D&D 5e DM Practice

[Zitacamron95]

Hey guys, so I was wondering if anyone would be interested in doing a D&D campaign to help give me some practice with being a DM. I have some experience under my belt, so I'm not going into this blindly. I usually DM for a group of my friends that get together and play in real life. I have two campaigns running currently, and had one finished campaign, with the other two closely behind. Anyway, I tend to keep to the rules in the DM's guide with some leniency. If there's anything more you want to know about me as a DM please ask! I will also take in new players, if there is anyone interested.

Anyway, I figured I'd leave it up to the players to figure out what campaign we are doing. I'll probably cap this at 6 players and I tend to stick to the existing published campaigns. So, here's a list of campaigns I have access to:

Acquisitions Incorporated

an adventure that will take characters from levels 1 through 6, establishing your party's claim on a world they've just begun to explore—and to strip-mine for profit.

Curse of Strahd

Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia. A lightning flash rips through the darkness, but Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner—and you are invited.

Dragon Heist

Famed explorer Volothamp Geddarm needs you to complete a simple quest. Thus begins a mad romp through the wards of Waterdeep as you uncover a villainous plot involving some of the city’s most influential figures.

A grand urban caper awaits you. Pit your skill and bravado against villains the likes of which you’ve never faced before, and let the dragon hunt begin!

Dungeon of the Mad Mage

In the city of Waterdeep rests a tavern called the Yawning Portal, named after the gaping pit in its common room. At the bottom of this crumbling shaft is a labyrinthine dungeon shunned by all but the most daring adventurers. Known as Undermountain, this dungeon is the domain of the mad wizard Halaster Blackcloak. Long has the Mad Mage dwelt in these forlorn depths, seeding his lair with monsters, traps, and mysteries—to what end is a constant source of speculation and concern.

This adventure picks up where Waterdeep: Dragon Heist leaves off, taking characters of 5th level or higher all the way to 20th level should they explore the entirety of Halaster’s home. Twenty-three levels of Undermountain are detailed herein, along with the subterranean refuge of Skullport. Treasures and secrets abound, but tread with care!

Storm King's Thunder

Giants have emerged from their strongholds to threaten civilization as never before. Hill giants are stealing all the grain and livestock they can, while stone giants have been scouring settlements that have been around forever. Fire giants are press-ganging the small folk into the desert, while frost giant longships have been pillaging along the Sword Coast. Even the elusive cloud giants have been witnessed, their wondrous floating cities appearing above Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate. Where is the storm giant King Hekaton, who is tasked with keeping order among the giants?

The humans, dwarves, elves, and other small folk of the Sword Coast will be crushed underfoot by the onslaught of these giant foes. The only chance at survival is for the small folk to work together to investigate this invasion and harness the power of rune magic, the giants’ weapon against their ancient enemies, the dragons. The only way the people of Faerun can restore order is to use the giants’ own power against them.

If you are interested please say something and let me know which campaigns you'd be most interested in! And we'll do the most popular one or ones if there's a lot of interest in both of the waterdeep stories or if the campaigns line up well level wise and I can tie them in.

[Idea]

Heya, I'd love to try out a D&D campaign! I have a tiny bit of experience, having participated in a few campaigns before (though for varying reasons, most didn't go very far), always as a player.

First, though, I would like to ask: Would the RP be session-based or play-by-post? I live with other people, so I can't voice chat, and even without voice chat, sessions can be very difficult due to requiring a long time commitment, which is made extra difficult by conflicting time-zones.

Also, there is a homebrew rule that I usually like to have. The usual point-buy system has you set a minimum of points for each stat to 8, however as a mostly roleplay-focused player I find this to be rather restricting. If you're at 8 intelligence you may be a little slow, but you can't be an outright idiot for instance. 8 strength is weaker than most, but you don't exactly have straw for arms. As such, I usually request for a homebrew change allowing players to bring some of their stats under 8. If those points can be used elsewhere is a nice bonus, but the important thing is to accentuate that weakness. Would this be acceptable?

As for which campaign I'd like, Dungeon of the Mad Mage would be the best due to starting at a higher level (speaking personally of course), but I'd be pretty fine with almost all of these. The only one I'd really rather not do is Acquisitions Incorporated, as I hear it works really outside the scope of usual D&D.

[mickilennial]

Dungeon of the Mad Mage would be the best due to starting at a higher level

@Idea

For DM Practice? Wouldn't Phandelver be the best route for practice?

[Zitacamron95]

@Idea I'm gonna keep this all on this forum, so it'll be play-by-post. I also agree with your sentiment that doing it play-by-post allows for it to work within everyone's schedule rather than trying to schedule something.

As for the Homebrew idea, I'm all for people reducing their stats willingly like that, but those points can't go towards other abilities mostly because the ability systems are pretty balanced and I like the way they are. Also, I tend to have players that prefer to roll their stats instead, which if you're interested in that you'd have more of the range you're looking for.

@Inkarnate That wasn't one of the listed campaigns. Also, I'm not completely new at DMing, and already ran most of the campaigns listed just haven't completed them yet with my current parties.

[Idea]

@Idea I'm gonna keep this all on this forum, so it'll be play-by-post. I also agree with your sentiment that doing it play-by-post allows for it to work within everyone's schedule rather than trying to schedule something.

As for the Homebrew idea, I'm all for people reducing their stats willingly like that, but those points can't go towards other abilities mostly because the ability systems are pretty balanced and I like the way they are. Also, I tend to have players that prefer to roll their stats instead, which if you're interested in that you'd have more of the range you're looking for.

@Inkarnate That wasn't one of the listed campaigns. Also, I'm not completely new at DMing, and already ran most of the campaigns listed.

@Zitacamron95

Alrighty then, you can count me in! It's not a guarantee that I will reduce my stats (it will depend on what character concept I come up with at the time) but I like to have that option open, so thank you :)

[Zitacamron95]

Great! Hopefully there's a few more people that'll be interested.

[Lucius Cypher]

Very fascinating. I'll cast my lot into this. Though I'll admit, I'm not a fan of CoS, but that's mostly due to a bad experience with a DM previously who really seemed to have it out for the PC's. I understand CoS is a tough place, but sometimes I feel like it's intentionally desired to allow the DM to just fuck over the player. In any case I'm mostly unfamiliar with all of them except Storm King, which I played a little of but unfortunately that game ended shortly after we saved Tribor.

[Zitacamron95]

I get where you're coming from with Curse of Strahd. It can be exhausting for a player if the DM throws too much at them at once with no reward. I've also played Strahd and sort of have an understanding on the particular balance it needs.

Is there any campaign listed that you would really like to do, or are you good with all of them except CoS?

[Skwint]

I'd be down for some D&D fun times. I'll cast my vote for Dragon Heist. Seems like much intrigue.

[Lucius Cypher]

Acquisition Incorporated sounds interesting but as Idea mentions, if it’s really outside of the scope of DnD may be best avoided. Dragon Heist or Storm King would probably be my two preferred, as Mad Mage seems like more of a dungeon crawl which, while fun, tends to grind down my motivation after a while when it seems like relentless survival and fighting, with a lack of roleplaying and social interactions, a problem I had in my first and only CoS game I played.

[Decker219]

If you are still accepting I'd like to join in. I don't have any preference for which module we use since I haven't tried any of these yet.

I do have a question though, are there any restrictions on races and/or classes?

[Zitacamron95]

@Decker219 I am still accepting. And all races and classes in the 5e books are all open for use. I'm not going to allow Homebrew or Unearthed Arcana classes or races though.

As of now it sounds like Dragon Heist is gonna win, that is a level 1-5 campaign, so if everyone has fun and likes my DM style, we can talk about doing one of the other adventures after or something.

[Lucius Cypher]

Would you allow Warforged race?

[Zitacamron95]

Yep! They're just a rare race in Faerun, but they do exist.

[Lucius Cypher]

Nice. I’ll likely make a Warforged Ranger. I’ll probably go for Gloomstalker. Though there isn’t really an “Urban” favored terrain. Would Coast work? Pretty sure Waterdeep is next to the ocean. Or perhaps a warlock. I have ideas for a warforged warlock...

[Idea]

Oh, if warforged are allowed, might I take a changeling? They are my favorite race.

[Zitacamron95]

Yeah, changelings are fine, just once again another rare race. We aren't really doing Adventure League, so I don't mind allowing some of the stranger races. Might as well have some fun.

[Lucius Cypher]

Yeah boi! Shame about the no UA, but tbh a lotta them are pretty broken. Or are we allowed to use UA spells? If we are, Id like to pick Healing Elixir as one of my warlock spells. If not, not too much of an issue, though I may still lean towards Ranger.

But if I do, what favored terrain would come up the most? I know Waterdeep is a coastal town but what if we do stuff away from the docks or in the sewers? Would Underdark fit better?

[Zitacamron95]

The no Unearthed Arcana rule is for everything in the Unearthed Arcana, so no spells either. I prefer to have some balance to my game and like you said UA can be pretty broken.

As for favored terrain, I would probably say mountain. Waterdeep is built on the flank of Mount Waterdeep, so you'd be able to use the perks of favored terrain in this particular city.

Also, I will make a thread later today so OOC chat can go in there.

[Idea]

The no Unearthed Arcana rule is for everything in the Unearthed Arcana, so no spells either. I prefer to have some balance to my game and like you said UA can be pretty broken.

As for favored terrain, I would probably say mountain. Waterdeep is built on the flank of Mount Waterdeep, so you'd be able to use the perks of favored terrain in this particular city.

Also, I will make a thread later today so OOC chat can go in there.

@Zitacamron95

I think your post kind of answers it, but just to be sure, will the OOC be on a thread or on discord?