared before running anything underwater for a long period of time, there's a lot to remember)

Encounter distances for different terrains. The party is travelling through a wood/desert/town and they encounter an X. How far away is the X?

How about Multiclassing. When should it be allowed, when not? How do you decide what to mutliclass in? And how to actually figure out the numbers? (Spell levels, proficiencies, skills, etc)

Maybe throw in some good combos, some off the beaten path ones, and some real bad ones. 

Two things I am struggling with as a DM, how do I encourage my player to use spells more, one player in particular chose a Sorcerer Elf character but she isn't using spells much, I don't know if it seems confusing or something but she seemed really excited for it when creating the character (first time player).

Also, how do I encourage players to stick with one weapon (maybe two in combat) I have players that will switch almost every round between maces and crossbows, daggers and short swords, bows and flails. All in one fight, I try not to spoil fun or prevent people from doing much but I think it makes the players confused and takes away from the roleplay aspect and becomes almost metagaming. 

Thanks, sorry it's a long question ♥

What are some concrete guidelines for how many of each type of magic item (by rarity and consumable/permanent) for a DM to give to the party over the course of a typical DND campaign? “It depends” or “do what you want” is supremely unhelpful - especially to newer DMs - when we have no baseline to compare it to.