dmdave

[Patreon Exclusive] Neverending Dungeon Room 2 - Bone Nap

Welcome to the Neverending Dungeon! The adventure starts when characters wake in a dungeon with no recollection of how they got there. Each room of the dungeon is loaded with traps, monsters, puzzles, treasure, and more. As time goes on, I'll create more and more rooms, building out at least one room per week plus an additional room for every 10 patrons that follow my Patreon account.

You are free to play the dungeon as it lies, or you can take the individual puzzles, traps, and room la...

[Patreon Exclusive] Scalable Air Elementals | 19 New Monsters for Fifth Edition

Elementals are some of my favorite creatures to use in D&D. They're like a cross between a fiend, construct, and monstrosity, with tons of powerful attacks, defenses, and sneaky features. For this special edition of Scalable Monsters, I'll be taking the air elemental and scaling it upward from 1 to 20. This gives the creature flexibility for you to play it at all tiers of play.

How to Create a Scalable Air Elemental

Instead of creating a brand new monster fo...

[Patreon Exclusive] Dump Stat Traps Part 4 - Fear Run! (Wisdom)

Looking for ways to trip up those pesky, over-powered characters that are stomping through your campaign? The traps detailed in this series focus on effects that require specific saving throws.

The fourth entry is called Fear Run! It's a pretty simple trap. At one end of the corridor is a McGuffin—a treasure chest, a button, whatever the characters need to get. All along the corridor are some pretty easily avoided traps so long as they can time your run right. Trouble is, there's also...

[Sneak Peek] Dump Stat Traps Part 4 - Fear Run! (Wisdom)

Little sneak peak into today's dump stat trap. While I'm still working on this huge adventure (the thing is clocking in around 40 pages already with a little bit more to go), I thought I'd put out this Wisdom based trap—upon writing this, I realized I was supposed to do Intelligence. D'oh.

Anyways, Wisdom's up next and here's a look at it. Just a simple hall. That's all!

Any guesses to how it works?

[Sneak Peek] Late night doodling...

Just got back from my D&D session where I witnessed a character death at the hands of an instadeath trap.

I spent the majority of today writing the collaboration adventure debuting next week. So I wanted a little mental break. I rather enjoy making these "Never-ending dungeon" rooms as they hearken back to the time of Shadowgate, Deja Vu, etc. point-and-click mystery/adventure games.

Here's Room 2. It's immediately off to the right of Room 1. Once we hit 325 patrons (SHARE, Y'...

[Follow-up Poll] Schedule Changes

Hey all!

Thanks so much for answering the last poll (and giving me a day off). Here's a follow-up poll using the feedback given. I've added in a day off for myself (thanks for that) and removed player option Tuesday since no one seemed as interested in player options. I doubled down on the requests, so I'll be able to create stuff there. Since BroadSword and the collabs will have a lot of adventures, I might switch out Sunday so it's another NED day (I really like the NEDs right now) or...

[Poll] Mid-October Schedule Adjustment

Hey all!

I'm potentially making an adjustment to the regular content schedule as follows. I've included a poll below to see what you think.

Monster Monday. New monsters on Monday. There will be at least one, but potentially more if I can manage it.

Player Option Tuesday. Subclasses, races, new classes, etc.

One-Shot Wednesday. Easy to run adventures, trap rooms, encounter scenarios, etc. If I'm feeling plucky, I might ...

Overslept like whoa...

Hey all!

I overslept like crazy today, cashing in on like... 11 hours of sleep. D'oh. So I'm a little behind on the Saturday adventure module which I believe was supposed to be a Wizard of Oz adventure. I'm probably going to hold off on that until OSW and work on a few other things I've got going today including two huge adventures. One of the adventures is almost done and should be out later this week.

Anyways, I'll probably put something out today. Just not WoO! Sorry! Don't thr...

[Patreon Exclusive PDF] Neverending Dungeon - Room 1 - "Good Morning'

Welcome to the Neverending Dungeon! The adventure starts when characters awaken in a dungeon with no recollection of how they got there. Each room of the dungeon is loaded with traps, monsters, puzzles, treasure, and more. 

As time goes on, I'll create more and more dungeons, building out at least one room per week plus an additional room for every 10 patrons that follow my patreon account.

You are free to play the dungeon as it lies, or you can take the individual puzzles, t...

[Sneak Peek] Tunnels of the Lich Prince - Room 1

It looks like the poll is a runaway for the classic "wake up with no memory" trope. So I started working on that. I outlined the room created by donjon's Dungeon Creator, then started adding in traps, puzzles, and other goodies.

Once we hit 325 patrons we'll learn what's behind the next door.

Expect a PDF of this with details sometime later today.

[Poll] Tunnels of the Lich Prince - Room 1 Unlocked!

We did it! We unlocked the first room for the Tunnels of the Lich Prince.

While I'm probably going to change most of the numbers on the rooms (they're kinda all over the place), I decided to keep #1 right where it is.

If you weren't able to "Where's Waldo" where it is, I've cut and pasted it above so you can see it. The doors with S's are secret doors, and the door with a line through it ...

[Patreon Exclusive] Possomfolk | New Race for Fifth Edition

Humanoid possums are known simply as possomfolk by the other races or waba-animoosh by in the opossum tongue. Possomfolk are rarely seen in major humanoid cities, preferring to live far from humans and elves. However, they do intermingle with gnomes, halflings, and wood elves, as well as the fey.

[Stretch Goal] 1 Room per 10 Patrons (Starting at 315)

At 315 and every 10 patrons thereafter, I’ll create a fully realized room for Tunnels of the Lich Prince (the above map).

The rooms will laid out in the same manner as Dump Stat Traps with detailed notes on the environments. It’ll also include cool monster pairings, hazards, traps and more.

There’s 491 rooms, so obviously this could take a while. But hey! Wouldn’t it be amazing if we did? 4910 people coming together to create one of the biggest dungeons ever!

Plus, ...

[Patreon Exclusive] Dump Stat Traps Part 3 - Underwater Maze (Constitution)

Looking for ways to trip up those pesky, over-powered characters that are stomping through your campaign? The traps detailed in this series focus on effects that require specific saving throws and ability checks.

This is the third article and we're up to Constitution. The trap for Constitution is pretty simple, and plays not so much on Constitution saving throws or checks, but instead the rules for a character holding its breath. In Fifth Edition, a character can hold its breath for a n...

[Patreon Exclusive] The Traveller's Caves - New Adventure for 1st Level Characters

I am a big fan of Dyson Logos' awesome maps. If you're not familiar with Dyson yet, he's an old-school cartographer who has done official Fifth Edition maps. He's also got a site where he churns out, like, 2-3 awesome maps per week. This is an adventure for 3-5 1st level characters available to use for 5th edition campaigns.

Thumbnail art by Wayne Reynolds not included as part of this adventure.

[Sneak Peek] Behold: Tunnels of the Lich Prince

Looks like our survey is guiding us towards an uber-dungeon. Originally, I'd planned on borrowing one of Dyson's or Tim Hartin's. But then I got the nutty idea to just craft one using donjon.bin.sh. 

This is what came back. The dungeon has 491 rooms (at least, I think it does) and, as you can see, is massive.

What I'd like to do with this beast is slowly populate each and every room, creating situations similar to those that are in Dump Stat Traps. As I create a room, I'll re...

[Sneak Peek] Dump Strat Traps 3

Of all the traps I've created so far, this is perhaps the most devious of them all. It plays with what is probably one of the least used mechanics in the game: characters holding breath.

Should be out tomorrow morning.

[Patreon Exclusive] Dump Stat Traps Part 2 - Gear Hazard (Dexterity)

Looking for ways to trip up those pesky, over-powered characters that are stomping through your campaign? The traps detailed in this series focus on effects that require specific saving throws.

Our second entry is a gear hazard trap. The trap is designed to target characters who have poor Dexterity scores. It takes a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to successful leap across the gears, but also, if a character isn't careful they could get sucked into the gears and take a considerable amount...

[Sneak Peek] More ways to punish your players coming tonight.

As you can see, I'm "grinding" away on more traps. I'm going to try to have two done and release them both tomorrow. That should get me back on schedule.

The one above is for Dexterity (lower levels). It's bound to be totally evil. Muahaha

If I get this one done before this afternoon, I might even release it early.

[Patreon Exclusive] Will-o'-wisp Playable Class/Race | New Player Option for Fifth Edition

About a year ago this time I created one of my first ever playable race/classes, the will-o-wisp, for one of my players. Hard to believe this, but a year ago I was still pretty new to class and subclass creation. So overall, the class was a disaster. Recently, I've noticed a few folks are going back to my old stuff and checking it out. Therefore, I thought I might revisit it and work to tighten it up some. This is the result.

Edit: slight fix on condition immunities. The wisp is no long...

[Poll] Stretch Goal 375

Following Stretch Goal 340 (which is relatively close to being hit), the next major stretch goal will be at 375.

I have a few ideas for what it should be, but I'm interested in seeing what you all want.

305 Patrons! Traps and Post-Apocalypse is Coming!

We did it folks! We hit 305 patrons. That means two things:

1) Next up is the post-apocalyptic setting. Only 35 more patrons 'til we hit that goal, so we can probably expect it as soon as next week.

2) And over the next week, I'll be creating trap situations similar to the Strength one for a 6-page mini-ebook.

Expect a poll after this to see what sort of post-apocalyptic setting we should create. I might make the whole thing driven by requests, too, a la the old Gods of Wand...

New Class Option Tonight and Traps Tomorrow

Hey all, 

Just want to give you a heads-up on what I'm working on. I've gone back through DMDave.com and found one of the oldest classes I've ever created. I'm getting it a totally fresh coat of paint, so it's going to take a while to get it cooking. Once it's done, though, it'll be worth it.

Also, since tomorrow is OSW, I think I'm going to put out another trap. I had a really cool idea for a dex-based nightmare last night, so expect that LOL

Sorry again for not doing ...

Today's post a little late!

Hey folks, busy morning here at the DMDave house. I'm working on a revamp of an old class today, so look forward to that. It just won't be out at the normal time slot.

I got a little caught up working on one of the adventures that'll be out this month (I think next week). It's a massive 40-some page campaign-worthy adventure collaboration with the folks I did Clash at Kobold Cauldron. So look forward to that.

As always, if anyone needs anything, just holler at me here or on Discor...

300 Patrons! Thank you all <3

Thank you all so much! I'm truly humbled by each of you that have decided to follow along with my content and this patreon. Hopefully, I can continue to deliver the stuff you all enjoy!

Thanks again!

[Patreon Exclusive] DMDave Revisited - 5 Angel Variants

I use angels very sparingly in my campaigns. To me, they seem kinda like... deux ex machina. Literally. They also kinda come off as super serious. These are the sort of folks that if you make a joke they just respond with "blink blink blink." Plus, with their challenge ratings, they're the kind of things you only run into at later levels.

What follows are five angel variant angels that you can use in your Fifth Edition campaigns no matter what the level.

[Poll] Wizard of Oz Poll

I'm going to be turning Saturdays into "campaign day" where I expand upon a campaign setting. But what will I expand? Each week I'll let you all decide!

We'll start with the Wizard of Oz campaign setting that I created this last weekend. What do you feel like should be added?

[Patreon Exclusive] DMDave Revisited: Aboleth Variants

Aboleths.

They're totally gross, right? Basically big, psionic eels straight out of a Lovecraft short story. Not only are they scheming behind the scenes, sending out their minions to do all their dirty work, but they also have that body-horror ickiness that makes my skin crawl. Hit someone with a tentacle and they turn into a fish person? Barf!

But I guess that's why they're such good Fifth Edition villains. Players don't want to come anywhere near these things. Not that they eve...

[Patreon Exclusive] The Marvelous Land of Oz v1.0

In an effort to provide a complete campaign setting, the game rules found here are as concise as possible. In general, this 5e Marvelous Land of Oz campaign setting uses the same rules that Fifth Edition does. If you have questions about how an Oz rule works, you can usually find the answer there. You'll want, at the very least, a copy of the Fifth Edition core rulebooks.

This Oz campaign is based on the original books by L. Frank Baum and not the 1939 film. However, you are free to adj...

[Sneak Peek] Oz is Drafted, Now Proofing

So the first version of Oz is put together. I've got to drop off some books at the post office and then knock out a few other things, but after I give this a read it should be good to go.

This version will be V1.0 which will be limited on images, etc. Plus, I'm likely to go back and add a few things in. Regardless, everything you need to get started will be in this doc including notes on races, classes, buying (or not buying) equipment, magic items, and three new monster templates.