Critical Role Spotlight is a series of DM and player tips based on the events of this week's episode of Critical Role! Learn from the glowing successes and hilarious mistakes of the Mighty Nein and their illustrious Dungeon Master. This week: learn how to make memorable NPC patrons!

NPCs can sure feel like ungrateful jerks sometimes, huh? The characters went out of their way to save the village, the city, the temple, the kingdom, even the entire WORLD, and people still treat them like dirty tomb-robbers—or worse, ignore them! Let’s figure out how to make saving the realm mean something.

Critical Role Spotlight is a series of DM and player tips based on the events of this week's episode of Critical Role! Learn from the glowing successes and hilarious mistakes of the Mighty Nein and their illustrious Dungeon Master.

After my appearance on Dice, Camera, Action as a giff with James Introcaso, I’m raring to share my love for these spacefaring hippo-people with the world. Read on for giff roleplaying tips, enemy tactics, and even a super-duper unofficial giff race for players.

Take a step back from tactical combat and try these alternate ways to create more abstract maps for your theater of the mind games.

We show you how to run combat in a theater of the mind game in Dungeons & Dragons.

Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage doesn’t have a singular story to tell. It’s a sandbox megadungeon filled with the pieces of a story that you get to put together in any way you want. If that sounds like too much, read on. It’s not as challenging as you think.

There's more to D&D combat than just grids and miniatures. And in a break from editions of the recent past, fifth edition D&D was designed to be played with or without a grid—DM's choice. But with all the benefits that playing on a grid brings, why play gridless? Why play "Theater of the Mind?"

The Port of Shadow is a city of evil hidden beneath the streets of Waterdeep. Accessible only from deep below the earth, it may be your only “safe” haven while exploring the treacherous depths of Undermountain.

Undermountain is filled with ruthless enemies, and while they can all be fought, many can be reasoned with, distracted, or pacified. A manticore could be the first major gatekeeper your party faces in Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. If you’re a Dungeon Master, do you know what makes a manticore tick?

If you’ve never played in a megadungeon campaign like Dungeon of the Mad Mage, you may be in for a rude awakening. Playing D&D in a purely dungeon-based setting is totally different from any other kind of campaign—here are some tips to help you survive this brand-new paradigm.

An introductory guide for D&D fans to the plane of Ravnica, and a guide for Magic: the Gathering fans to the D&D Multiverse.

It’s the early release date for Dungeon of the Mad Mage! Undermountain is one of the largest dungeons in all of Faerûn, and adventurers deserve a fair warning before plumbing its treacherous depths. Durnan, a famed Undermountain explorer-turned-proprietor of the Yawning Portal, has these warnings for any who dare follow in his footsteps.

You have your gold and you’ve made yourself a cozy home in Waterdeep. Things sure are quiet around here, now that the Xanathar—or your villain of choice—has been defeated. What’s a group of adventurers to do?

Heroes who attempt to take down the villainous noble family known as [spoilers!] face one of the darkest choices in all of Dungeons & Dragons. Spoilers ahead! Read on only if you are a Dungeon Master for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.

In Waterdeep, Trolltide is a feast day in which young children dress up in monstrous masks and play tricks. Trolltide may be a springtime holiday, but if you’ve chosen the Xanathar as your villain for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Halloween may be a perfect time for some truly horrific tricks and treats.

This ghastly adventure pits your heroes against the Toadfish Sisters, a coven of sea hags who have created a freakish banderhobb to terrorize a nearby village.

The factions play a prominent role in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, but you're not just a pawn of a faction head, you're an adventurer! You may be doing missions for them to build their trust, but you need payout. Learn how to make your faction work for you in Waterdeep.

In Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, your players will probably find themselves in a place called Trollskull Alley. Spoilers abound: Players, read no further!