Chapter 14: GM tools box

If you are a player, you don’t need this chapter, you can move to the previous one or look at the creatures next – they are quite cool to read.

We will cover all the mathematics, tables, complex arithmetics and be heavily dedicated to all the analytical aspects of charts and tables to cover most of the basic knowledge that you need to be a game master. After this chapter, you will have a degree in mathematics, logic, and writing.

Are you still here? All the math and tables didn’t scare you?

Nice! In this case, treat this whole chapter as a big “Shin Here”. There will be some quick introduction to elements common for the game master, some ideas to handle and a lot of creation of things – from NPCs to cities and maybe create your first session.

I hope you enjoy!

Who game master?

Remeber, you can always say to the players that you want them dead. But the truth is, you are here with the players to create a amazing experience to everyone.

As the Game Master (GM), you’re the creative force behind a RPG game. You craft an immersive world for your fellow players to explore, and design adventures that drive the story forward. These adventures can be as short as a single session or span multiple sessions, shaping the narrative into an epic campaign.

The GM wears many hats - architect, storyteller, actor, referee - and each one is unique. You’ll need to invent, write, improvise, act out roles, and interpret the rules in response to your players’ actions. Don’t worry if you’re not comfortable with every aspect, focus on the ones that bring you joy.

Remember,this hobby meant to be enjoyable. Feel free to use pre-made adventures or lean on your fellow players for help. The rules are there to guide you, but ultimately, it’s your game and you’re in charge.

Your goal as GM is not to defeat the adventurers, but to create a rich campaign world that responds to their choices and actions. If done well, your campaign will leave a lasting impression on your players, long after the final session concludes.

Know your percentiles

Calculating percentiles on the fly can often be challenging, especially during a game. Here’s a quick guide to help you calculate values mentally.

• 10%: Remove the last digit of the value. (Example: 10% of 362 is 36. Unless needed you can ignore the fractional values.)
• 25%: Halve the value, then halve it again. (Example: 25% of 427 is 213, then 106.)
• 50%: Simply halve the value. (Example: 50% of 1.200 is 600.)
• 75%: Halve the value, halve it again, then add the two results. (Example: 75% of 453 is 226 (half) + 113 (half of half) = 339.)

Know your dice

In this game, dice help decide outcomes, with different dice sizes used for various checks, attacks, and events. Standard dice are labeled by the number of sides: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. But not always possible to use only these dice, maybe you need some very specific numbers so this is the list of how to generate each dice:

• d1: Always 1 (no roll needed)
• d2: Roll a die, odd are 1, even are 2.
• d3: Roll a d6, half the value (round up)
• d4: You have this dice!
• d5: Roll a d10, half the value (round up)
• d6: You have this one (probably more than one!)
• d7: Roll a d8, re-roll in case of 8
• d8: You have this dice!
• d9: Roll a d10, re-roll in case of 10
• d10: You have this dice!
• d11: Roll a d12, re-roll in case of 12
• d12: You have this dice!
• d1X: Roll a d20, if you rolled greater than 1X, re-roll.
• d20: You have this dice!

What makes an NPC?

A non-player character (NPC) is any character controlled by the Game Master. NPCs can be friends or foes, everyday citizens or notable creatures. They include the innkeeper, the old wizard in the tower on the hill, the vengeful death knight, or the dragon hoarding treasure in a deep cavern.

Designing NPCs

Nothing enriches an adventure or campaign like a well-crafted cast of NPCs. That said, NPCs in your game usually don’t need as much depth as a novel or film character. Most NPCs play supporting roles in the story, with the adventurers taking center stage.

Detailed NPCs

Most NPCs won’t need a lot of effort to craft a compelling background and history, just make a quick NPC, attach a random name, and it’s ready to go. When preparing your campaign, you’ll need a major role to fill in, this is the moment when you need a more detailed NPC. For NPCs that play major roles in your story, spend more time developing their history and personality. Summarizing an NPC in ten sentences can be enough, with each sentence covering:

• Name, Species and Level
• Occupation and history
• Appearance and/or Mannerisms
• Abilities and Talents
• Relationships with others
• Useful knowledge
• Ideals, bonds, flaws, and secrets

While this guidance focuses on humanoid NPCs, you can adapt these details to create memorable monster NPCs as well.

Name, species and level

Each Non-Player Character in your campaign should have a distinct name, species, and level. This information provides a foundation for understanding their background, personality, and place within the world.

The name given to an NPC can reveal a great deal about their identity, culture, and social standing. It may be a simple surname, a title of nobility, or even a mystical moniker. The name can also influence how they interact with other characters, reflecting their confidence, humility, or other traits.

The species of an NPC encompasses their physical characteristics, this could also infer curious habits, for example a Elven who only lived among Beastfolkl would be a complete unique NPC. This can include things like humanoid races (human, elf, dwarf), creatures (goblin, kobold, dragon), or even supernatural beings (vampire, werewolf, demon). Their species will often influence how they are perceived by others, as well as their own social status and place within the world. Keep in mind that the specie can also be a non-player specie, for example a Snakefolk creature from a specieie that isn’t available for players.

The level assigned to an NPC is a reference point for other features and abilities. It does not reflect a direct correlation with combat prowess or magical power. Instead, it serves as a guide for determining things like NPC skills, knowledge scores. This abstract value can be used to inform how NPCs interact with each other and the world around them. Also, this class isn’t a player class, for example any name can be used as a class, like: Blacksmith, Noble, Farmer, the idea behind this class is to quick give some idea of the nature and skills of the NPC.

Npc class and level

A NPC class is a genertic class, the idea behind this class is to provide a baseline class that provides minimum amount of information for any character in the camaping to have stats, increments, skill, and if needed, how to calculate it’s HP or mana points.

Class features

• Hit Dice: 1d2 per level on this class
• Hit Points at 1st Level: Constitution score
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1 per level on this class after 1st

A NPC class has no proficiency in Armor, Weapon, Tools, Saves or Skills. Instead it needs it’s own features to receive these type of proficiencies.

Npc features

NPC Features represent specialized abilities or proficiencies that NPCs gain as they progress in level. These features allow NPCs to perform specific functions within the campaign, whether it’s combat, crafting, or social interaction. Use these features to quickly assign proficiencies or skills as needed. Every time a NPC receives a feature, you can apply one of multiple of the following effects:

• Skilled: The NPC gains skill points to use on skills or tool, reflecting their growing expertise in a specific area of knowledge or craft.
• Resilience: The NPC gains proficiency in one saving throw of your choice. This feature can only be chosen once.
• Weapon Proficiency: The NPC becomes proficient with a category of weapons, such as simple or martial weapons.
• Armor Proficiency: The NPC becomes proficient with a type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) or shields.
• Spellcasting: The NPC choose a ability score to be the spellcasting ability (Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma), and a source (Arcana, Divine, Primordial or Wyrd), as a guide use the table for the max spell level, and choose the type of caster :
  • One Third Caster: one-third of NPC level (round down, min of 1) mana points. Knows up 3 spells.
  • Half Caster: half of NPC level (round down, min of 1) mana points. Knows up to 5 spells.
  • Full Caster: NPC level mana points. Knows up to 10 spells.

Improvement (NPC)

At the listed levels, you can choose one of the following options (maximum ability score of 16):

• Increase one ability score by 2.
• Increase two ability scores by 1.
• Increase one ability score by 1 and choose a talent.

Random name and specie

Pick at least three dices at random, and roll on the table. Roll the then and check on the table, if you need sum some dice to get other options.

Roll a d20 to determine the NPC’s species.

Occupation and history

Briefly describe the NPC’s occupation and a piece of their history that suggests their background. What do they do for a living? Are they a skilled craftsman, a respected scholar, or a seasoned adventurer?

Perhaps they served in an army, honing their combat skills and earning a reputation as a fearless warrior. Maybe they were imprisoned for a crime, only to emerge from the experience with a newfound appreciation for life on the outside. Or maybe they once embarked on thrilling adventures themselves, seeking fortune, fame, or something more.

Appearance and mannerism

Unless you are a skilled artist and have a lot of time to make drawings to keep reference of all the important NPCs, your best ally will be a good description. It also helps to include some mannerisms on the NPC, this could be a way of speaking or a catchphrase that the NPC always uses. If you’re in a hurry, you can use this table to help the process.

Abilities and talents

Instead of rolling full ability scores, note any traits that stand out, like remarkable strength or notable weakness. To add variety, roll a d6 for an above-average ability (for instance, a Strength score of 14 or higher), and roll again for a below-average ability. Also you can add a unique skill or talent that makes the NPC memorable. Use the NPC Talents table below for inspiration or roll for a random talent:

Interactions with others

An NPC’s behavior during interactions depends on their personality, background, and relationship with the players. Building these connections can help you portray each NPC as unique and memorable. Here’s a deeper breakdown of how to structure NPC interactions:

1. Interaction Styles
   • Direct: The NPC is straightforward and to the point. This style is typical for military leaders, mercenaries, or practical-minded individuals. They avoid small talk and speak with clarity.
   • Cautious: Reserved in interactions, perhaps due to past betrayals or suspicion. They may take time to trust the players and respond guardedly until they feel safe.
   • Friendly: Open and welcoming, offering a warm demeanor that helps build rapport. Friendly NPCs often add light-heartedness or humor and may become allies.
   • Deceptive: Skilled in hiding their true intentions or motives, these NPCs might mislead players or selectively reveal information. Use subtle cues (e.g., shifting eyes, ambiguous phrasing) to hint at deception.
2. Interaction Factors
   • Relationship History. If an NPC and a player character share a history, emphasize shared experiences or past conflicts. For example, a merchant might refuse service if the players previously offended them.
   • Social Hierarchy. NPCs from structured backgrounds (e.g., nobility, military) may behave differently based on rank. A noble NPC might expect respect and respond poorly to casual behavior.
   • Personal Goals. Consider how the NPC’s goals align or conflict with the players. A healer NPC aiming to protect their village may be wary of players planning dangerous adventures nearby.
3. Emotional Triggers
   • Positive Triggers. Topics or gestures that make an NPC warm up to the players. For example, a blacksmith NPC may appreciate genuine praise for their craftsmanship.
   • Negative Triggers. Subjects or behaviors that provoke irritation or distrust. A noble NPC might bristle at mentions of wealth disparity or insults to their family name.
4. Changing Attitudes Over Time
   • Building Trust. Acts of kindness or assistance may gradually make an NPC more open, share useful information, or even become a long-term ally.
   • Losing Favor. Negative interactions can lead to mistrust, hostility, or refusal to cooperate. If players take advantage of an NPC, they may become wary or even confrontational.
   • Influence Through Dialogue. Players can influence an NPC’s attitude by appealing to their ideals, referencing shared goals, or offering valuable assistance.
5. Dynamic Interaction Scenarios
   • Interruption. What does the NPC do when interrupted? They might respond with annoyance, adapt to the new focus, or use it as an opportunity to exit the conversation.
   • Negotiation. How does the NPC handle bartering, favors, or offers? Some NPCs will be strict with prices, while others might value non-monetary gestures.
   • Persuasion Attempts. If players try to convince the NPC of something, consider the NPC’s ideals, bonds, and flaws to determine how difficult it is to sway them.
6. Sample Interaction Prompts
   • Friendly NPC: “Ah, travelers! Tell me, what stories do you bring from the road? I have a few of my own, but I’d love to hear of your adventures.”
   • Suspicious NPC: “I don’t know who you are, nor do I care for strangers meddling in my business. Best state your intentions and be quick about it.”
   • Grateful NPC: “I owe you a great debt. Whatever I can offer, be it shelter or supplies, it’s yours.”
   • Intimidating NPC: “You best tread carefully in my presence. I am not one to tolerate foolishness or disrespect.”

Random relationships and interactions

Roll a d8 to determine initial attitude.

Roll a d12 to determine an interaction trait.

Useful knowledge

Every NPC, regardless of importance, has knowledge they may share with the player characters. Providing each NPC with a handful of small, distinct pieces of information (3–5) can make interactions with them richer and create natural storytelling opportunities. These pieces can be factual, subjective, or even incorrect, adding depth and potential for player strategy.

Types of information to consider

Use with care the incorret information, and always give the hint that the NPC may not be aware that he is wrong.

• Critical Clues: Directly relevant details to the players’ quest or goals. These should be impactful but potentially guarded, requiring players to earn the NPC’s trust.
• Everyday Facts: Commonplace knowledge about the NPC’s environment or people, adding realism and helping players piece together the world.
• Personal Stories or Biases: Subjective opinions or experiences, which may reveal more about the NPC’s personality and perspective, influencing how players perceive their information.
• Distracting or Incorrect Information: Details that could be misleading or irrelevant, either because of the NPC’s misunderstanding or due to misinformation.
• Rumors or Hearsay: Hints about distant events, mysterious characters, or potential dangers, encouraging players to explore or stay wary.

Information-sharing scenarios

Not all NPCs will share their knowledge willingly. Consider each NPC’s motives, trust levels, or willingness to engage:

• Open Sharing: An NPC eager to help or chat might volunteer information freely.
• Guarded Sharing: Some NPCs may only reveal crucial knowledge when persuaded, bribed, or reassured.
• Misleading Sharing: Certain NPCs, especially those with a bias or agenda, might share only selective or slanted information, creating room for player investigation.

Quick table for information

Since this type of information heavily depends on the context of the adventure, it’s not easy to provide a quick reference table for this type of situation. In this case, use the following examples as a guideline for the type of information required in each category.

Ideals, bonds, flaws, and secrets

Ideals represent the core beliefs that guide the NPC’s actions. Uncovering an NPC’s ideal can influence social interactions. The table below offers suggestions for ideals that align with different values, however, any character may hold any ideal regardless of alignment.

Bonds represent people, places, or objects of significance to the NPC. Learning about an NPC’s bond can aid in social encounters. Below are broad bond suggestions:

Flaws and/or Secrets are vulnerabilities or hidden truths that could jeopardize the NPC’s goals or expose their past. Uncovering these can provide leverage in interactions. Use the table below for inspiration:

Each of these elements helps add depth and uniqueness to NPCs, enhancing both their role in the story and interactions with player characters.

Example of NPCs

Isn’t perfect to just copy NPC’s from one place to another, there is always a little bit of work to move the correct parts from one side to another or to fit the theme or area of the adventure. Let’s craft a couple of NPC’s to show some examples:

Quick NPC example

Garla “Ironhand” Stone (Male Human, Blacksmith Level 5)

Appearance and Mannerisms: Garla is a stocky dwarf with powerful arms, a burn scar down her right cheek, and soot-stained clothing. Her hair is tied back in a rough braid, and she sports a faded tattoo of a hammer on her forearm. She speaks in a low, gravelly voice and tends to grunt rather than say “yes” or “no.”

Occupation and History: Garla has been the village blacksmith for over two decades. Rumor has it that she lost her pinky in a fight with bandits while protecting her forge, a story she neither confirms nor denies.

Abilities and Talents:

• Expert Craftsmanship: Known for crafting durable weapons, though they may lack elegance.
• Endurance: Can work long hours without tiring, often seen hammering well into the night.

Useful Knowledge:

• “If you’re looking for quality weapons, the next town over has a shop run by a fancy elf. All decoration, no substance. My weapons will outlast you.”
• “Watch out for the road south of town. Bandits are said to have moved in since the last guard patrol.”
• “If you find ore or strange metals, bring them here. I’ll buy ‘em off you for a fair price.”

Personal Bias: Dislikes “pretty-boy” merchants and craftsmen who prioritize looks over quality.

Usage in Game: Garla is a practical, memorable NPC who can provide the players with basic gear, local information, and a touch of local color without needing an elaborate backstory. She’s likely to be remembered for her gruff manner and dedication to quality, making her an easy go-to resource when players need supplies or information on recent dangers.

Detailed NPC: example

For this NPC I’ll use a creature block template to be easier to use alongisde with other creatures, in special since important NPC tend to be captured by goblins, or deal with bandits from time to time.

What makes a city?

A city’s essence lies in its complexity, where culture, governance, and purpose shape its unique character. From bustling trade hubs to spiritual sanctuaries, each city reflects its people, resources, and environment. Understanding these elements helps game masters craft vibrant urban settings for adventures and memorable encounters.

Village, town, city and metropolis

These classifications reflect the population size, complexity, and influence of a community.

Villages are small, rural communities focused on agriculture or basic trade, with minimal services and population.

Towns are moderately sized areas with essential services like inns, shops, and a few specialized artisans.

Cities serve as bustling urban centers with diverse services, trade, and complex social structures, often including law enforcement and a mix of social classes.

Metropolises are vast urban hubs at the heart of a kingdom or empire, featuring advanced infrastructure, multiple power factions, and nearly any imaginable service or luxury.

City foundation and purpose

Creating a compelling city involves thoughtful consideration of several key aspects:

City Purpose and Role: Determine the city’s primary function and unique identity. Is it a bustling trade hub, a center of learning, a religious sanctuary, or a military stronghold? Understanding its role helps shape its economy, culture, and the types of adventures players might encounter. This is common suggestion for the purpose of a city:

Geography and Layout: Consider the city’s terrain and how it’s organized. Is it nestled in a valley, perched on a cliff, or sprawling across plains? The geography influences the city’s defenses, architecture, and daily life. For instance, a city by the sea might have a bustling port district, while a mountain city could have terraced neighborhoods. Use the following as a guide to help.

History and Founding Myths: Develop the city’s origin stories, significant historical events, and local legends. These narratives add depth and can provide hooks for adventures. Perhaps the city was founded by a legendary hero, survived a great calamity, or is rumored to have hidden treasures beneath its streets. If you need ideas, on average for every 50 years a city would have one for the following historical events:

Population and Demographics: Detail the city’s inhabitants, including their races, cultures, and social structures. A diverse population can lead to rich cultural exchanges and potential conflicts. Consider the presence of various guilds, noble families, and marginalized groups, each with their own agendas and relationships. If you need a demographics, builds, and possible relationships between the species use the following table.

Economy and Trade: Explore the city’s industries, markets, and trade connections. What goods are produced locally, and what is imported or exported? The economy affects the city’s wealth distribution, political power, and daily life. A city rich in resources might attract merchants and thieves alike, while a city in decline could be rife with poverty and unrest. If you need ideas for how the wealth is distributed, or what the city needs and exports, use the following tables as guide:

Culture and identity

Cultural Identity and Traditions: Establish the unique customs and traditions that define the community. Consider key festivals celebrated throughout the year, such as harvest festivals, religious observances, or historical commemorations. Explore cultural values that shape daily life, such as communal living, respect for elders, or the importance of trade. Highlight local cuisine, traditional clothing, and art forms, which may include music, dance, and crafts unique to the city. Include how these traditions affect the community’s relationships and interactions with outsiders, as well as the roles of various social classes within cultural practices. If you need some guide, use the following table:

Architecture and Aesthetics: Define the architectural styles prevalent in the city, influenced by its culture, resources, and history. Describe materials used in construction, such as stone, wood, or magical elements, and how these materials reflect the city’s identity. Highlight notable landmarks, such as grand cathedrals, government buildings, bustling marketplaces, or ancient ruins that tell the story of the city’s past. Discuss how public spaces are designed, including parks, plazas, and monuments, as well as the presence of art in public places, such as sculptures or murals that depict significant events or figures from the city’s history. Use the following table as reference:

Notable Figures and Organizations: Introduce key NPCs who play significant roles in the city’s cultural identity, such as influential leaders, artists, or scholars who have shaped its traditions and values. Describe prominent guilds, trade organizations, or religious groups that hold power and influence within the community. Explore their goals, rivalries, and contributions to the city’s culture, economy, and politics. Discuss any historical figures who have left a lasting legacy, as well as emerging leaders or organizations that may shape the city’s future. This section should provide a rich tapestry of relationships and dynamics that drive the city’s identity and interactions among its inhabitants. Use the NPC rules for generating possible NPC’s to use in the city.

Governance and law

Government and Law: Outline the ruling structure, legal systems, and power dynamics that govern the city. This includes the form of government in place, how power is distributed among leaders, and the ways in which laws are enforced. Discuss the relationship between the rulers and the populace, and how laws reflect the city’s cultural values and societal norms. Consider the implications of the government type on daily life, economic stability, and social order. Use the following table as a guide:

Royal Titles and Nobles: Provide a table with common titles and their attributions. This can include titles such as Duke, Baron, Countess, and other noble ranks. Describe the privileges and responsibilities associated with each title, how these individuals influence governance, and their roles within the community.

City Laws and Restrictions: Describe unique laws that govern the city, including curfews, trade regulations, and specific restrictions based on cultural or historical contexts. Highlight any significant laws that reflect the city’s values or priorities, such as laws protecting public order, commerce, or magical practices. Discuss areas of the city that may be restricted, such as temples, noble estates, or marketplaces, and the reasons behind these restrictions.

Defense, Security, and Crime Punishment: Detail the city’s defenses, including walls, guards, and military forces. Describe notable threats the city faces, whether from external enemies or internal unrest. Explore the legal system’s structure, including how crimes are punished, ranging from fines and imprisonment to more severe penalties. Discuss the presence of a city watch or guard, their role in maintaining order, and the relationship between law enforcement and the populace.

City structure and resources

Districts and Neighborhoods: Divide the city into distinct districts or neighborhoods, each with its own purpose, character, and atmosphere. Residential areas, markets, guild quarters, and noble districts all bring unique dynamics to the city. Describe the social and economic differences between neighborhoods, and consider the influence of cultural, religious, and trade elements that make each area feel unique.

How to create a structure

Structures are notable buildings or locations within a district that serve as points of interest for players to interact with. Each structure has a purpose, a unique character, and often a designated owner or group that maintains it. When designing structures, consider the following guidelines:

• Define Key Functions: Decide what purpose each structure serves within its district. It could be a bustling marketplace, a temple, a guild hall, or a secret hideout.
• Determine Ownership: Assign an owner or group responsible for each structure, whether it’s a prominent noble family, a guild, a religious order, or a criminal organization. This adds depth and potential story hooks.
• Add Unique Features: Each structure should have distinct traits that reflect the district’s character. Think about architectural style, materials, defenses, or magical enhancements.

Structure special features

Some structures may have special features. For example, a temple or shrine might reduce the mana cost of a spell, or a training ground could shorten the time required to learn weapon skills. No district should have more than one structure with special features, as these are rare and can be a compelling reason for an adventuring party to travel to a specific city.

The values for these properties are relatively modest, but you can increase the reductions or benefits as “special secrets” offered by the structure’s owner. Keep in mind, however, that if a place sells plate armor for 10 gp, it would likely have a line stretching as long as the planet’s diameter to buy it in bulk. So, be reasonable.

Abundance of Resource: A specific item or set of items is 50% discounted in this structure.

Alternative Materials: This structure allows the use of uncommon materials for crafting items. For example, a plate could be made of wood instead of metal, or a sword crafted from hardened glass.

Gathering Spot: When carousing in this structure, the player receives an additional +10 on checks.

Healer’s Den: While receiving healing from spells or hit dice, treat each die as its maximum value. Additionally curses can be removed in this structure without the usage of mana points for the spell.

Magical Resource: While casting spells inside this structure, the mana cost is reduced by 1 (minimum of 1).

Mana Fountain: This structure is deeply connected with mystical energies. While inside, characters can recover 1 mana point once per hour.

Master or Teacher: This structure has a teacher who provides efficient training. Each day’s training in this structure counts as three days toward increasing a skill, tool, or gaining proficiency in a new weapon or armor.

Plane Touched: This structure is connected to other planes, removing location-based restrictions on spells or features, though it does not increase distance.

Quality Ingredients: When crafting in this structure, the cost per check is reduced by 10%.

Rare Ingredients: This structure has access to a special ingredient or resource that can be used for crafting.

Runic Warding: While inside this structure, creatures receive a +2 bonus on saving throws.

Specialized Caster: This structure has a specialized caster with spells of a higher level than typical for the city size.

Specialized Worker: While using this structure for crafting, treat any roll under 10 as a 10.

Spell Access: This structure allows certain spells to be cast within it or adds a list of spells accessible for casters to cast.

Examples of cities

Village Example: Lower River

This simple example illustrates the most basic village setup, with a small population, discounted goods, and a straightforward government structure. The first consideration is the foundation and purpose of the village. Here are the rolled outcomes:

The purpose of the village is a (3) military stronghold, located in a (8) dense forest clearing. According to history, the village was founded by a figure rumored to be divinely blessed (11).

For population, the village is home to 107 people (2 from the d6 x 50, and added another 1d10 a roll of 7, to break the whole number). The demographic roll (5, on the general percentile) indicates the primary residents are Human, with a secondary roll (72, on the diverse percentile) adding Tieflings. Using the 75%, 20%, and 5% distribution model, the village has 81 Humans, 21 Tieflings, and a mix of five other inhabitants (using the d10): Dwarf (2), Elf (3), two Aasimar (5, we already have the Tiefling), and Minotaur (10, and another roll to define either option). These unique individuals can serve as notable NPCs within the village.

The village guild focuses on (7) Arts and Culture, which adds an interesting layer to the military atmosphere, especially given a (13) mutual benefit relationship between the arts guild and the government. Wealth distribution is skewed (7), with commanders holding the majority of resources. Local resources include (5) special spices from the area, adding to its distinct identity. The village tradition centers around a military celebration during the winter (8).

The “Culinary Arts and Culture Guild” prefers to collect and treat the spices from the forest as close as possible in order to keep them in a better state for transportation to nearby cities. In addition, there is also a small group of special cakes and breads. The Lower River helps fund the guild to attract more people to the city, while the guild thrives on the fresh spices.

The aesthetic of the village follows a (8) rustic hobbiton style, with a notable landmark: (4) a fairy grove. Public spaces include a (8) festival and tournament grounds, which is also the main entertainment venue for village games. For governance, an initial roll of 74 suggested democracy, but a militocracy better suits this setting, with a Commander, First Officer, and Troops Leader overseeing operations. With about half the residents involved in military service, a restriction on training grounds applies, allowing only military personnel access and encouraging more villagers to enlist.

In terms of defenses, the village has walls constructed from strong logs, covering most open areas with two main gates. The village faces a notable issue (9): a cult that conducts dark rituals in the surrounding forest. Lower River includes (2) additional structures outside the stronghold quarters: a (1) bakery and a (7) general store.

With all these elements, the village of Lower River is ready for further development into a compelling setting.

Let’s start with the commander of this village and the stronghold that he oversees:

And his first mate:

And finnaly let’s make a few soliders to have as example, just in case.

With this out of the way, we can focus on the districts. This village have only one distrcit, the Garnisson quarters, where the military trains. The main building of the stronghold is also responsable for the administrative work, clerks and all the other needs. The solders keep a watchfull eye on the needs of this village and work for the accounting and numbers to be correct every winter when the celebration happens in the main ground on the center of the village.

Around the center of the village there is two notable buildings the Bakery which also serves as inn with a few available room, and the General Store which also server as the trading market for migrant merchants.

After these two structures defined, the only thing left is to create the last two unique characters in this village, the two Aasimar.

With this, we have most of the village completed, ready to serve as a setting for adventures when needed. For larger cities, you’ll simply need to create additional districts, unique structures, and expanded areas for exploration, adding layers of complexity and intrigue to engage players in richer urban adventures.

What makes a monster?

Monsters add depth to games by providing challenges, world-building opportunities, moral dilemmas, exploration drives, and character growth. They embody a setting’s lore, present nuanced villains, and foster role-playing choices. Through combat encounters, monsters test players’ skills, strategies, and values, enriching the gaming experience. This book already includes a section with some monsters that can be used in most campaings, but sometimes you need a little spice in the mosnter, for these cases you can:

• Reskinning an Existing Monster: This involves taking the stat block of an existing creature and altering its description to fit a new concept. Mechanically, the monster remains the same, but its appearance and narrative role are changed. For example, you might describe a Giant Constrictor Snake as a mass of writhing, inky-black tentacles, giving it a different flavor without altering its statistics.
• Modifying an Existing Monster: This method entails adjusting the statistics, abilities, or traits of a current monster to better suit your campaign’s needs. You might increase its hit points, add new abilities, or change its resistances. For instance, creating a variant of the Hobgoblin by adding shadow-based abilities and altering its alignment to Chaotic Evil can provide a fresh challenge for players.
• Building a Monster from Scratch: This approach involves designing a completely new creature, defining its abilities, statistics, and lore. It’s the most time-consuming method but allows for maximum creativity. When building from scratch, consider the monster’s role in your campaign, its challenge rating, and how it interacts with player characters. Resources like the Dungeon Master’s Guide provide guidelines for creating balanced and engaging monsters.

Monster templates

Monster Templates are small, modular features that you can apply to a creature, transforming its abilities and creating new, unexpected encounters. Use these templates to quickly modify existing monsters, adding versatility and depth to your encounters. If a template adds a new attack option, choose an existing attack and modify it to accommodate the new attack option. If a feature requires a save, the default saving throw is 8 + Proficiency bonus + a chosen ability.

Defender

Improved AC: Increase this monster AC by +2.

Swift Protection: When a ally within 3 sqr. (4.5 m) is hit by a melee attack, you can use your reaction to move adjacent to the ally and receive the damage instead.

Beserker

Enhanced Strikes: Add one extra weapon damage die to the monster’s melee attacks.

Spellcaster

Spellcaster: This monster can cast spells from a single source. Use the following table to adjust the mana points, spells known. Choose a spellcasting ability for this feature to calculate Spell Attack (proficiency bonus + ability mod.) and Spell DC (8 + proficiency bonus + ability mod.)

Ranged specialist

Ranged Mastery: This monster receives +2 on ranged attacks.

Melee specialist

Aggressive Advance: The monster can move up to half its movement speed toward the closest enemy as a bonus action.

Breaker

Armor Sunder: As an action, this monster make an melee attack, if it this, deal no damage to its target if it hits. Instead, it reduces the target’s AC by 1. If the AC is reduced by 5, the target’s non-magical armor is broken.

Shattering Blow: Once per rest, as a bonus actions, this monster can empower itself, the next attack on this turn deals double the amount of weapon dice damage.

Skilled

Skill Training: This monster receives 5 skill points.

Specialist

Expersite: This monster reiceves expertise in a skill.

Elemental

Elemental Infusion: Change the damage from one attack to the chosen element: fire, cold, lightning or thunder.

Poisonous

Toxic Attacks: Pick one attack action. When this attack hit, the target must succeed a Constitution save or become poisoned for the next hour.

Fearmonger

Aura of Dread: Once per rest, as an action, all creatures within 6 sqr. (9m) must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened. A frightened creature can repeat this save at the end of its next turn, if it succeeds, the effect ends.

Tank

Enhanced Vitality: Increase this monster maximum HP to this monster constitution score.

Custom template

Sometimes you need an even more special template. It can add flavor and help tie together various monster designs. You can use the following as example:

Undead legion

Undead legionnaire

Immunities: poison

Resistances: poison, necrotic

Necromancer

Aplly the Spellcaster and Undead Legionare template. Additionally receives the following:

Raise Dead: Once per long rest, as an action the monster can summon 1d4 skeletons or zombies to fight alongside it, these undead remains loyal to this monster until the next dawn.

Vampiric

Aplly the Undead Legionare template. Additionally receives the following:

Drain Touch: Pick one melee attack, if this attack deals damage, this monster recovers half of the damage dealt.

Shadow touched

Aplly the Undead Legionare template. Additionally receives the following:

Shadow step: As an action this creature can become partially invisible and faded until the start of the next turn. While in this form receives resistance to slashing, bludgeoning and piercing damage. Additionally if in dim light, it becomes fully invisible.

Making a monster from scratch

When re-skilling a monster doesn’t fit the need, and templates are not enough, it’s necessary to create a monster from scratch. This is very often the case when making a boss for a campaign or a special monster.

1. Conceptualize the Monster: Begin by defining the monster’s role, appearance, behavior, and ecological niche. Consider its origin, motivations, and how it interacts with the world.
2. Determine Challenge Rating (CR): Decide on the appropriate CR based on the desired difficulty level for your players. This will guide the monster’s overall power and abilities.
3. Assign Ability Scores: Allocate Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores that align with the monster’s concept and intended capabilities.
4. Calculate Hit Points (HP): Based on the monster’s size and Constitution modifier, determine its HP using the formula: HP = (number of Hit Dice) × (average die roll) + (Constitution modifier × number of Hit Dice).
5. Set Armor Class (AC): Establish the monster’s AC by considering its natural armor, dexterity, and any protective equipment it might possess.
6. Define Speed and Movement Types: Specify the monster’s movement speeds, including walking, flying, swimming, climbing, or burrowing, as applicable.
7. Assign Skills and Saving Throws: Determine which skills and saving throws the monster is proficient in, reflecting its nature and abilities.
8. Establish Damage Resistances, Immunities, and Vulnerabilities: Identify any damage types the monster resists, is immune to, or is vulnerable to, based on its physiology and lore.
9. Determine Senses and Languages: Outline the monster’s sensory capabilities (e.g., darkvision) and the languages it understands or speaks.
10. Create Special Traits, Abilities and Actions: Develop unique features that set the monster apart, such as innate spellcasting, regeneration, or other special abilities.
11. Finalize the Stat Block: Compile all the information into a cohesive stat block, ensuring clarity and consistency.
12. Playtest and Adjust: Test the monster in a controlled setting to assess its balance and make necessary adjustments based on the outcomes.

Conceptualize the monster

This is the first step. If you need a custom monster, you already have this step defended, enough to move on to the next step. However, if you haven’t, there’s a fair chance that you can use one of the previous methods to create a custom monster.

Determine challenge rating (cr)

This is the initial step. A quick way to look at it is the party level, this is the starting point. If you want to make it harder, increase by 1 or 2, if you want to have helpers and hirelings, reduce by 1 or 2.

Assign ability scores

You can use one of the following examples for you character. Keep in mind that if you want to have 20s on all stats, this is totally ok, just increase the CR by 1 or 2 for this type of situation.

Calculate hit points (hp)

You can calculate the HP you need to define the size of the creature. Once the creature size is determined, you need to use the constitution score, apply the adjustment (one quarter for tiny, half for small…) and after that use the average (or roll) the amount of hit dice based on the CR of the creature. If you want to increase the amount of hit dice, you can increase or decrease by a couple without any change on the CR.

Set armor class (ac)

If the creature uses armor, just use the item armor class. If you need an average, you can use the followign table as reference.

Define speed and movement types

When creating a new monster, establishing its movement speeds and types adds depth and realism to its behavior and role in encounters. Each monster should have a base walking speed, and, depending on its physiology or environment, may also include additional movement types such as flying, swimming, climbing, or burrowing. For earlier levels, avoid the usage of fly and burrowing since the player would not have a way to handle this type of creature, in these cases increase the CR of the creature by 1.

Movement Types

• Walking: The default movement type for most creatures. Average walking speed for Medium creatures is typically 6 sqr. (9m).
• Flying: If the monster has wings or magical abilities, it may have a flying speed, enabling it to soar above combat or traverse obstacles. Flying creatures often have speeds equal to or slightly greater than their walking speed.
• Swimming: Monsters adapted to aquatic environments may have a swimming speed, allowing them to move effectively through water without requiring Athletics checks.
• Climbing: Monsters with claws or specialized limbs may have a climbing speed, allowing them to move up and down surfaces such as walls, cliffs, or trees at normal speed.
• Burrowing: For creatures adapted to life underground, a burrowing speed lets them tunnel through soil or soft ground. Some monsters with this speed can create difficult terrain for players by digging.

Speed Considerations

• Adjust for Size: Larger creatures may have slower movement speeds (e.g., 4-5 sqr. for Huge or Gargantuan creatures) unless their abilities compensate for the size.
• Environment Adaptation: Consider the monster’s natural habitat when assigning movement types. An aquatic creature likely benefits from a high swim speed, while a creature from the Underdark may have a burrowing speed.

Assign skills and saving throws

A Challenge Rating smaller than 3 doesn’t require saving throws. Creatures with a CR between 3 and 10 are limited to one saving throw. Those with a CR above 10 may have up to two saving throws. If a creature has more than two saving throws, its CR should be adjusted by increasing it by 1 or 2. For skills, the monster will have up to it’s own CR in skill points to be used.

Establish damage resistances, immunities, and vulnerabilities

Damage resistances, immunities, and vulnerabilities add depth to monsters, creating opportunities for strategic play as players discover how to overcome these defenses. These traits reflect a monster’s physiology, magical nature, or environmental adaptations, influencing its durability in combat.

In general, monsters with a CR below 5 typically lack resistances. Monsters with a CR between 5 and 10 may have a single resistance, while those above CR 10 can have up to two resistances. If a creature has more than two resistances, consider increasing its CR by 1 or 2 to maintain balance.

Don’t overdo it when it comes to immunity and vulnerability. A couple of uses on an adventure is perfectly fine, but avoid overusing them.

Immunities are a strong feature, if a monster has an immunity, increase its CR by 1. Multiple immunities are rarer, and in such cases, increase the CR even further. Vulnerabilities, on the other hand, decrease the monster’s CR.

Determine senses and languages

Senses and languages give monsters distinct ways of perceiving and interacting with their surroundings, which can impact encounters in unique ways. These attributes reflect a monster’s nature, origin, and role within the world.

Senses

A monster’s senses define how it perceives its environment beyond ordinary sight. The most common senses include:

• Darkvision: Allows the monster to see in darkness as if it were dim light. Darkvision is typical for creatures adapted to dark or underground environments, such as drow, goblins, and other subterranean monsters.
• Blindsight: Enables a monster to perceive its surroundings without relying on sight, often within a limited range. Blindsight is useful for creatures that hunt in total darkness or lack physical eyes, like bats or oozes.
• Tremorsense: Allows the monster to detect and locate vibrations in the ground, providing awareness of creatures in contact with the same surface. Tremorsense is often found in burrowing creatures, such as worms and some insects.
• Truesight: Grants the monster the ability to see through illusions, invisibility, and even into the Ethereal Plane. Truesight is rare and typically reserved for highly magical or supernatural creatures, such as celestials and powerful fiends.

The range of each sense should match the monster’s environment and CR. For example, a creature native to the Underdark may have darkvision out to 24 sqr. (36m), while a surface-dwelling creature may have a shorter range.

Languages

Languages represent the monster’s ability to communicate and comprehend. Common options include:

• Common Languages: Many humanoid monsters, like orcs or goblins, may speak common languages such as Common, Dwarvish, or Elvish, making interaction with players possible.
• Exotic Languages: Monsters from specific realms or magical origins might speak rarer languages, like Abyssal, Celestial, or Draconic, reflecting their unique heritage or mystical nature.
• Telepathy: Some creatures, especially those with high intelligence or psychic abilities, can communicate telepathically, often within a specific range, allowing them to share thoughts without spoken language.

Consider the monster’s intelligence and origin when assigning languages. A beast with low intelligence may lack any language, while a magical or ancient creature may understand multiple languages or communicate telepathically. This choice can provide players with clues about the creature’s nature and potential interactions.

Create special traits, abilities and actions

Special traits and abilities set your monster apart, giving it unique features that can surprise and challenge players. These characteristics reflect the monster’s nature, origin, and role in your campaign, providing depth and flavor to its interactions and combat tactics.

Designing special traits

When creating special traits, consider the following:

• Thematic Consistency: Ensure the abilities align with the monster’s concept and environment. For example, a fire elemental might have the Fire Form trait, damaging creatures that touch it.
• Balance and Fairness: Design abilities that challenge players without being overpowering. Abilities should have clear limitations and, if necessary, saving throws to resist their effects.
• Simplicity and Clarity: Keep descriptions concise and clear. Complex abilities can slow down gameplay, so make sure they are easy to understand and implement during encounters.

Examples of special traits

• Regeneration: The monster regains a certain number of hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point.
• Magic Resistance: Grants advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.
• Pack Tactics: The monster has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the monster’s allies is within 1 sqr. (1.5m) of the creature and not incapacitated.
• Amphibious: The monster can breathe air and water. Ideal for creatures that inhabit both terrestrial and aquatic environments, allowing for versatile encounter settings.
• Fiery Aura: Creatures within 1 sqr. (1.5m) take 1d6 fire damage at the start of their turn.
• Amorphous: The monster can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing.
• Sunlight Sensitivity: The monster has disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks in direct sunlight.
• Spider Climb: The monster can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
• Necrotic Touch: The monster’s unarmed strikes deal an additional 1d6 necrotic damage.
• Keen Senses: The monster has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight or smell.
• Spellcasting: Grants the monster the ability to cast spells. Specify the spell list, casting ability, spell save DC, and attack bonus. This action is ideal for magical creatures or those with a connection to mystical forces.

Designing special actions

A monster attack would follow as similar as a player attack. Use the proficiency bonus + ability modifier for attacks. Melee weapons use STR (or DEX for light weapons), and ranged weapons use DEX. The same ability modifier that is used for the attack is also applied as bonus damage. Additionally, after CR 5 (and for every 5 CR), increase the weapon damage by 1. A Creature with CD 13 would have +2 weapon dice (one at CR 5, and another one at CR 10).

Special actions provide the monster with unique offensive or defensive capabilities, you can use the examples below as a guideline:

• Multiattack: Allows the monster to make multiple attacks on its turn. Only monsters with CR greater than 3.
• Weapon Attack: This action covers any specific melee or ranged weapon the monster uses, such as claws, swords, or bows. Define the attack’s range, damage type, and effects, if any, such as poison or magical properties. Adjust the attack bonus to suit the monster’s CR and combat style.
• Spell Attack: Grants the monster access to powerful single-target spells like Eldritch Blast. Specify the spell attack modifier, damage type, range, and whether any additional effects apply, such as debuffs or status conditions.
• Breath Weapons: A powerful area-of-effect attack, such as a dragon’s fiery breath. Define the damage type, area, saving throw, and recharge conditions if it can be used multiple times.
• Charge: The monster moves up to its full speed in a straight line towards an enemy and then makes a melee attack. If it hits, the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be knocked prone or pushed back a specified distance, depending on the monster’s strength.
• Terrifying Roar: As an action, the monster lets out a deafening roar. Each creature within a set range must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns to end the effect.
• Paralyzing Touch: The monster can make a melee spell attack to touch a creature within reach. On a hit, the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns to end the effect.
• Energy Drain: The monster targets a creature within 1 sqr. (1.5m), draining its life force. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take necrotic damage, and the monster regains hit points equal to half the damage dealt.

Legendary and lair actions

For powerful monsters, especially those meant to be major adversaries, consider adding:

• Legendary Actions: Special actions that a monster can use at the end of another creature’s turn. These provide additional opportunities to act outside its normal turn, increasing its threat level.
• Legendary Resistance (3/Day): If the monster fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
• Lair Actions: Unique actions available when the monster is in its lair. These actions can alter the environment or unleash effects that affect the entire battlefield, emphasizing the monster’s dominance in its domain.

Finalize the stat block

Compile all the information into a single stat block, summing abilities and calculating modifiers to create a unique monster. As a final review, compare this monster with others of the same Challenge Rating (CR). Avoid extreme values, and ensure it fits within the intended CR range. If it doesn’t align, consider adjusting the CR or modifying its abilities, as changes to CR will affect the proficiency bonus.

Playtest it

After all the work, playtest this monster, if it’s too strong, reduce the power, it the players have it too easy, increase the power, be gentle on this changes (unless it’s way too off the grid)

Monster table

Perhaps you just need a simple, expendable hireling for a single fight, without the hassle of additional details, just the essentials. This table provides a straightforward stat block for a quick, no-fuss monster.

Creating adventures

There are several ways to create an adventure. This is a general set of guidelines and tools designed to provide the Game Master with the best opportunities to exercise their creativity and craft an adventure that is both compelling for the players and enjoyable to play.

A quick guide to not fumble

To create an effective one-shot , consider combining key elements:

• Single goal and small conflict
• Basic story structure
• Prepare a flexible number of scenes
• Start strong
• A good villain
• Make it personal
• Time’s up and high stakes
• Keep moving forward

When these components come together, you’re likely to craft a compelling and memorable experience for your players.

Choose a single goal and a small conflict

For an enjoyable adventure, it’s essential to strike the right balance between structure and flexibility. This means setting clear objectives and manageable obstacles for players to overcome. To achieve this, keep your adventure focused and concise, avoiding unnecessary complexity. Opt for a straightforward narrative with a single, central challenge that can be resolved within a short period of time - such as taking down a local crime lord rather than embarking on a sprawling quest to conquer an entire kingdom. By doing so, you’ll create an experience that’s easy to follow and resolve, allowing players to feel a sense of accomplishment and progress.

Basic story structure

Keep your narrative straightforward by dividing it into three main parts: an introduction that sets the stage, a body that develops the plot, and a conclusion that wraps up the story.

1. The beginning introduces the problem the players must solve.
2. The middle intensifies challenges to keep things interesting.
3. The end allows the characters to resolve the conflict.

Prepare a flexible number of scenes

A scene is a distinct segment of your adventure, a self-contained encounter or interaction that advances the story and engages the players.

It’s often beneficial to design more scenes than you expect to use. This flexibility allows you to adjust the pacing, adding or removing scenes based on the players’ choices and the flow of the game. Should a scene take longer than anticipated, you can streamline by omitting a few. Conversely, if a scene concludes swiftly and there’s more to explore, an extra pocket scene can be introduced to enrich the adventure. This adaptable approach ensures a dynamic and memorable journey for the players.

Begin with a strong start

The opening of your adventure is essential, as it’s where you lay the groundwork for the players’ mission. Begin with a captivating hook to draw them into the action. In this introduction, clearly set the scene, outline the main problem, define the stakes, and present any time constraints. Strike a balance, offer enough information to guide players without delving into excessive detail. Too little can leave players uncertain, while too much can reveal surprises too soon.

Crafting a memorable villain

A well-designed villain can transform your adventure, adding depth, tension, and a powerful sense of purpose to the story.

To create a compelling villain:

• Give them a flaw: A relatable flaw adds humanity (or a twisted version of it) to the villain, making them feel real.
• Make their motives credible and meaningful: Their goals should be understandable, even if morally questionable, so that players grasp the reasons behind their actions.
• Move beyond clichés: Avoid common archetypes like evil wizards, dragons, or liches. Instead, focus on unique traits and ambitions that make the villain unforgettable.

Make it personal

One of the best ways to elevate a simple adventure is to weave the story directly into the personal lives of the player characters, giving them a reason to truly care about the outcome. Connect the plot to the character’s personal stakes, their fears, ambitions, emotional flaws, or cherished bonds.

For example, the villain might abduct someone close to a character, threaten the safety of their hometown, or reveal knowledge of a painful secret. By linking the adventure to what matters most to the players, the story becomes not just a mission, but a meaningful journey they’re invested in.

Set a deadline and sustain momentum

A strong adventure thrives on urgency and momentum. By setting a clear deadline for the player’s objective, you heighten the tension and give every action meaning. When there’s a ticking clock, players feel the weight of each decision, knowing that failure to act in time will bring serious consequences. Whether it’s the approach of a magical storm, an impending enemy raid, or a cursed artifact nearing activation, a deadline keeps the story focused and intense.

To sustain this momentum throughout the session, avoid lengthy scenes or diversions that might sidetrack the players. Keep the pace lively by:

• Regularly reminding players of the looming deadline.
• Increasing stakes, such as injuring an important NPC or putting an ally in danger.
• Dropping hints or clues when players need a nudge to advance the plot.
• Maintaining a steady rhythm of combat, puzzles, or challenges to prevent any lulls.

Raise the stakes

To keep players engaged and invested, make it clear early in the adventure what’s at risk should they fail. Raising the stakes provides a powerful incentive, reminding them of the consequences that could unfold with each decision.

Consider two kinds of stakes: personal and broader stakes. Personal stakes directly affect the characters, perhaps a loved one is in jeopardy, or the party faces being stranded on a hostile island forever. Broader stakes impact the world around them, like the potential destruction of a village or a ruthless bandit king poised to raid neighboring regions.

Weaving both personal and world-focused stakes into the story adds layers of tension and meaning. Make it clear to players why these stakes matter, heightening their connection to the story. With failure looming as a real threat, the adventure becomes a gripping quest where every choice could lead to triumph, or catastrophe.

Create boundaries to drive the story forward

Creating boundaries within the adventure helps keep players focused, compelling them to take action. By designing a setting or situation they can’t escape, like a cavern system, a trapped ship, or a fortress under siege, you create a scenario where retreat isn’t an option, and players must press onward. These locked-in environments raise the stakes and intensify the urgency, pushing the group toward their goal without distractions.

In addition, setting up guardrails along the way helps guide their choices without limiting their agency. These guardrails might take the form of locked doors, impassable terrain, a ticking countdown, or NPC threats that steer them back on course. These constraints nudge players forward, preventing them from straying too far while keeping the story dynamic and engaging. Together, these boundaries and guardrails create a clear path, immersing players in the adventure and ensuring that every decision feels urgent and meaningful.

Concluding the quick guide

By weaving together clear objectives, engaging conflicts, personal stakes, and a sense of urgency, you can craft a concise, powerful adventure that keeps players immersed and invested. This guide provides the essential elements to create an adventure that’s focused, thrilling, and memorable.

From setting up strong motivations with compelling hooks and villains, to maintaining momentum with smart pacing and boundaries, each aspect plays a role in delivering a rewarding experience. Remember, the goal of a quick adventure is to offer players an engaging story that feels complete within a single session, leaving them with a sense of accomplishment and a taste for more.

As you plan, keep your adventure simple yet rich, focused yet flexible. Embrace creativity, stay responsive to your players, and above all, have fun, your enthusiasm will be the spark that brings the adventure to life.

Preparing the dungeon

Once you have the adventure prepared, it’s time to create the dungeon. A dungone doen’t need to be a underground, could be a cavern with fungus, or a catle tower, or even a forest. All the environments where the players will face the challenges can be called as the general term dungeon. There is multiple ways of doings this, the one recommended for begginers is called the five room model.

Five-room dungeon model

One thing that can make dungeons lose their appeal, for both players and Game Masters, is their length. When a dungeon crawl drags on, it can become monotonous, making players crave a shift in gameplay. Not everyone feels this way, but if you do, consider the five-room dungeon formula for a streamlined experience:

Room 1: Entrance and Guardian Room 2: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge Room 3: Red Herring Room 4: Climax, Big Battle, or Conflict Room 5: Plot Twist

A 2 to 4 hour dungeon adventure can boost the pacing of a campaign or session, fitting neatly into any ongoing story. It delivers a quick success to keep players engaged, is easy to plan, lets GM add unique themes, and can integrate smoothly with most storylines.

Room 1: Entrance and guardian

To explain why your dungeon hasn’t been plundered, create a challenging entrance. For an older dungeon, make the entrance particularly difficult to discourage previous explorers. An entrance guardian also introduces early action, capturing players’ interest. Room 1 is a chance to set the mood and theme of your dungeon, so design it with care.

Room 1 ideas:

• Trapped entrance
• Hidden entrance
• Entrance requiring a special key, such as a ritual or password
• A placed guardian to ward off intruders
• A powerful, non-native creature that has taken up residence
• A puzzle requirement, like solving a riddle

How to create a combat encounter?

Creating engaging (and possibly, balanced) combat encounters is an art in itself. This requires understanding the composition of the party, and creating interesting ways for the party to use their abilities.

Assess the number of players, their character levels, and classes. This information is crucial for tailoring encounters to the party’s capabilities.

• Number of Players: A larger party can handle more or stronger adversaries due to increased action economy and resource availability. Conversely, smaller parties may struggle against numerous foes or high-CR creatures.
• Character Levels: Higher-level characters possess greater hit points, abilities, and spells, enabling them to tackle more formidable challenges. The average party level serves as a guideline for selecting appropriate CRs for encounters.
• Class Roles and Abilities: A balanced party with diverse roles, such as tanks, damage dealers, healers, and support, can adapt to various challenges. For instance, a party lacking healing capabilities might find sustained battles more taxing.

Each monster does have a CR associated with it, it’s an guideline number for the average (and well balanced) party of 4 adventures. For example a monster with CR of 3 would fit a party of 4 level 3 characters.

When desining your encounters, consider the following archetypes or encounters:

• Single Monster: This is the most basic encounter, a single monster with the same (or similar) CR as the average party.
• Monster Duo/Trio: Two or three of the same monster, this is a harder encounter. Which also increases the rewards.
• Boss and Minions: This is a tradicional big foe (usually one CR below the party) and few minion (usually 3 to 6 minion with CR of 1/5 or lower than the party). In this scenario, avoid using more minions than the party. If you have a part of 4 players, keep the number of minons close to this.
• Ambush: Sometimes the monster will have the hand and probably will have a initial turn on the players. In this situations, the players face in disadvantage, for encounter like use a couple of CR lower than the players, if the players would not have their full resources (paladins without armor, spellscasters without mana points) these would be even more hard.
• Environmental Advantage: In a situation where the monster would use barriers, have hard to get spots, like elevation or fenced walls to protect then, the advantage will be greater for the enemies, for these combats use a CR lower from the party to adjust the level.

After defining the combat, the creatures and monsters involved on the combat, you need to ajust the experience rewards (if you are using the experience points). Keep in mind the modifier will only be applied on the highest-level creature, the minions and remaning creatures will be ketp the same.

To make combat encounter more interesting for the players incorporate on the encounter with adding terrain features, hazards, or other elements that can influence tactics and strategy. Maybe worth addings the following in the combat to create a more dynamic combat.

Terrain Features

• Difficult Terrain: Mud, water, rubble, or dense foliage that slows movement.
• Elevated Positions: Ledges, towers, or trees that grant ranged attackers advantages.
• Obstacles: Walls, crates, or broken furniture that provide cover or block movement.
• Hazardous Terrain: Lava, spikes, acid pools, or electrified floors that deal damage on contact.

Environmental Hazards

• Traps: Pressure plates, falling rocks, or swinging blades triggered during combat.
• Collapsing Structures: Walls, ceilings, or bridges that can collapse and deal damage.
• Weather Effects: Strong winds, rain, or blizzards that reduce visibility or make ranged attacks more difficult.
• Illusions: Magical effects that obscure vision or create false enemies.
• Unstable Ground: Earthquakes or shifting platforms that risk knocking combatants prone.

Dynamic Elements

• Moving Platforms: Floating bridges or shifting floors that force players to adjust positioning.
• Environmental Triggers: Levers or buttons that can activate traps, unlock paths, or disable hazards.
• Changing Terrain: Rising water levels, spreading fire, or crumbling ground that evolves during the encounter.
• Wild Magic Zones: Areas that cause unpredictable magical effects when spells are cast.
• Fog or Darkness: Areas of reduced visibility, requiring light sources or blind fighting.

Interactive Objects

• Explosive Barrels: Items that can be detonated to damage nearby enemies or obstacles.
• Breakable Barriers: Walls or objects that can be destroyed to reveal new paths or targets.
• Catapults or Ballistae: Usable siege equipment for high-damage attacks.
• Magical Artifacts: Objects with effects, such as healing, barriers, or offensive spells, usable by players or enemies.
• Ropes and Grapples: Tools to reach higher areas or swing across gaps.

Strategic Challenges

• Timed Objectives: Defeat enemies before reinforcements arrive or an event triggers.
• Protected Targets: Enemies that shield key targets like spellcasters or leaders.
• Enemy Objectives: Foes trying to escape, complete rituals, or steal artifacts.
• Allied NPCs: Protecting or assisting friendly NPCs during the fight.
• Split Party: Combat areas that force players to divide their focus or physically separate.

Enemy Features

• Reinforcements: Additional enemies arriving during combat.
• Unique Enemy Abilities: Monsters with regional effects, like aura damage or terrain manipulation.
• Boss Phases: Enemies changing tactics or gaining new abilities mid-combat.
• Enemy Morale: Creatures retreating or surrendering when overwhelmed.
• Mind-Control Mechanics: Enemies attempting to charm or dominate players.

Magic and Environmental Effects

• Antimagic Zones: Areas where magic cannot be cast, forcing reliance on non-magical abilities.
• Magic Amplifiers: Areas or objects that enhance spell effects or provide additional resources.
• Random Effects: Environmental areas with unpredictable effects, like teleportation or confusion.
• Cursed Zones: Areas that debuff players or cause ongoing damage.

Story-Driven Features

• Narrative Goals: Recovering a specific item, breaking a ritual, or freeing a prisoner during the battle.
• Enemy Faction Rivalries: Multiple groups fighting among themselves, with the party caught in the middle.
• Moral Choices: Decisions about whether to attack, negotiate, or protect certain characters.
• Climactic Elements: Combat set against dramatic backdrops, like a collapsing temple or erupting volcano.
• Foreshadowing: Enemies or features hinting at future story elements, such as recurring villains or major plot points.

Room 2: Puzzle or roleplaying challenge

After overcoming the first room, players face a challenge that can’t be solved with weapons. This engages problem-solvers in the group and provides a change of pace. Consider adding clues in Room 1 to help with Room 2’s challenge, tying the dungeon together and giving players a sense of progression.

Room 2 ideas:

• Classic death trap
• Magical puzzle, such as a chessboard tile floor with special rules
• An intelligent entity that must be befriended, not fought
• An overpowered being that requires negotiation

How to make a puzzle

Designing engaging puzzles enhances gameplay by challenging players’ problem-solving skills and encouraging creative thinking. A well-crafted puzzle can add depth to your dungeon, offering a refreshing change from combat encounters.

Define the Purpose of the Puzzle. Determine the role of the puzzle within your adventure. Is it a barrier to progress, a means to unlock hidden treasures, or a tool to reveal crucial information? Understanding its purpose will guide its design and integration into the story.

Align with the Setting and Theme. Ensure the puzzle fits seamlessly into the game’s environment and narrative. For instance, a puzzle in an ancient temple might involve deciphering archaic scripts, while one in a wizard’s tower could require manipulating magical artifacts. This alignment enhances immersion and makes the puzzle feel like a natural part of the world.

Consider the Party’s Composition. Tailor the puzzle’s complexity to match your players’ experience levels and character abilities. A diverse party allows for puzzles that require various skills, such as intelligence for riddles or dexterity for physical challenges. This approach ensures all players can contribute to the solution.

Provide Clear Instructions and Clues. Offer sufficient information for players to understand the puzzle’s objective. Incorporate clues within the environment, such as inscriptions, symbols, or NPC hints, to guide them toward the solution. Avoid making the puzzle overly obscure, as this can lead to frustration.

Design Multiple Solution Paths. Allow for various approaches to solving the puzzle, accommodating different playstyles and encouraging creativity. For example, a locked door could be opened by finding a key, solving a riddle, or using a spell like ‘Knock’. This flexibility keeps the game dynamic and inclusive. You can also use exntended checks for the puzzle, allowing multiple forms of solution with different skill checks.

Integrate Consequences and Rewards. Decide on the outcomes of success or failure. Rewards could include access to new areas, valuable items, or vital information. Consequences might involve triggering traps, alerting enemies, or losing resources. These stakes add tension and significance to the puzzle.

Incorporate Diverse Puzzle Types. To maintain engagement, vary the types of puzzles you present. Some examples include:

• Riddles: Verbal challenges that require lateral thinking.
• Logic Puzzles: Challenges that involve reasoning and pattern recognition.
• Physical Puzzles: Tasks that require manipulating objects or navigating obstacles.
• Moral Dilemmas: Scenarios that test the players’ values and decision-making.

How to make a roleplaying challenge

Roleplaying challenges add depth, allowing players to engage with their characters, the world, and its inhabitants in meaningful ways. A well-crafted roleplaying challenge encourages creativity, fosters character development, and often presents moral or social dilemmas that leave a lasting impression on your players.

Define the Purpose of the Challenge

Before designing the encounter, determine its narrative or mechanical goal:

• Is it meant to develop a relationship with an NPC?
• Does it provide critical information or advance the story?
• Is it a test of the characters’ morals, persuasion, or interpersonal skills?
• Which NPC’s will be used in this room?

Add Stakes

Roleplaying challenges are most engaging when there are meaningful consequences. These could include:

• Positive Outcomes: Gaining an ally, acquiring crucial information, or receiving a reward.
• Negative Outcomes: Losing trust, provoking hostility, or facing a time-sensitive setback.
• Moral Dilemmas: Situations where there’s no clear “right” choice, challenging the players’ values.

Provide Multiple Approaches

Allow players to approach the challenge in different ways, based on their characters’ skills and creativity. For example:

• Persuasion: Convince an NPC to align with their goals.
• Deception: Trick an NPC into believing false information.
• Intimidation: Use forceful words or threats to achieve a result.
• Insight: Detect lies or uncover hidden motives.
• Roleplaying Actions: Act out scenes or make compelling arguments based on their character’s personality.

Incorporate a Puzzle-Like Structure

While roleplaying challenges often focus on dialogue and interaction, layering them with puzzle elements can add complexity. Examples include:

• Deciphering cryptic clues in a conversation to uncover hidden meanings.
• Choosing specific dialogue options that resonate with the NPC’s values.
• Gathering information from multiple sources to gain leverage.
• Use a extended check for handling the encounter.

Room 3: Red herring

This room builds tension by presenting what appears to be the goal, only to mislead the players. The best red herrings offer players a choice and impose a penalty for choosing Room 3, rather than forcing them into it. Room 3 can also weaken the players in preparation for Room 4, setting up a greater challenge.

Room 3 ideas:

• A well-traveled path that seems safe, but leads to a trap
• A fake sarcophagus with another guardian inside
• A collapsed structure blocking an unimportant area
• A one-way exit (e.g., a teleport trap or one-way door)
• A minor reward that conceals Room 4, where a greater reward awaits

How to make a red herring

A good red herring should provide a sense of intrigue or reward but come with a consequence for pursuing it. This could be a resource drain, a tactical disadvantage, or a delay in reaching the true objective. Importantly, players should feel their choices matter, even if they are misled.

Purpose of the Red Herring

• Build Tension: Keep players on their toes by creating a sense of mystery or false confidence.
• Set Up Room 4: Weaken or drain the party’s resources to heighten the challenge of the upcoming room.
• Encourage Exploration: Reward players for thoroughness, even if their discoveries are misleading or inconsequential.
• Subvert Expectations: Introduce surprises or twists that keep the dungeon unpredictable and engaging.

Designing Room 3

• Present a Plausible Objective: Create something that looks like the goal, such as a treasure chest, a key NPC, or an important-looking structure. Ensure it fits the dungeon’s theme so that it feels believable.
• Balance Reward and Consequence: The best red herrings give players something minor, such as a small treasure or a clue, while imposing a penalty for pursuing it. This prevents the room from feeling like a gotcha trap.
• Offer Meaningful Choices: Allow players to bypass or interact with the red herring. The penalty should only occur if they choose to engage, ensuring they feel in control of their fate.
• Provide Subtle Clues: Include environmental details or context that hint at the room’s deceptive nature. For example, footprints leading into a trap or an NPC that warns players of a false treasure.

Enhancing the Red Herring

• Tie to the Dungeon’s Narrative The red herring should feel like a natural part of the dungeon’s story. For example, a false treasure chest guarded by animated armor might hint at the greed of the dungeon’s creator.
• Include Consequences Beyond Combat Use penalties like lost time, misdirection, or resource depletion rather than only triggering combat.
• Foreshadow Room 4 Subtly connect Room 3 to the upcoming challenge. For instance, a fake sarcophagus might include clues about the real boss’s identity or tactics.
• Use Psychological Traps Play on player expectations, such as making the obvious trap safe while a seemingly safe action triggers a penalty.

Tips for a great red herring

• Reward Exploration: Even if players fall for the ruse, ensure they gain something useful, like lore, minor items, or an understanding of the dungeon’s creator.
• Maintain Fairness: Avoid designing a red herring that feels overly punishing or unavoidable.
• Keep Players Guessing: Not every suspicious room needs to be a red herring. Vary the dungeon design to keep players on their toes.

Room 4: Climax, big battle, or conflict

This is the dungeon’s main event: a significant combat or conflict encounter. Make the environment interesting and provide opportunities for tactical play to reward thoughtful players.

Designing a good boss battle

A great boss battle combines challenging gameplay, a compelling narrative, and dynamic mechanics. Consider adding these key elements:

Unique Abilities: Give the boss distinctive powers or traits that make it stand out from regular enemies. These abilities should match the boss’s lore and role in the dungeon. For example:

• Arcane-Themed, disables magic and triggers explosive arcane runes.
• Beastmaster, commands creatures and empowers their attacks.
• Earth-Themed, causes tremors and summons rock walls for defense.
• Fire-themedcould have area-of-effect fire attacks.
• Ice-Themed, freezes zones, slowing players and summoning icy barriers.
• Necromancer might summon undead minions periodically.
• Psychic-Themed, controls players’ actions and reads their intentions.
• Shadow-Themed, teleports in darkness and creates shadowy duplicates.
• Storm-Themed, strikes with lightning and summons wind to hinder movement.
• Vampiric, drains health from attacks and summons swarms of bats.

Multiple Phases: Introduce changes in tactics or abilities as the battle progresses. For instance:

• Phase 1: The boss attacks directly.
• Phase 2: The boss retreats to a higher platform, using ranged attacks or summoning reinforcements.
• Phase 3: The boss becomes enraged, dealing more damage but becoming more reckless.

High Stakes: Tie the boss to the dungeon’s narrative, such as protecting a magical artifact or completing a critical ritual. The players should feel the weight of the confrontation.

Dynamic Environment: Incorporate terrain features or hazards that influence the battle. Examples include:

• Areas that provide cover or strategic vantage points.
• Collapsing platforms or walls.
• Crystals of Power, magical crystals that grant buffs or debuffs when destroyed or activated.
• Explosive Growth, plants or fungal spores that grow rapidly, restricting movement or obscuring vision.
• Falling Debris, randomly falling rocks or debris that deal damage and block movement temporarily.
• Illusionary Obstacles, fake walls or floors that disappear when approached, creating surprises or traps.
• Lava or Acid Pools, expanding hazardous zones that deal damage over time if entered.
• Rising Water, flooding areas that limit movement and force players to higher ground.
• Shifting Terrain, moving platforms or rotating sections of the battlefield that force repositioning.
• Traps that can be activated against the boss or players.

How to modifying existing monsters to become bosses

If you’re adapting an existing monster to serve as a boss, enhance its capabilities and presence to make it feel like a unique, powerful foe.

Increase Hit Points and Damage Scale up the monster’s health to make it more durable, especially if it’s fighting a full party. Increase its damage output slightly to keep the party on edge. Alternatively you could add some resistance to damage which also effectively is similar to increase the hit points. In the case of resistance, also details to the players that the boss appears to be resistante to damage, and this could be removed.

Add Special Abilities

• Lair Actions: Abilities triggered on initiative count 20 (e.g., a dragon causing a cave-in or a necromancer summoning skeletons).
• Legendary Actions: Actions the boss can take at the end of a player’s turn to stay competitive in a fight with multiple opponents. For example:
  • Attack: Make one weapon attack or cast a quick spell.
  • Move: Move up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
  • Environmental Manipulation: Trigger a trap, close a door, or activate a magical effect.

Introduce Unique Mechanics

Add one or more mechanics to make the boss unpredictable:

• Absorb Energy: The boss absorbs magical attacks to recharge its abilities or heal itself.
• Area Denial: Creates zones that damage players or debuff them if they stay within the area for too long.
• Countdown Mechanic: A timer or ritual the players must interrupt, or the boss gains overwhelming power.
• Cursed Aura: The boss emits an aura that imposes disadvantages or deals damage to players within a certain range.
• Damage Resistance: Resistances or immunities to specific damage types.
• Delayed Attacks: The boss places marks on players, triggering delayed, high-damage effects if not removed in time.
• Elemental Shifts: The boss periodically changes its elemental affinity, gaining resistance to one type and vulnerability to another.
• Energy Drain: The boss temporarily steals players’ mana points, abilities, or items for its own use.
• Enrage Timer: After a set number of rounds, the boss becomes enraged, doubling its damage or gaining new abilities.
• Environmental Manipulation: The boss shifts terrain features, such as raising walls, creating pits, or blocking exits.
• Evolving Tactics: The boss adapts to the players’ strategies, gaining resistance or countermeasures against frequently used abilities.
• Healing Through Combat: The boss heals a percentage of its health each time it hits a player.
• Immunity to Conditions: Prevent the boss from being incapacitated, frightened, or charmed.
• Mirror Image: The boss creates illusory copies of itself, making it difficult for players to target the real one.
• Player-Specific Targeting: The boss targets players who dealt the most damage in the last round or those with the lowest health.
• Reflective Shield: For a limited time, the boss reflects all damage back to attackers.
• Regeneration: Regain hit points each round unless the players disable the regeneration source (e.g., a glowing crystal or a healing minion).
• Shared Pain: Damage dealt to the boss is also reflected onto an ally NPC or a magical object, creating moral or strategic dilemmas.
• Split Form: Upon reaching a certain health threshold, the boss splits into two weaker versions, each with unique attacks.
• Stagger Mechanic: Players must deal enough damage within a round to stagger the boss and interrupt its powerful attack or action.
• Summon Aid: The boss summons reinforcements mid-battle, such as minions or an ally creature.
• Terrain Destruction: The boss destroys parts of the battlefield, such as bridges or cover, limiting player movement options.
• Time Distortion: The boss slows or accelerates time, affecting initiative order or granting itself additional turns.

Room 5: Plot twist

The final room is the perfect opportunity to deliver a surprise that leaves a lasting impression on your players. A plot twist in this space doesn’t need to spell failure for the party, it’s more about creating a moment that feels unexpected yet satisfying. Room 5 doesn’t even have to be a physical location. It might be a revelation during the climax in Room 4, an encounter triggered by claiming the treasure, or an unforeseen consequence of the players’ choices. This is where your creativity as a Game Master can truly shine, transforming a standard dungeon crawl into an unforgettable narrative experience.

Types of Plot Twists

Plot twists in Room 5 can take many forms, each designed to subvert the players expectations and deepen the story. Reversal of expectations is a common approach, such as the treasure being cursed or the NPC they rescued revealing themselves as a traitor. Alternatively, the dungeon’s supposed villain may be revealed as a victim, with the true antagonist waiting outside. The twist could introduce a new layer to the story: the reward they worked so hard to claim may be just one piece of a larger puzzle, propelling the party toward their next adventure.

Another type of twist focuses on moral dilemmas. The treasure or artifact might be the key to saving one village but at the cost of another. The rescued royal may have a sinister agenda, forcing the players to choose between duty and conscience. These twists challenge the party’s values and add emotional weight to their decisions. Twists can also introduce complications, such as a rival adventuring party appearing at the last moment to claim the reward, setting up a confrontation that could be resolved through combat, negotiation, or a daring chase.

Lore and Worldbuilding

Room 5 provides an excellent chance to expand the campaign’s lore and deepen the players’ understanding of the world. The twist can be tied to the dungeon’s history or its creator, offering revelations that recontextualize everything the players have experienced. For example, a temple they thought was abandoned might still harbor the spirit of its guardian, who views the party as intruders. Perhaps the dungeon is part of a much larger structure hidden beneath the surface, hinting at a forgotten civilization or ancient threat.

The reward itself can serve as a narrative anchor. A map fragment or coded message might lead the players to an even greater treasure or reveal a looming danger. Alternatively, the dungeon’s treasure might be tied to a prophecy or curse, binding the party to an ongoing mystery. By incorporating these elements, Room 5 becomes not just the end of the dungeon but a gateway to new adventures and discoveries.

Creating a Lasting Impact

A great plot twist resonates beyond the dungeon, leaving ripples throughout the campaign. The events in Room 5 should feel significant, whether by altering the players’ understanding of the world, introducing new challenges, or setting up future storylines. For instance, a rival party that steals the treasure might reappear later, escalating their rivalry with the players. A cursed artifact could attract the attention of powerful factions, forcing the party into political intrigue or open conflict.

The twist should also make the players feel like their choices matter. If they decide to leave the treasure behind to prevent a calamity, the world should reflect their sacrifice, with NPCs acknowledging their heroism, or lamenting their refusal to act. Conversely, if they take the treasure and trigger an unforeseen consequence, they should have the chance to grapple with the fallout, whether through redemption or confrontation.

By tying the twist to the campaign’s ongoing narrative, you ensure that Room 5 is not just a conclusion but a catalyst for growth and change. This is the space where storytelling and mechanics intersect, allowing the players to feel the weight of their decisions while keeping them excited for what lies ahead. Room 5, when crafted thoughtfully, becomes the heartbeat of the dungeon, a moment that transforms a mere adventure into a defining chapter of your campaign.

Five room example

The Crypt of the Forgotten King

Summary: An ancient king was buried in a crypt deep beneath a desolate hill. Legends say his tomb is cursed, haunted by his loyal undead followers. The king was interred with a powerful relic, and his spirit guards it from intruders.

Room 1: A hidden stone entrance, half-buried under dirt and vines. Cold air and the smell of decay waft up from below. The entrance opens into a dark staircase descending into the earth.

Guardian: As the party descends, skeletal guardians rise from niches along the walls, silently blocking the way. These are old soldiers, loyal even in death, who bar the entrance. They will attack if approached, but if the players examine the surroundings carefully, they may notice faded inscriptions on the walls that, if read aloud, cause the skeletons to fall inert.

Clues for Room 2: The inscriptions that controlled the skeletons reference certain events in the king’s life.

Room 2: A chamber with walls covered in ancient carvings that tell the story of the forgotten king’s rise and fall. A massive iron door blocks the way forward, engraved with riddles and runes.

Puzzle: There is a massive iron door engraved with symbols and carvings depicting moments from the life of the forgotten king. The door is locked by a magical puzzle, which players must solve to proceed. A single phrase on the door hints at the solution:

Only by facing the blade of betrayal, the fire of innocence lost, the march of pride, and the weight of regret shall this door open.

This phrase alludes to the king’s greatest regrets: betrayal by his advisor, ordering a massacre, waging a costly war, and ultimately feeling deep sorrow. The door displays runic symbols for each of these events, faintly glowing, requiring players to activate them in the correct sequence.

To unlock the door, the players must touch the symbols in the order suggested by the phrase: Betrayal, Massacre, War, and Regret. If touched out of order, the door emits a ghostly moan and deals minor necrotic damage to those nearby. When activated correctly, the runes glow brighter, and the door opens, revealing the next room.

Room 3: A burial chamber lined with sarcophagi. In the center of the room, a smaller chest lies surrounded by old, scattered coins and trinkets.

Trap: The chest is actually a mimic disguised to look like a treasure container.

Room 4:: The crypt’s main burial chamber, with a grand sarcophagus at the center. Surrounding it are the skeletal remains of the king’s most loyal knights, posed as if in eternal vigil.

Conflict: When the players enter, the king’s spirit manifests as a powerful wraith, surrounded by the risen skeletons of his knights. The king demands to know why they’ve disturbed his rest, giving the party a brief chance to explain themselves or leave. If they refuse, he and his knights attack.

Room 5: After defeating the king’s spirit and his undead knights in Room 4, the players finally reach the crypt’s inner chamber, where the legendary artifact, a cursed sword, rests atop a stone pedestal. The sword pulses with a dark aura, and as the players approach, the spirit of the king reappears, this time in a more sorrowful and less hostile form.

Twist: Instead of simply guarding the treasure, the king reveals that he cannot find peace until someone completes an unfinished task: reclaiming his lost honor. He explains that a powerful necromancer betrayed him in life, leading to his kingdom’s ruin. The sword is bound to this quest, and anyone who takes it must carry on the king’s duty to defeat the necromancer or face eternal torment like the king himself.

Five-scene mystery model

The Five-Scene Mystery model developed separately from the Five-Room Dungeon but shares a similar structure: five substantial interactive scenes are ideal for a session of gameplay. The interaction between these elements also provides enough complexity to create something more meaningful than a simple, standalone encounter.

Here’s the basic outline of the scenes model:

• Define the mystery: What’s the central mystery? Was there a murder? A theft? Who did it, and why?
• Establish the hook: How do the PCs discover there’s a mystery to solve? For crimes, it might be the crime scene itself. Or it could be an unusual location, or someone bringing the mystery directly to the PCs.
• Plan the conclusion: Where will they uncover the ultimate answers or face off with the antagonist? This is your Scene E.
• Brainstorm three key locations or characters related to the mystery: Perhaps the antagonist’s ex, a werewolf-inhabited drug den, or a stone circle serving as a teleportation gate. These will be Scenes B, C, and D.
• You now have five scenes. Link them with clues.

The structure is straightforward: Scene A leads in three directions, although PCs might only find one clue. Each location connects to the others and ultimately points to the conclusion.

The five-scene format is also flexible enough to adjust as you play. Sometimes, the scenario itself will naturally dictate the clues’ pattern. PCs might move from Scene A to B directly to E, skipping C and D. In these cases, the skipped scenes may lead to new adventures , either due to unresolved dangers or new clues discovered during cleanup.

Five scene example

The haunted manor heist

Mystery: A precious artifact called the Crimson Amulet has been stolen from the mansion of a recently deceased eccentric collector. Rumor has it the manor is haunted, and some say the artifact holds dark powers.

Hook (Scene A): The players are approached by a frantic relative of the collector who wants them to retrieve the artifact before it falls into the wrong hands. Strange events are occurring in the area, with reports of eerie sightings and strange weather. These occurrences suggest the artifact’s curse is spreading, adding urgency to the mission.

Conclusion: The PCs ultimately confront the true thief, a powerful occultist using the amulet’s power to summon spirits at an ancient forest chapel. Here, a climactic showdown unfolds, with the possibility that spirits might turn on the occultist if the PCs disrupt the ritual (Scene E).

Key Locations and Characters:

• The Collector’s Study (Scene B): The study is in disarray, with papers scattered around showing the collector’s research on the Crimson Amulet and references to a ritual he was trying to stop. The PCs uncover fragments of a note about a black-robed figure seen lurking near the manor before the theft. These clues direct the PCs toward someone skilled in rituals, hinting at a connection to the graveyard.
• The Town Graveyard (Scene C): Recently, spirits have been wandering the graveyard, and townsfolk report sightings of a cloaked figure performing dark ceremonies. A gravedigger describes symbols that were left behind, matching the symbols in the collector’s study. The gravedigger recalls that the figure often arrived from the market area, hinting that someone there may know more about the visitor’s intentions.
• The Market Vendor (Scene D): The vendor tells the PCs that a person matching the description bought herbs for protection and described the power of the forest chapel. The vendor reveals directions to the chapel and warns of recent strange lights seen in the forest, reinforcing the idea of a dangerous final location.

Clues and Structure:

• The Hook (Scene A) points the PCs to investigate Scenes B, C, and D, where they gather overlapping clues about the occultist, the ritual, and the chapel’s significance.
• Each location deepens the mystery and points toward the next: The Collector’s Study directs the PCs to the graveyard, the graveyard points them toward the market, and the market vendor provides details leading to the final confrontation at the chapel.
• By following these clues, the PCs piece together the occultist’s plan, uncovering both the true nature of the artifact and how to disrupt its powers at Scene E, the chapel.

Drawing a dungeon

Once you have read the five room model or the five scene mystery model, it’s time to start drawing the map. This assumes that you already have an adventure, and need a hideout for the villain, or a crypt for the undead lord.

The five room model can be transposed into a dungeon like the following.

This dungeon looks quite simple, and very little interest is happening in this dungeon to bring life to the game. There are no options, it’s a straight line that leads to the conclusion of the adventure. A more interesting approach would be using a different map for the dungeon.

A dungeon like this already offers more opportunities for exploration. While it still has some limitations, offering more options is a definite plus. A quick rule of thumb is that options worth exploring are generally more valuable than taking a straight line to the boss. In this case, having multiple paths to choose from adds significant replay value.

Crafting the dungeon identity

Before designing your dungeon, take note of what sets it apart from others. Different creatures, such as hobgoblins or yuan-ti, each leave their unique mark on the environment. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to building a compelling dungeon that reflects its distinct character.

Dungeon purpose

A dungeon is typically designed and inhabited for a particular goal that influences its layout, inhabitants, and defenses. You can select a purpose from the Dungeon Purpose table below, roll a d20, or craft a unique idea to suit your adventure.

• Arena: Combat arena where creatures or prisoners battle, often for sport, rituals, or training.
• Armory or storage: Vault for weapons, armor, or supplies, often guarded by traps or enchanted protectors.
• Burial crypt: Tomb housing the dead, attracts undead or treasure-seekers, often guarded against intrusion.
• Deadly trap: Designed to kill intruders, possibly to guard secrets or fuel dark magical rituals.
• Den: Creature or monster lair, usually in ruins or caves, claimed as a home by beasts.
• Excavation site: Abandoned dig site or mine, often overrun by monsters or leading to hidden dangers.
• Fortress: Stronghold for a villain or monster, heavily defended, serving as a base of operations.
• Garden or Menagerie: Filled with exotic plants or creatures, mystical or dangerous flora and fauna flourish here.
• Labyrinth: Maze meant to mislead and ensnare intruders, often protecting hidden relics or treasures.
• Library or archive: Holds rare knowledge or ancient texts, guarded by wards or creatures protecting the records.
• Magic laboratory: Workshop for arcane experiments, guarded by enchantments or creatures drawn to its magic.
• Observatory: Space to study stars, phenomena, or distant realms, equipped with telescopes or star maps.
• Portal hub: Houses magical gateways, radiating planar energy, strange phenomena or creatures abound.
• Prison: Dungeon holding captives or magical creatures, with high defenses to prevent escape.
• Ritual Chamber: Sacred or dark site for rituals, arcane markings and protective magic often line the walls.
• Sanctuary or altar: Holy or profane site dedicated to deities, where followers conduct rituals or prayers.
• Summoning chamber: Room to summon entities from other planes, fortified to contain summoned beings.
• Throne room: Ruler’s hall, often grand and filled with riches, guards, and symbols of power.
• Training grounds: Testing area for adventurers or monsters, hosts trials, obstacles, or combat challenges.
• Treasure hoard: Vault for great riches or magical artifacts, defended by guardians, traps, or magic wards.

Dungeon location

Dungeon creator

A dungeon reflects its creators. A lost temple of the yuan-ti, choked by overgrown jungle plants, might feature ramps instead of stairs. Caverns carved by a beholder’s disintegration eye ray have walls that are unnaturally smooth, and the beholder’s lair might include vertical shafts connecting different levels. Amphibious monsters such as kuo-toa and aboleths use water to protect the innermost reaches of their lairs from air-breathing intruders.

Details bring a dungeon setting’s personality to life. Great bearded faces might be carved on the doors of a dwarven stronghold and might be defaced by the gnolls who live there now. Spiderweb decorations, torture chambers, and slave pens might be common features in a vault built by drow, telling something about that location and its occupants.

The folloring table includes creatures that typically build dungeons. You can choose a creator from the table or roll randomly, or choose some other dungeon builder appropriate for your campaign.

The fate of a dungeon’s creators often remains unknown, but understanding what became of them can significantly impact its current form and layout. The following table provides insight into pivotal moments that have led to the transformation of a site from its original intention to an adventure-filled dungeon. In many cases, these events have accumulated over time, leaving behind a complex history that has shaped the dungeon into its present state.

Dungeon inhabitants

By crafting thoughtful inhabitants, you invite players to engage deeply, not only through combat but also by uncovering the hidden relationships and ambitions that drive the dungeon’s denizens. The dungeon can become a space where each encounter feels purposeful, where players might negotiate, outwit, or form alliances with creatures just as often as they draw their swords. In shaping these inhabitants, you open doors to dynamic storytelling, making the dungeon a place that breathes, evolves, and challenges players on multiple levels.

Dungeon factions

Dungeons are often home to a dominant group of intelligent creatures, such as a band of orcs occupying a cavern complex or a gang of trolls in a ruined fortress. In larger dungeons, however, multiple factions may inhabit and compete within the same space.

For example, orcs might reside in the mines of a fallen dwarf stronghold, engaging in constant skirmishes with hobgoblins that control the upper levels. Deep in the mine’s lowest tiers, mind flayers could manipulate key hobgoblins in a plot to exterminate the orcs. Meanwhile, a hidden drow scouting party watches from the shadows, planning to wipe out the mind flayers and enslave any survivors.

It’s tempting to see a dungeon as a series of isolated encounters, with adventurers simply breaking through doors and fighting whatever lies beyond. However, shifting power dynamics between factions offer great potential for more nuanced interactions. Dungeon inhabitants often form unexpected alliances, and savvy creatures may view adventurers as valuable assets or threats to be exploited.

Intelligent dungeon denizens have goals, from basic survival to ambitious plans of conquest. Such creatures might approach adventurers with proposals for alliances, hoping to protect their lair or gain support against their rivals. Give depth to the leaders of these factions by developing their personalities, motivations, and ideals, as discussed in Chapter 4. Use these traits to shape how they react to the adventurers’ arrival.

Dungeon ecology

An inhabited dungeon functions as its own ecosystem, with creatures that require food, water, air, and shelter, much like creatures in the wilderness. Predators seek prey, and intelligent inhabitants look for lairs that offer the best mix of resources and safety. Keeping these elements in mind adds realism and helps adventurers make logical choices within the environment.

For instance, if the adventurers discover a pool of fresh water in the dungeon, they might reasonably assume that creatures visit it frequently to drink, potentially setting up an ambush there. Similarly, locked or hand-operated doors can limit movement for certain creatures, if all doors are shut, players may question how carrion crawlers or stirges survive in such an environment.

Dungeon features

A dungeon’s atmosphere and physical traits bring it to life, immersing adventurers in the unknown. From shadowy crypts with ancient, crumbling stone to fiery lairs with magma-lit walls, each detail builds tension and character. As the Dungeon Master, you’re the architect of these elements, weaving sensory details that captivate players and give each dungeon a unique identity.

Walls, ceiling, air and general ambient sound

Dungeon walls shape its atmosphere, whether made of rough-hewn stone, ancient bricks, or polished wood. They may bear mysterious carvings, ancient murals, or torches casting long shadows, setting the tone for exploration and discovery.

The air in a dungeon can feel thick and stale, amplifying the sense of isolation. Whether tainted by sulfur or stagnant from stillness, poor air quality adds an eerie layer, reminding adventurers they’re far from the surface.

Every sound, from a whispered spell to clanging armor, can echo through the dungeon’s narrow passages. Dungeon sounds are haunting, often alerting creatures of intruders or leading adventurers unknowingly toward danger.

Darkness and light

In dungeons, darkness is not just an absence of light, it’s an ever-present danger. Light sources, whether from torches or glowing fungi, reveal clues and threats but also betray the party’s location to hidden eyes watching from afar.

Doors

Dungeon doors are more than barriers, they’re hints of what lies beyond. With intricate carvings, barred entrances, or magical seals, doors tease the unknown and hold their own secrets, whether stuck, locked, or hidden behind illusions.

• Stuck Doors. Dungeon doors often become stuck when not used frequently. Opening a stuck door requires a successful Strength check.
• Locked Doors. Characters who don’t have the key to a locked door can pick the lock with a successful Thievie’s tools check. They can also force the door with a successful Strength check, smash the door to pieces by dealing enough damage to it, or use a knock spell or similar magic.
• Barred Doors. A barred door is similar to a locked door, except that there’s no lock to pick, and the door can be opened normally from the barred side by using an action to lift the bar from its braces.
• Secret Door. A secret door is crafted to blend into the wall that surrounds it. Sometimes faint cracks in the wall or scuff marks on the floor betray the secret door’s presence.It’s possible to detect with a Perception or Investigation check, once detected it’s possible to open it.

Filling the blanks

With the initial draft complete, it’s time to flesh out the dungeon rooms. The next step is to define the purpose of each room, ensuring that your dungeon inhabitants feel at home. Consider their needs, whether they’re living creatures or undead beings with unique requirements. Think about the type of lighting that would be fitting for each area and bring your vision to life by tying everything together. If you need some inspiration, check the examples.

Puzzle rooms

Combat rooms

Creating a campaing

Crafting a campaign is about weaving together the adventures, locations, and characters that make your world feel dynamic and interconnected. This chapter will guide you through designing a campaign that feels cohesive and engaging for players, emphasizing themes, recurring elements, and exploration.

Establishing a Central Theme

A central theme is the heartbeat of your campaign, guiding its narrative direction and giving players a unified, immersive experience. A strong theme shapes the world, influences NPC motivations, and colors the story arcs, helping both the Game Master and players find deeper engagement and meaning in each adventure. The theme can be a singular concept, like Survival in a Harsh World, or a multifaceted one, such as Hope and Despair in an Age of Decline.

By weaving a theme into every aspect of the campaign, you create resonance that players can feel even in small details. Every quest, NPC interaction, and even setting detail can hint at or reinforce the central theme, allowing players to explore it through their choices and actions. As they progress, the theme might evolve, revealing complexities or unexpected twists that challenge their understanding of it. This thematic foundation not only ties adventures together but also makes the story richer and more memorable.

Linking Adventures Together

Instead of isolated episodes, make each adventure a building block that contributes to the larger story. Start with a series of quests or encounters that gradually reveal connections to a greater plot. These links can be:

• Overarching Villains: Introduce a mastermind or antagonist whose influence touches multiple storylines, leaving clues or warnings that slowly reveal their ambitions.
• Recurring NPCs: Allies, mentors, or antagonists who reappear throughout the campaign, developing complex relationships with the players and reflecting the story’s evolution.
• Evolving Locations: Towns, cities, or regions that players revisit, changing over time in response to their actions, which may influence the economy, local politics, or the environment.
• Intertwined Mysteries: Seemingly separate clues that, when pieced together, reveal a hidden mystery or conspiracy, giving players a sense of discovery and depth.
• Shared Artifacts or Relics: Objects of power or mystery that connect adventures, allowing players to track their origins or significance to the overall plot.
• Factional Influence: Various factions with their own goals, whose agents or representatives appear in multiple storylines, each pushing their agenda and affecting players’ choices.
• Character-Specific Story Arcs: Personal goals or backgrounds of player characters woven into the central storyline, making each adventure feel tied to individual motivations.
• Prophecies or Visions: Hints or glimpses of future events that give context to players’ actions, casting each adventure as part of a larger destiny or foretold conflict.
• Rival Adventuring Party: A competing group of adventurers with their own agenda, occasionally crossing paths with the players, either as rivals, uneasy allies, or outright enemies.

Recurring NPCs and Cities

Recurring cities and NPCs should have layers of mystery. Gradually reveal hidden depths or secrets , perhaps a beloved NPC has a dark past, or a city hides a cult. The players’ repeated interactions and growing trust allow them to peel back these layers, building intrigue and attachment. For the developed NPC’s add secrets for the campaign.

NPCs and places that players revisit are vital to creating a campaign that feels dynamic and immersive. With NPCs, invest in developing relationships, motivations, and personalities that change alongside the players’ journey. A trusted ally may reveal hidden agendas over time, or a minor contact could become an essential companion, depending on how their personal goals evolve and how they react to the players’ actions.

For cities and towns, small changes on each return can bring a feeling of growth or decay, responding to the players’ impact on the world. New construction might reflect a city’s prosperity due to the players’ interventions, or increased crime and unrest might hint at underlying tensions, showing the darker consequences of their choices. By grounding these changes in the motivations of key NPCs and the city’s broader dynamics, you create an environment that feels responsive and alive.

NPC and City Motivations and Development

To make NPCs and cities feel real, give each one specific motivations and goals that evolve over time. An innkeeper might start out simply interested in the players’ coin but grows more invested in their well-being if they help him with a local threat. NPCs may have personal struggles, such as family conflicts, ambitions for power, or a desire for revenge, that deepen their connection to the players and influence their responses over time.

Cities, too, can have unique motivations based on the collective ambitions of their citizens, guilds, or leaders. A town on the edge of a resource-rich forest may aggressively expand its borders, impacting relationships with neighboring communities and natural forces. By grounding each location in specific goals and conflicts, every visit feels like a step into a world that is growing and evolving alongside the players.

Seasonal Changes

Introduce seasonal and environmental changes in the cities and regions that players frequently visit to underscore the passage of time and give a sense of rhythm to the world. Seasonal festivals, harvest celebrations, or winter shortages can alter a city’s atmosphere, bringing new plot hooks or opportunities for unique interactions with NPCs. An NPC who was warm and generous in summer may become more guarded in winter when resources are scarce, adding layers to their personality and deepening their connection to the players.

These seasonal shifts can also impact the players’ interactions with cities and NPCs. For example, harsh winters may make travel difficult, limit supplies, or reveal hidden threats as the populace turns inward to survive. By integrating seasonal events and changes, you create a world that feels both vibrant and responsive to the natural cycles.

NPC Relationships

Developing relationships between NPCs independent of the players adds a rich layer to the campaign, creating a social web that feels organic. NPCs who are allies, rivals, or family members can interact with each other in ways that influence how they respond to the players. A merchant who competes with another shopkeeper may undercut their rival’s prices when the players arrive or might try to turn them against their competitor. Meanwhile, a guard captain might be particularly harsh if the players have allied with her rival or aided someone she distrusts.

The players’ involvement can alter these relationships, encouraging alliances, healing rivalries, or even intensifying conflicts. This interconnected web of NPC relationships allows players to see the ripple effects of their choices across the social landscape, adding depth to every interaction and increasing the stakes as they become entwined in the lives and politics of the world.

By enriching NPCs and cities with dynamic motivations, seasonal changes, and complex relationships, your world becomes more than a backdrop, it becomes an active participant in the story, providing an ever-evolving tapestry for players to explore, influence, and connect with on a deeper level.

The Endgame and Beyond

The climax is the culmination of the campaign’s story, themes, and character development. To make it truly impactful, craft a finale that ties together all the campaign’s major elements, including character arcs, plot threads, and the central theme. Reflect on the players’ journey and the choices they’ve made along the way, and create moments that test each character’s core values, abilities, and personal growth. Consider giving each character a pivotal role to play, whether that’s through a heroic feat, a critical decision, or a chance to overcome their greatest personal conflict. The climax should feel like the inevitable result of everything that’s come before, giving players a sense of accomplishment and narrative closure.

Villain’s Final Stand and Closure

From the day one of the campaign give sign of the villain, don’t show hint, maybe it’s a feeling of somewhat watching, maybe it’s a grunt who randomily attacked the party. With the progress of the adventures make his presence more visible until a final showdown.

The final confrontation with the main antagonist is a chance to bring closure to the story and provide emotional and thematic payoff for the players. Design the villain’s last stand to reflect their motivations and methods, showing how their journey has paralleled or contrasted with the players’. Give players opportunities to confront the villain not only physically but morally and emotionally, allowing for moments of reflection or dialogue before or during the battle. Let the villain’s defeat feel like a meaningful achievement, whether they’re redeemed, destroyed, or simply thwarted in their plans. This final encounter should offer players the satisfaction of overcoming a truly formidable foe, while leaving room for any lingering mysteries or moral complexities to add depth to the victory.

Personal Resolutions for Player Characters

Each player character should have a chance to find personal closure during or after the climax. This can be woven into the final confrontation or as part of an epilogue. Allow each character to address their personal goals, struggles, and any unfinished business. This might involve reuniting with an NPC, settling a score, achieving a long-held ambition, or finding peace in the aftermath of their journey. Personal resolutions give players a sense of ownership and fulfillment, allowing them to feel that their character’s story has come full circle. These resolutions also add emotional weight to the end of the campaign, making it feel like each character’s story has been uniquely honored.

World-Building the Epilogue

An epilogue is an opportunity to show how the world has changed as a result of the players’ actions. Highlight the tangible impacts of their journey, such as new alliances, laws, or cultural shifts, which can help the players feel the weight of their legacy. Show how NPCs, factions, and locations they influenced have grown or changed, and give glimpses into how their choices have shaped the world. This epilogue can be presented as a final adventure, a series of narrated scenes, or even as personal epilogues for each character. By showcasing the players’ impact, the epilogue gives them a satisfying sense of closure while leaving them with a lasting connection to the world.

Legacy and Impact on Future Campaigns

The players’ choices and actions can leave a lasting legacy that influences future campaigns set in the same world. Their characters could become legends, with their deeds retold as stories or even myths in future timelines. Players might encounter NPCs who were inspired or affected by their past actions, or they may see regions shaped by policies or alliances they established. Future campaigns can also introduce unresolved mysteries, artifacts, or descendants tied to the original characters, giving players a sense of continuity and depth. By weaving the players’ legacy into the world’s ongoing history, you create a campaign world that feels rich and interconnected, inviting players to see their impact echo across generations.

Creating spells

Magic is a central element of this game, with 8 out of the 12 classes having inherent spellcasting abilities, and even the remaining classes often have subclasses that introduce magical skills. While the spells available in the big spell list cover a vast array of magical effects, they are not the final limit. Player creativity should be encouraged, and thus, creating custom spells is always an option. The guidelines below will help you manage the spell creation process.

All player-created spells are named spells, which must include the creator’s name or alias. This naming convention personalizes the spell, adding flavor to the world. For example, a custom spell might be called “Khaz’s Fiery Flames.”

To create a spell, a character must undertake an extended check and expend resources in line with the spell’s level. All custom spells require GM approval before the player begins the creation process, ensuring the spell fits within the campaign and maintains game balance.

Characters can only create spells up to one level below the highest level they can currently cast. Named spells are generally more powerful than similar spells of their level, so when determining the level, compare it to existing spells of one level higher.

The skill used for spell creation depends on the spell’s magical source:

• Arcane and Wyrd spells require Arcana checks.
• Divine spells require Religion checks.
• Primordial spells require Nature checks.

Once you have the spell concept and appropriate skill check, use the following table to determine the time and cost involved in creating the spell.

To create a spell, players must accumulate enough success points, as indicated in the Success Total column. Each day, week, or month (depending on spell level), they make an extended skill check, adding the results of successful checks to reach the required total. By following these rules, players can add personal, powerful spells to their repertoire, creating a unique and memorable spellcasting experience in your world.

Creating magic items

Magical items are an integral part of this game, from a flaming sword to an artifact that determines the fate of the world.

For non-magical (mundane) items, use the downtime activity. For magical scrolls, a separate process exists. Magical potions can be created using the spellbound potion rules combined with the brewing potions activity. However, this section focuses on creating truly magical items, like a sword that bursts into flame or goggles that grant darkvision.

The first step in creating a magic item is determining its cost and/or magical bonus (for weapons, armor, and shields). If the item already exists, simply use its listed price. Once the price and magical bonus are established, you must complete an extended check to craft the item. Use the following guidelines to proceed:

Determining the base price

To determine the base price of a magical item, start by evaluating its effects. The maximum bonus an item can have is +5, and no single numerical value can exceed +3. Each special ability the item possesses is considered at least +1, though some abilities may require a higher value.

For example, a magical shield that provides a single use of the spell Shield would count as a +1 Shield. However, it would not grant any additional AC bonus, as the magical effect is tied to the spell rather than a direct enhancement to AC.

* Items can’t have this magical bonus to attack, damage or AC, these values are reserved for special abilities and magical bonus

Armor and weapon base price

Armor and Shields Special abilities

Absorbing: When you are hit by a spell, you can use your reaction to absorb the spell’s energy and regain hit points equal to the spell’s level × 2. Once used, this property can’t be used again until the next dawn.

Animated (shields only): Upon command, an animated shield floats within 50cm of the wielder, protecting her as if she were using it herself but freeing up both her hands. Only one shield can protect a character at a time. A character with an animated shield still takes any penalties associated with shield use.

Arrow Catching (shields only): A shield with this ability attracts ranged weapons to it. Additionally, any projectile or thrown weapon aimed at a target within 1 sqr. (1.5 m) of the shield’s wearer diverts from its original target and targets the shield’s bearer instead. (If the wielder has total cover relative to the attacker, the projectile or thrown weapon is not diverted). The wielder can activate or deactivate this ability with a command word.

Arrow Deflection (shields only): A shield with this ability protects the wielder from ranged attacks. When receiving an ranged attack that you can see, the wielder can use it’s reaction to make a DC 15 dexterity save. If he succeeds, the shield deflects the weapon. Exceptional ranged weapons, such as boulders hurled by giants or acid arrows, can’t be deflected.

Bashing (shields only): A shield with this special ability is designed to perform a shield bash. This shield can be used as melee weapon with the following properties:

Blinding: A shield with this ability flashes with a brilliant light up to twice per day upon command of the wielder. Anyone within 4 sqr. (6m) except the wielder must make a DC 14 Dexterity save or be blinded for 1d4 rounds.

Energy Absorption: Once per day, when you take damage from fire, cold, acid, lightning, or thunder, the armor absorbs it, reducing the damage by 10 and granting temporary hit points equal to the amount absorbed.

Elemental Resistance: Gains resistance for the choosen damage type.

Elemental Immunity: Gains immunity for the choosen damage type.

Etherealness (armor only): On command, this ability allows the wearer of the armor to become ethereal. The character can remain ethereal for as long as desired. Once this feature is used i can’t be used again until the next dawn.

Fortification: This suit of armor or shield produces a magical force that protects vital areas of the wearer more effectively. When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on the wearer, there is a chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.

Glamered (armor only): A suit of armor with this ability appears normal. Upon command, the armor changes shape and form to assume the appearance of a normal set of clothing. The armor retains all its properties (including weight) when glamered. Only a true seeing spell or similar magic reveals the true nature of the armor when disguised.

Lifesaving (armor only): Once per long rest, when you would be reduced to 0 hit points, this armor activates and heals you for 10 hit points, preventing you from falling unconscious.

Magnetic (shields only): This shield can pull metallic objects toward it. As a reaction, you can impose disadvantage on an attack roll from a metallic weapon.

Mind Shielding (armor only): This armor shields the wearer’s mind. You are immune to being charmed or frightened and have advantage on saving throws against psychic damage.

Reflecting Shield (shields only): Once per day, when targeted by a spell of 4th level or lower, you can use your reaction to reflect it back at the caster (on an 11 or higher on a d20 roll).

Shadow (armor only): This light armor is jet black and blurs the wearer whenever she tries to hide, granting a bonus on steath checks.

Silent Moves: This armor is well oiled and magically constructed so that it not only makes little sound, but it dampens sound around it. This noise property of the armor.

Spell Resistance (armor only): This property grants the armor’s wearer advantage on saving throws agaisn’t spells.

Wild: The wearer of a suit of armor or a shield with this ability preserves their armor bonus even when polymorphed or shapeshifted (like a druid’s Wild Shape). Armor and shields with this ability typically appear to be made covered in leaf patterns.

Weapons Special Abilities

Anarchic: An anarchic weapon is chaotically aligned and infused with the power of chaos. It makes the weapon chaos-aligned and thus it deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against all of lawful alignment. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the chaotic power upon their ammunition.

Axiomatic: An axiomatic weapon is lawfully aligned and infused with the power of law. It makes the weapon law-aligned and thus it deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against all of chaotic alignment. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the lawful power upon their ammunition.

Bane: A bane weapon excels at attacking one type or subtype of creature. Against its designated foe, its effective enhancement bonus is +2 better than its normal enhancement bonus. It deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against the foe. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the bane quality upon their ammunition. If you need a random bane, use the following table.

Dancing (melee Only): As a action, you can release this weapon to attack on its own for 4 rounds using your base attack bonus. While dancing, it cannot make opportunity attacks, and you are not considered armed with it. The weapon is still treated as wielded or attended by you for effects targeting items. The weapon occupies your space and attacks creatures within its reach. It follows you wherever you move, whether physically or magically. If you have a free hand, you can grab it to end its dancing early, but it cannot dance again for 4 rounds after being retrieved.

Defending: As a bonus action, you can use this weapon to gain a +2 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.

Disruption (melee only): A weapon of disruption is the bane of all undead. Any undead creature struck in combat must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom save or be destroyed. A weapon of disruption must be a bludgeoning weapon. Undeads resistant to channel divinity or charm are immune to this effect.

Distance (ranged only): A weapon of distance has double the range increment of other weapons of its kind.

Elemental (fire, cold or lightning): Upon command, a elemental weapon is sheathed in the element (fire, cold or lightning). The elemental damage does not harm the wielder. The effect remains until another command is given. A elemental weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of element damage on a successful hit. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the fire energy upon their ammunition.

Elemental Burst (fire, cold or lightning): A elemental burst weapon functions as a elemental weapon that also explodes with elemental effect upon striking a successful critical hit. The element does not harm the wielder. In addition to the extra elemental damage from the elemental ability (see previous), a elemental burst weapon deals an extra 1d10 points of element damage on a successful critical hit. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the fire energy upon their ammunition. Even if the flaming ability is not active, the weapon still deals its extra fire damage on a successful critical hit.

Holy: A holy weapon is imbued with holy power. This power makes the weapon good-aligned and thus it deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against all of evil alignment. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the holy power upon their ammunition.

Impactful (melee only): This effect can only be applied bludgeoning damage weapons. When you hit with this weapon, the target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be pushed 2 sqr. (3m) away from you.

Keen (melee only) : This ability improves the critical hit range of a weapon, allowing it to score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. Only piercing or slashing weapons can have this property. This benefit does not stack with other effects that expand a weapon’s critical hit range.

Rancid: When a vicious weapon strikes an opponent, it creates a flash of disruptive energy that resonates between the opponent and the wielder. This energy deals an extra 2d6 points of damage to the opponent and 1d6 points of damage to the wielder.

Reaping: Against creatures with their maximum hit points, this weapon deals an extra 3d10 necrotic damage.

Returning: This special ability can only be placed on a weapon that can be thrown. A returning weapon flies through the air back to the creature that threw it. It returns to the thrower just before the creature’s next turn. Catching a returning weapon when it comes back doesn’t require a action. If the character can’t catch it, or if the character has moved since throwing it, the weapon drops to the ground in the square from which it was thrown.

Seeking (ranged only): The weapon veers toward its target, ignoring any protection again’t three-quarter and half-cover.

Speed: When the wielder makes an attack action, if can also use it’s bonus action to make one additional attack with this weapon.

Spell Storing: A spell storing weapon allows a spellcaster to store a single targeted spell of up to 3rd level by expending the spell’s mana point cost (the spell must have a casting time of 1 action). When the weapon hits a creature and deals damage, the wielder can use it’s bonus action to release the spell on the target. If the spell requires attack roll, consider already hit, if the spell requires a saving throw, the target must make the save with disadvantage.

Throwing: This ability can only be placed on a melee weapon. A melee weapon crafted with this ability gains a range increment of 2 sqr. (3m) and can be thrown by a wielder proficient in its normal use.

Unholy: An unholy weapon is imbued with unholy power. This power makes the weapon evil-aligned and thus it deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against all of good alignment. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the unholy power upon their ammunition.

Unstoppable (melee only): Attacks with this weapon ignore all resistances and immunities to slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning damage.

Vorpal: This potent and feared ability allows the weapon to sever the heads of those it strikes. Upon a roll of natural 20 (followed by a successful roll to confirm the critical hit), the weapon severs the opponent’s head (if it has one) from its body. Some creatures, such as many aberrations and all oozes, have no heads. Others, such as golems and undead creatures other than vampires, are not affected by the loss of their heads. Most other creatures, however, die when their heads are cut off. A vorpal weapon must be a slashing weapon. (If you roll this property randomly for an inappropriate weapon, reroll.)

Vorpal (melee only): This can only be applied in weapons with slashing damage. When you attack a creature that has at least one head with this weapon and roll a 20 on the attack roll, you cut off one of the creature’s heads. The creature dies if it can’t survive without the lost head. A creature is immune to this effect if it is immune to slashing damage, doesn’t have or need a head, has legendary actions, or the GM decides that the creature is too big for its head to be cut off with this weapon. Such a creature instead takes an extra 6d8 slashing damage from the hit.

Vicious (melee only): When you roll a 20 with this magic weapon, the target takes an extra dice of damage of the weapon’s type.

Wounding: When you hit a creature with this weapon the target must succeed a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, if it fails the wound it creates cannot be healed until the creature finishes a short or long rest. The weapon also deals 1d4 necrotic damage at the start of the wounded creature’s turn until the wound is healed.

Approximation price

For magic items with effects that don’t fit into standard categories, use the approximation table below to determine their price. Keep in mind that no item should have a bonus exceeding +3 under normal circumstances.

In the case of an item like a sword, which also has a special effect that cannot be described by its special abilities (for example, a sword that can also cast a spell), calculate the price based on the abilitie’s modifier and add any special effects from this list to determine its final price.

When creating a magic item, keep in mind that specific body slots are associated with particular types of effects. These slots serve as limitations to prevent the use of multiple items with similar effects simultaneously.

Staff and Wands Price

Crafting a staff or wand requires the creator to have the spellcaster feature and proficiency in Arcana, Religion or Nature. The creator must also know or prepare the spells to be stored in the item. The crafting cost is determined by the spell level(s), caster level, and the number of spells included. All necessary crafting materials must be gathered in advance, in the case of a spell that requires a material with the cost, add this cost to the total of the staff price. If the material is consumed when the spell is cast instead of adding on the total cost, each exteded check consumes the material.

The primary spell is always the highest-level spell included, while all other spells are considered secondary. Staves and wands are fully charged when created and regain charges daily as specified. The creator must be able to cast the spells at the required levels to craft the item. After crafting, the item’s spell attack and DC are based on the caster’s current abilities, if the caster creates a wand at it’s first level, the wand will kept the same spell attack and spell DC even when the creator already have higher values.

Crafting Wands

Wands are designed to store up to three spells and have a limited number of charges for casting them.

Charges and Recharge:

• A wand holds 7 charges and regains 1d6+1 charges at dawn.
• If a wand is reduced to 0 charges, roll a d20. On a roll of 1, the wand crumbles to dust.

Base Price Calculation:

• Spell Cost: 200gp x spell level x caster level
• A spell can be stored at half the cost, but casting it expends 2 charges instead of 1.
• A spell can be stored at one-quarter the cost, but casting it expends 3 charges instead of 1.
• Total cost depends on the number of spells stored. Total cost depends on the number of spells stored.

Staves

Staves are versatile magical items capable of storing up to five spells. They are more costly and durable than wands and offer higher recharge capabilities.

Charges and Recharge:

• A staff holds 10 charges and regains 1d6+4 charges at dawn.
• If a staff is reduced to 0 charges, roll a d20. On a roll of 1, the staff becomes a mundane, nonmagical object.

Base Price Calculation:

• Primary Spell Cost: 300gp x spell level x caster level
• Secondary Spell Cost: 100gp x spell level x caster level
• A spell can be stored at half the cost, but casting it expends 2 charges instead of 1.
• A spell can be stored at one-quarter the cost, but casting it expends 3 charges instead of 1.
• Total cost depends on the number of spells stored. Total cost depends on the number of spells stored.

Crafting the Magic Item

Crafting a magic item is treated as a downtime activity. Once the item’s price and magical bonus are determined, you can begin the crafting process, following the cost per check outlined in the crafting table.

For armor, weapons, and shields, calculate the magical bonus by adding the values of the magical and special abilities, then use this total to determine the item’s rarity, check total, and cost per check. For other items that rely on the approximation price table, use their total price to define rarity and the crafting requirements.

If the item’s effect involves a spell, the creator must be able to cast the spell during each crafting check. If the spell requires a material component that is not consumed, its cost must be added to the total crafting price. However, if the material component is consumed by the spell, it must be provided and used for each check.

Examples

Weapons Example

Magical Dagger

A +1 weapon has a base price of Weapon Type + Magical Bonus:

• Dagger is a simple weapon, so the base price is 500 gp.
• The magical bonus is +1, adding 1.000 gp.
• Total Base Price: 500 gp + 1.000 gp = 1.500 gp.
• +1 weapon is Uncommon.

Looking at the check table we have an Uncommon, with the price of 1.500gp, a total of 100 and one check per day with a cost of 100gp per check.

Keen Magical Longsword

A +0 weapon with a +2 bonus special ability has a base price of Weapon Type + Magical Bonus:

• Longsword is a martial weapon, so the base price is 1.000 gp.
• The special ability (Keen, +2 bonus) adds another 8.000 gp.
• Total Base Price: 1.000 gp + 9.000 gp = 9.000 gp.
• A +2 weapon is Rare.
• This magical longsword doen’t have any bonus to attack or damage.

Looking at the check table, we have a Rare item with the price of 9.000 gp, a total of 150, one check per week, and a cost of 600 gp per check.

+2 Fire Elemental Battleaxe

A +2 weapon with a +1 bonus special ability has a base price of Weapon Type + Magical Bonus:

• Battleaxe is a martial weapon, so the base price is 1.000 gp.
• The magical bonus is +3, adding 27.000 gp.
• Total Base Price: 1.000 gp + 27.000 gp = 28.000 gp.
• A +3 weapon is Rare.

Looking at the check table, we have a Rare item with the price of 28.000 gp, a total of 150, one check per week, and a cost of 1.866 gp per check.

+3 Holy Warhammer

A +3 weapon with a +2 bonus special ability has a base price of Weapon Type + Magical Bonus:

• Greataxe is a martial weapon, so the base price is 1.000 gp.
• The magical bonus is +5, adding 125.000 gp.
• Total Base Price: 1.000 gp + 125.000 gp = 128.000 gp.
• A +5 weapon is Legendary.

Looking at the check table, we have a Legendary item with the price of 128.000 gp, a total of 250, one check per week, and a cost of 12.800 gp per check.

Armor examples

Magical Leather Armor

A +1 armor has a base price of Armor Type + Magical Bonus:

• Leather armor is light armor, so the base price is 500 gp.
• The magical bonus is +1, adding 500 gp.
• Total Base Price: 500 gp + 500 gp = 1.000 gp.
• A +1 armor is Uncommon.

Looking at the check table, we have an Uncommon item with the price of 1.000 gp, a total of 100, one check per day, and a cost of 66 gp per check.

Chain Shirt with Elemental Resistance (Fire)

A +0 armor with a +2 bonus special ability has a base price of Armor Type + Magical Bonus:

• Chain shirt is medium armor, so the base price is 1.000 gp.
• The special ability (Elemental Resistance, Fire, +2 bonus) adds 4.000 gp.
• Total Base Price: 1.000 gp + 4.000 gp = 5.000 gp.
• A +2 bonus special ability makes this armor Rare.

Looking at the check table, we have a Rare item with the price of 5.000 gp, a total of 150, one check per week, and a cost of 333 gp per check.

Magical Studded Leather with Shadow

A +1 armor with a +1 bonus special ability has a base price of Armor Type + Magical Bonus:

• Studded leather is light armor, so the base price is 500 gp.
• The magical bonus is +2, adding 4.000 gp.
• Total Base Price: 500 gp + 4.000 gp = 4.500 gp.
• A +2 armor is Rare.

Looking at the check table, we have an Rare item with the price of 4.500 gp, a total of 100, one check per day, and a cost of 300 gp per check.

Magical Breastplate with Spell Resistance (Medium)

A +3 armor with a +2 bonus special ability has a base price of Armor Type + Magical Bonus:

• Breastplate is medium armor, so the base price is 1.000 gp.
• The magical bonus is +5, adding 62.500 gp.
• Total Base Price: 1.000 gp + 62.500 gp = 63.500 gp.
• A +5 armor is Legendary.

Looking at the check table, we have a Legendary item with the price of 63.500 gp, a total of 150, one check per week, and a cost of 6.350 gp per check.

Rings

Ring of Protection

A ring that grants a +1 bonus to AC has a base price calculated as AC Bonus Squared x 5.000 gp:

• The ring provides a +1 bonus to AC, and the base price is Bonus Squared x 5.000 gp.
• Total Base Price: 1 x 1 x 5.000 gp = 5.000 gp.
• A +5.000 gp makes this item Rare.

Looking at the check table, we have an Rare item with the price of 5.000 gp, a total of 150, one check per day, and a cost of 333 gp per check.

Ring of Fire Resistance

A ring that grants resistance to fire damage is considered a item and has a base price of 10.000 gp:

• Fire Resistance is valued at 10.000 gp as a flat cost.
• This item is considered Rare.

Looking at the check table, we have a Rare item with the price of 10.000 gp, a total of 150, one check per week, and a cost of 666 gp per check.

Ring of Enhanced Intelligence

A ring that grants a +3 bonus to Intelligence has a base price calculated as Ability Bonus Squared x 5.00gp:

• The ring provides a +3 bonus to Intelligence, and the base price is Bonus Squared x 1.000 gp.
• Total Base Price: 3 x 3 x 5.000 gp = 45.000 gp.
• A +45.000 gp makes this item Very Rare.

Looking at the check table, we have a Very Rare item with the price of 45.000 gp, a total of 200, one check per week, and a cost of 4.500 gp per check.

Wonderous Items

Helmet of Telepathy

A Helmet of Telepathy allows the wearer to cast the Detect Thoughts spell (2nd level) at will and communicate telepathically with creatures within 12 sqr. (18m). This is a rare item with the following calculations:

• Detect Thoughts is a 2nd-level spell:
• Use-activated or continuous: 5.000 gp × spell level squared (4) = 20.000 gp.
• The item occupies the Headband/Helmet slot (standard), so no additional multiplier applies.
• A 20.000 gp makes this item Rare

Looking at the check table, we have a Rare item with the price of 20.000 gp, a total of 150, one check per week, and a cost of 1.666 gp per check.

Hat of Disguise

A Hat of Disguise allows the wearer to cast the Disguise Self spell (1st level) 3 times per day. This is an uncommon item with the following calculations:

• Disguise Self is a *1st-level spell
• Command word activation: 2.000 gp × spell level squared (1) = 2.000 gp.
• Adjust for 3 charges per day: Divide by (5 ÷ 3 = 1.6), 2.000 ÷ 1.6 = 1.250
• A 1.250 gp makes this item Uncommon

Looking at the check table, we have a Uncommon item with the price of 1.250 gp, a total of 100, one check per week, and a cost of 83 gp per check.

Google of Speed

The Google of Speed allow the wearer to receive +4 sqr. (6m) of walking speed, no attunement required.

• Speed of 4 sqr., double the sqr. speed 16 x 1.00gp = 16.000 gp
• Uncustomary space (google isn’t fit for movement) 16.000 x 2 = 32.000 gp
• No attunement, 32.000 gp x 3 = 96.000 gp
• A 96.000 gp makes this item Legendary

Looking at the check table, we have a Legendary item with the price of 96.000 gp, a total of 250, one check per week, and a cost of 9.600 gp per check.

Wands examples

A wand storing Magic Missile (1st level) at caster level 5:

• Primary spell cost: 200 x 1 x 5 = 1.000
• Total cost: 1.000gp

A wand storing Fireball (3rd level, stored as 4th level, primary), Counterspell (3rd level, secondary), and Shield (1st level, secondary, uses two charges) at caster level 10:

• Fireball cost: 200 x 4 x 10 = 8.000
• Counterspell cost: 200 x 3 x 10 = 6.000
• Shield cost (2 charges per use): 200 x 1 x 10 ÷ 2 = 1.000
• Total cost: 15.000gp (8.000 + 6.000 + 1.000)

Example: A wand storing Plane Shift (7th level, primary), Greater Invisibility (4th level, secondary), and Mirror Image (2nd level, secondary) at caster level 18:

• Plane Shift cost: 200 x 7 x 18 = 25.200
• Greater Invisibility cost: 200 x 4 x 18 = 14.400
• Mirror Image cost (3 charges per use): 200 x 2 x 18 ÷ 4 = 1.800
• Total cost: 41.400gp (25.200 + 14.400 + 1.800)

Staff examples

A staff holding a single 1st-level spell at caster level 5:

• Primary spell cost: 300 x 1 x 5 = 1.500
• Total cost: 1.500gp

A staff holding Fireball (3rd level, stored as 4th level, primary), Counterspell (3rd level, secondary), Mage Armor (1st level, secondary), and Shield (1st level, secondary) at caster level 10:

• Primary spell cost: 300 x 4 x 10 = 12.000
• Secondary spell cost: 100 x 3 x 10 = 3.000
• Tertiary spell cost (Mage Armor): 100 x 1 x 10 = 1.000
• Tertiary spell cost (Shield): 100 x 1 x 10 = 1.000
• Total cost: 17.000gp (12.000 + 3.000 + 1.000 + 1.000)

A staff holding Plane Shift (7th level, primary), Greater Invisibility (4th level, secondary), Detect Thoughts (2nd level, secondary, using two charges), and Misty Step (2nd level, secondary, using two charges) at caster level 18:

• Primary spell cost: 300 x 7 x 18 = 37.800
• Secondary spell cost: 100 x 4 x 18 = 7.200
• Tertiary spell cost (Detect Thoughts): 300 x 2 x 18 ÷ 2 = 5.400
• Tertiary spell cost (Misty Step): 300 x 2 x 18 ÷ 2 = 5.400
• Total cost: 55.800gp (37.800 + 7.200 + 5.400 + 5.400)