dmdave

One-Word Prompt #146 - Let's Make Some F'd Up Monsters

Hey all,

I'm generating the different terrain types for Zalgul-3 as we speak, giving each one its own set of traveling rules. While I'm doing this, I'll need to work in some monsters. Of course, there are plenty of ghoulish things from the Tales of the Valiant Monster Valut that I can add in, but I'll need some other grotesque things to join them.

Here's how this one-word prompt will work:

In the comments below, give a one-word prompt. Just one word.

But then also add...

Poll #440 - Book Series Title

Hey friends,

As I continue to focus on a holistic content release schedule set in the universe of MEKBORG and STEEL PSALM, the content I'm making here will go out in book form once I've made 96 pages of content. This could be monthly. This could be bi-monthly. This could be every other month. It all depends on what I'm doing. It'll use the same "credit" system I mentioned before for the other stuff as I try to catch up with backorders. I'm pretty sure these will be traditional 5e size s...

Poll #439 - Zalgul-3 Stand-Alone Adventure

Hey all,

Our latest poll asked what sort of content you all wanted for Phase 3. Setting rules is currently dominating with a stand-alone adventure in second.

The Wormfoot detail offered up 6 potential hooks. Which one do you like best?

The Lost Caravan. Chief Zumk sends the characters to investigate a missing caravan that was transporting valuable scavenged materials from Port Erroneous to Wormfoot. The last known location of the caravan is near the dangero...

[Public] Just Passing Through - The Village of Wormfoot

Perched atop a precarious mound of steel girders, rocks, and sand, is the small community of Wormfoot. Surrounding the encampment is a palisade cobbled together from scrap metal and discarded materials, offering a semblance of protection against the harsh environment and any would-be intruders.

At the heart of Wormfoot lies a large pond of precious drinking water, a rare and vital resource in this wasteland. The Heap People of Wormfoot guard it fiercely, knowing that their survival hing...

Poll #438 - What’s next in Phase 3 of DMDave?

Hey all!

I’m officially calling this “phase 3” of DMDave. Phase 1 was my “trying stuff out” and Omeria phase. Phase 2 was Dungeons & Lairs. Now we’re on to phase 3, which will focus on comprehensive and cohesive worldbuilding in the STEEL PSALM universe.

Today, I launched the first adventure with Sorrowskull Mine, part of an ongoing mega dungeon in the Great Southern Heals. Next up, I’ll post a detail of the Heap People village, Wormfoot. Beyond that, I’ve go...

[All Patrons] Tales of the Great Southern Heaps #1 - Sorrowskull Mine (1st-Level, Insects)

Download the adventure using the attachment link below. A FoundryVTT pack will follow soon.

Oi! Welcome to Zalgul-3, the dump planet where the light of the galaxy barely reaches. We are the Heap People, the forgotten souls who scrape out a life among the ancient refuse of the Great Southern Heaps. While the factions out there bicker and crumble, we endure, sifting through the remnants of the Old Hegemonies.

This here is the first chapter of Tales from the Great Southern Heaps. The...

Poll #437 - Which feature of the Port Erroneous Region deserves the “Just Passing Through” treatment?

Hey all!

I’m doubling down on Zalgul-3 and the Steel Psalm setting. While I’m close to dropping the first adventures set there, I thought I might start planning some Just Passing Through content, too. If you aren’t familiar with JPT, it’s a series of books I write featuring rules-agnostic drop-in content.

Choose one or more of the options below for next month’s JPT.

Poll #436 - Who/What are the “Heap People”?

Hey all,

With the new cycle of content focused on the great trash heaps covering Zalgul-3, I figured I’d turn it over to all of you to tell me who the “heap people” are. All I know is that I envisioned them as anti-faction natives of the world who live among the rubbish. But I need a text block proxy for them.

Below, I’ve selected some stat blocks I think fit the mood. Pick the one you like best.

You can likely expect a minor reskin on any of these that win.

Poll #435 - Part two of the Great Southern Heaps MegaDungeon

Hey all,

Since the other poll is about to finish, and you've already donated one-word prompts, I figured we'd get a headstart on the next bit. I don't know much about it beyond that it'll be within the Great Southern Heaps (a massive series of mines and caverns carved out of ancient trash heaps) and it'll be a 2nd-level adventure.

Below are CR 1/2 dangers that will act as the dominant trouble in this part of the dungeon. Pick the one you like best.

Keep in mind that these mo...

One-Word Prompt #155 - Sorrowskull Mine

Hey all!

In my last poll, I asked you to pick the main monster in the first leg of the new Dungeons & Lairs/MegaDungeon/Zalgul-3 1st-level adventure for Tales of the Valiant/5e/MEK BORG (okay, that's a lot of slashes).

Now, I'm going to need some cool one-word prompts.

In the comments below, provide me with a one-word prompt. I'll take your word and turn it into the theme of one of these chambers.

As you can see, there are eight chambers. So that m...

Poll #434 - First Monster Lair of the Great Southern Heaps

Hey all,

I’ll be posting an adventure in the next couple days that will do three jobs:

1) It’ll introduce Zalgul-3, a sci-fi fantasy setting for MEKBORG and Tales of the Valiant/5e.

2) It’ll be a soft reboot of Dungeons & Lairs.

3) It’ll be part of a megadungeon/hex crawl series.

The first leg will be for level 1 heroes and feature CR 1/4 monsters as the prominent villain.

Pick the one you like best. 🤘

[Call for Suggestions] Port Erroneous and its surrounding areas.

Hey all,

I'm working on the new setting which will tie directly into the MEK BORG and STEEL PSALM lore. We're designing the region around the city of Port Erroneous on the dump planet of Zalgul-3. Originally a battleground for the fallen hegemonies, it's now covered in great heaps of junk discarded by the four great factions as they vie for control of the dying universe.

Today, I want you to help me plan the different areas of interest and sites around Port Erroneous. In the comme...

[Public] The Dark Menagerie #2 - Gorlak of the Voon

In a filthy, subterranean pool, Gorlak of the Voon lurks. A mass of scales and slime, bloated and grotesque. Milky, sightless eyes peer from a head covered in festering sores. Its maw, a gaping hole filled with jagged teeth. Sickly green flesh, mottled with decay and encrusted with filth. Fins tattered and ragged, trailing like shredded banners.

It waits in the shadows. Moves with unsettling speed. Glides through murky waters with surprising agility. It senses fear and despair. Draws cl...

[Paid Members Only] Dark Menagerie - #1 People-Vulture

In the Wasteland, the people-vultures lurk. Twisted and cunning, they prowl the desolate ruins. Simple-minded and shunned, they lack the spark of true intelligence. Social outcasts, they communicate in grunts and gestures (they call this language Vellere).

They feast on death. No carcass is too old, no flesh too rotten. Their stomachs are iron, their hunger unending.

In packs, they hunt. Spears raised high, they descend upon their prey. Like shadows, they move together, striking a...

One-Word Prompt: The Vulture Lords of Goerth

Give me a single word in the comments. I’ll turn it into a vulture-person.

[All Patrons] Fire - A Fifth Edition Campaign Setting

The ignans have haunted our world for as long as anyone remembers. Born of evil magic, their creator and incantations are lost to time. Fire is feared. Forbidden. The land lies charred and lifeless. Smoke chokes the sky. The world is arid, suffocating under an eternal shroud of ash.

Yet, whispers of a different time persist. Tales of green forests and blue waters. A paradise now only a memory. But in this desolation, hope flickers. Some believe change is possible. That the plague of ign...

Community Contributions - The Astral Town of Skrag

Welcome to Skrag, friend. Started out as just a big ol' rock floatin' in the Astral Plane, but we've made it our own. Built this town from all the junk we could find driftin' through the Silver Void. Now it's a bustling hub where skimmers, planejumpers, astralites, and all sorts of folks come together. If you find yourself wanderin' the Astral Plane, chances are you'll end up in Skrag sooner or later.

Skrag ain't your typical town. Imagine a massive, potato-shaped clump of junk floatin'...

Call for July Requests

Hey all!

Overwhelmingly you voted for “Assistant DM.” So we will try it on.

In the comments below, make a request. Precedence will be given to the higher tiers (Gold+). If I don’t get any requests from them, I’ll work my way back to silver. For now, copper will be “read only”, but if there’s not a lot of requests when I start planning, or if the request is simple, I’ll dig a little deeper.

As of now, there’s no rules for requests. So feel free to request ...

DMDave, the assistant DM?

Hey all,

I was reading through the comments on our regular posters, and I saw how folks are interested in all sorts of different things. Would it be helpful if I took your requests each month, created content based on what you're asking for, and then released it for all to see?

Let me know if that's something that interests you.

[Poll] Create a world? Or give you the rules to create your own?

Hey all,

Going forward with this month's Sword and Sorcery theme, would you prefer that I create the world taking ideas from you all, or I give you the resources to create your own?

Let me know below.

[Sword and Sorcery Month] Community Contribution - Let’s make some weird cults…

Tomorrow we’ll be diving into the gods and religions of Sword/Sorcery. And while we may decide that there’s one or two major religions in this new world, I think it’d be fun to come up with some cults.

In the comments, come up with an idea for a cult that would be in our world.

Make sure to follow the tropes/guidelines I outlined for S&S style fiction in my last post. I’ll create a random cult generator from the ideas I think fit best.

(Try to keep it clean an...

[Sword and Sorcery Month] So, what is Sword and Sorcery?

This month's theme is Sword and Sorcery (well, "Dark Sun," but we might as well explain its origins in the genre). Here are the basics of this fantasy sub-genre.

Considerably Less Glamorous and All About Fast-Paced Action

Sword and sorcery focuses on gritty, intense action rather than the polished heroism of high fantasy. The pacing is brisk, with a constant sense of urgency and danger. This, naturally, lends itself well to roleplaying games.

Mighty Warriors Fighting Supe...

2024-07-02 14:04:43 +0000 UTC View Post

[Call for Suggestions] The Wasteland Campaign — How to Create a Grim Dark Sword & Sorcery Post-Apocalyptic Campaign From Scratch

Hey all!

Thanks for all your feedback on the last Call for Suggestions. I'm just making my way through the list right now, so I'm starting with Shawn Porter's suggestion:

"How about some Dark Sun-style adventures? They don't necessarily have to use that specific game system, but stuff set in a harsh desert where the adventurers live in a city-state surrounded by enemies of various types? This would include some small army-type encounters led by the PCs."

2024-07-02 00:29:25 +0000 UTC View Post

Call for Suggestions - Increasing the value of this Patreon account.

Hey all,

I took some time in June to meditate, recuperate, and think hard about what I want to do with this Patreon (I also published two books, but hey...).

When this page started, it was mostly all 5e adventures all the time. And now that ~99 Dungeons and Lairs have been written and shipped, I'm starting to see that adventures aren't all there is to gaming. Nor is Fifth Edition. As such, we don't have the same Patreon count we did back in the high times of mid-COVID.

And ...

[All Patrons] Just Passing Through #5 - 1,000 Forest Encounters for Any Fantasy RPG

Welcome to Just Passing Through: 1,000 Forest Encounters for Any Fantasy TTRPG, your ultimate resource for enriching travel and adventures within the forest. Whether you are a seasoned Game Master or new to the role, this book is designed to spice up your forest settings with a diverse array of encounters that will captivate your players and add depth to your campaigns. With encounters ranging from the mundane to the mystical, you can turn a simple journey through the woods into an unforgetta...

One-Word Prompt #143: Space Monsters!

Hey all!

Since we're winding back a bit on adventures (with DL99 having just appeared), I'm tasking the artists with making some monsters for us. The first theme is going to be SPACE MONSTERS.

In the comments below, leave a single word. I'll use this word to help our guys design some space monsters to come out this month.

1) Keep it clean

2) No proper nouns

3) One word per patron

I look forward to your results!

One-Word Prompt #143 - The Shadowed Depths

One of the main entrances to the labyrinth beneath Mount Blackstone is through the remnants of an ancient, collapsed tower known as Grimspire Keep. This tower, once a formidable bastion of a forgotten human kingdom, served as a strategic outpost guarding the mountain's secrets. Over centuries, the tower fell into ruin, its upper levels crumbling while its subterranean dungeon levels remained largely intact. These dungeons, known as the Shadowed Depths, extend...

[All Patrons] Dungeons & Lairs #99 - Necroegg's Tomb (Scalable for 5 to 13)

Heroes, heed the call!

In a time long past, a masterful cult handcrafted a complex, intricately ventilated by grand clay pipes to ensure fresh air flowed through its sacred halls. Ancient bronze grates adorned these pipes, blending seamlessly into the stonework, unseen by all but the most discerning eyes.

But now, this once-great structure lies in ruins, its pipes shattered, and the air exchanger, a marvel of its time, lost to the ages. A mighty dragon once laid its claim here, ...

[All Patrons] Dungeons & Lairs #98: Palace of the Ice Vampire (Level 8 to 16) - Complete Pre-Proof

Download the PDF at the bottom of the page.

In the frostbitten realm of Glacial Peaks, there exists a legend whispered with shivering breaths and frozen hearts—the legend of Iyara, the Ice Vampire. Her palace, a marvel of magical ice, shimmering under the auroras, is a beacon of terror and beauty amidst the relentless snow.

This tale begins with Iyara herself, once a sorceress of unparalleled beauty and skill, devoted to the study of life's quintessenc...

One-Word Prompt #141 - Blink Dog Forest

Dungeons & Lairs #101 will kick off the next 100 adventures will be an interconnected megadungeon. The entrance to said megadungeon will be a densely forested area guarded by benevolent blink dogs who chase off intruders more for their own safety than the denizens of the megadungeon.

This 8-area location needs some prompts!

In the comments below, leave a one-word prompt. I'll use your words to create a section of the Blink Dog forest.

Rules:

1) Nothing too anachro...