Does necromancy only work on animals? What do you do if you accidentally necromancy a fence and then it starts growing branches?
WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU NECROMANCY A BOTTLE OF SHAMPOO AND IT TURNS INTO AN ENTIRE PILE OF LIMES?
What if I accidentally necromancy a vaccine and then someone gets an armful of very live pathogen?
WHAT’S THE LIMIT ON DEADNESS? HOW RECENTLY DOES SOMETHING HAVE TO BE DEAD? COULD I NECROMANCY A DINOSAUR FOSSIL? WHAT IF I NECROMANCIED THE GROUND AND THEN DINOSAURS STARTED APPEARING?
WHAT IF I NECROMANCIED A LIMESTONE WALL AND IT JUST TURNED INTO A PILE OF MOLLUSCS? WHAT IF I MOLLUSCED A BUILDING? A MOUNTAIN?
you don’t NEED to have a super complex backstory that fits seamlessly in with the lore of whatever world your DM has put you in. It’s okay if you want to write a 3-page backstory but you don’t need to feel like you have to.
One of the best characters I have ever played was my high elf wizard Veta. He backstory? She had student debts. She had a clear motivation, a clear reason why she became an adventurer, it gave her room for character growth and it gave the DM something to work with and bring into the story (he turned it into the main driving force of the plot actually).
This is my girl! Her name is Albatross! She’s a 16-year-old paladin who was raised by ghosts on a haunted island. Her favorite mother is a halfling, she LOVES bling, and she speaks in a weird archaic accent because all her parents have been dead for centuries. She is proficient in GHOSTS and being BIG.
This is my OTHER girl! Her name is Peri! She’s a Warlock (pact of the Great Old One) but she doesn’t KNOW it because she just so happens to be friends with her village’s Party Tree, who teaches her things and in turn she vows to travel the world to spread Her seeds because THAT’S JUST WHAT FRIENDS DO. Also she can cry on cue and is a scarily proficient liar. She loves TREES and FLOWERS and sometimes SETTING BAD PEOPLE ON FIRE.
I decided to make a list of DM stuff that I personally use or think are important to know when it comes to being a DM. So here’s my list:
Medieval Fantasy City Generator: This generator is now my LIFE. It generates incredibly complex cities with good customization. (Thanks to plantkat for sharing this site in their post here)
Naming Your Towns/Cities:Now that you’ve made your city, time to name it and give it some character! This post contains lots of great information.
Index Cards Rule:Fuckyeahdnd shared a SUPER convenient way of keeping track of turns and HP in combat. I use this system now for every single session I run.
Troublesome Players? Speak Up:Dicebound brings up an incredibly great point. If someone is being a jerk, speak up and call them out. This is especially important and relevant now to crush awful behavior before it even has a chance to show it’s ugly face.
(Character stuff, spells, online communities/ways to play, etc..)
A lot of people contributed to this post but thank you Mushroomancy for posting the original list.
Donjon: And finally, this site is a great resource for looking up Spells and Monsters along with tons of other generators. Not every single Spell or Monster is on here, but most are listed.
(I tried to give credit to the original posters or the actual URL for websites, unless those sites or URLs were no longer active)
I want to read a story about a wizard whose only spell is “fix this”, but the specially-crafted magic takes their intent into account. "Fix this" can mean repairing the wheel on the adventurers’ cart or healing a broken arm or “fixing” a lock so that it’s in what the wizard considers the “correct” (unlocked) position. Imagine the other mages getting increasingly frustrated as the wizard stubbornly refuses to learn any other spells.
Wizard: *points at a canyon* Fix this
Other casters: That’s not really how spells –
Wizard: Oh look, one of our blankets is now a magic carpet. Guess we don’t need a bridge.
Casters: How –
Wizard: *points at logs that won’t catch fire* Fix this
Other casters: There’s been too much rain, it won’t –
Wizard: I fixed it so that it’s in the same state it was yesterday. Someone here knows how to start a fire, right?
Casters: What –
Wizard: *points at charging dragon*: Fix this
Other casters: THAT’S NOT HOW MAGIC WORKS YOU IDIOT WE’RE GOING TO DIE
Dragon: *coughs* Did you just… cure my intestinal problems? I’ve been trying to stop breathing fire for weeks, but it just kept spilling out, and every time I tried to ask for help, I burned everything down. I won’t forget this kindness.
Here is a series of diagrams I made while I was making the D&D 5e Masonry profession stuff. It’s basically a helpful guide to help describe parts of buildings, windows, and doors for us non-architects out there. Use these to narrate your dungeon using accurate descriptors, or be inspired to decorate the dungeon with these new terms! You could make corbels that are shaped like owlbears, or socles carved like dragon’s claws. Especially useful to describe where secrets can be hidden, like the lintel of a door or pilaster of a wall. I recall needing to look up the term “lintel” when there was a secret lever built into one in the Shrine of Tamoachan, so there’s definitely a use for it.
Keep in mind that some of these parts can be used for other objects, particularly furniture. For instance, a table can have an entablature and cornice, just like a roof can. A pediment can exist above a door or window. A reliquary can have crockets and pinnacles like a cathedral.
I learned a lot about architecture while researching stuff for Mason’s Tools, and wanted to share it with you guys! Remember that a wide breadth of knowledge can help you become a better overall DM!
Gothic Cathedral
Hellenistic Temple
Crenellated Wall
Interior Wall
Doors and Windows
Roofs and Domes
Arches and Vaults
Architectural Patterns
Other Decorative Terms:
Urn: Yes they put them on buildings, not just in dungeons.
Festoon: A wreath or garland hanging from two points. If it depicts cloth it is known as a swag. So yea.
Dentils: Originating as the ends of rafters, these became decoration that is repeated below a roof’s cornice. Their name means “teeth.”
Acanthus: This is the leaf that you find in a lot of architecture, especially as the capitals of Corinthian columns.
Diapering: Weird name, but basically anything that is a repeated pattern usually based on a grid that breaks up an otherwise flat space. Apparently the name comes from the Greek dia (cross/diagonal) and aspros (white)
Fleur-de-lis: If you weren’t familiar with it already, that’s what this is called:
Well that about wraps it up for today. Hope everyone was able to learn something today!
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