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The Lazy DM'S Companion DM'S Companion
The Lazy DM'S Companion DM'S Companion
THE LAZY
DM’S COMPANION
MICHAEL E. SHEA
SLY FLOURISH’S
THE LAZY
DM’S COMPANION
by Michael E. Shea
3
BUILDING AN RPG GROUP
Finding and maintaining a solid group for roleplaying
gaming remains the most difficult task for many DMs. FLEXIBLE NUMBERS OF PLAYERS
This section offers suggestions for finding players that fit
well with your group, and for keeping that group going
AND ON-CALL PLAYERS
Decide on the minimum and maximum number of
for years to come.
players for any given session. A minimum of three and
SELECTING PLAYERS stick to it. Run games every week if possible. Otherwise,
try every other week at the same day and time. Choose
Before you invite a player to your gaming group, ensure regular, shorter games rather than longer, more
that they’re the right fit for your game and the other infrequent games to help with scheduling.
players. Start by asking a prospective player questions
about their commitment, play style, and reaction to
your style of play. Example questions might include the
THE GAME MUST GO ON
Run the game as regularly as you can. Don’t cancel
following:
games if one or two players can’t make it. If you’re able to
• Do they live nearby, and can they commit to the game’s
play with as few as three and have a regular group of six,
schedule?
it should take four players cancelling before you have to
• Do they consider themselves a more story-focused or
call off a game. The more consistent the game, the more
more tactically-focused player?
likely that the players will make it a part of their regular
• Are they okay playing with theater-of-the-mind
schedule.
combat or playing on a battle grid?
If you find that certain players are regularly missing
• What do they enjoy most about D&D?
the game, ask if they would prefer to be on your on-call
• How do they weight their enjoyment of the following:
list, and then seek a new player with better availability.
NPC interaction, exploration, world lore, character
background, character optimization, and tactical
combat? LET ABSENT CHARACTERS FADE
Asking questions isn’t about getting right or wrong
answers. Rather, questions can help you identify players
INTO THE BACKGROUND
Don’t worry about what happens to characters in
who will fit well into your game. They’ll also help you
game when a player misses the session. If there is an
determine if there are things a player desires that they’re
easy way for the character to step out of the story,
not going to find in your game.
take it. Otherwise, just let the character fade into the
Take the time to meet one-on-one with a prospective
background. Your players will understand why you’re
player and talk to them about what they want from
taking such liberties with the universe, and that in-world
your game and what experiences they’ve had with other
consistency isn’t as important as making allowances for
groups. Go with your gut judgment on whether each
the realities of our lives.
player you meet will be a good fit for your group.
If they seem like a good fit, invite a player to a single-
session game or a short series of games at a different time
than your regularly scheduled session, ideally with one
or more regular players from your group. See how they
fit in during an actual game. If they don’t fit, you don’t
have to invite them to another game. But if they do feel
like a good fit, you can invite them to your regular game
and see how things go.
4
RPG SAFETY TOOLS
Safety tools help ensure that you and your players are
always comfortable with the subject matter of the games LINES AND VEILS
you run—especially when that subject matter involves The concept of lines and veils was originally brought to
potentially troubling tropes or themes. The safety tools RPGs by Ron Edwards, allowing you to set parameters
presented in this section can be used individually or for handling sensitive topics in your game. Once you’ve
together to make sure that everyone is comfortable with had a discussion with your players on those topics, talk
the material in the game, even as that material evolves about whether individual topics should be a hard line
during play. You can choose which safety tools work (material that should never come up) and which can be
well for you and your group, and discuss their use early veiled (material that is okay being described vaguely or
in your game. Usually this means discussing safety tools handled off-screen). For example, after discussion, you
during your campaign’s session zero, or at the beginning and your players might come up with something like the
of a single-session game. following:
Hard Lines: Sexual assault, violence toward children,
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE TOPICS abuse toward children or animals, inter-character
betrayal, character-driven torture
When you discuss safety tools, describe potentially
Veils: Sex and sexual contact, torture, racism, slavery
sensitive topics that might come up in an adventure
or campaign. The following table presents a number Discuss hard lines and veils in an open,
of topics that are good to talk about, but this is not an nonjudgmental conversation with your players, and
exhaustive list. capture each player’s individual lines and veils along with
your own.
Blood Murder
Body horror
Burning
Paralysis
Physical restraint
THE X CARD
Developed by John Stavropoulos, the X card is a 3 ×
Cancer Racism 5 card placed in front of each player with a large “X”
Cannibalism Rats drawn on it. Anytime a player isn’t comfortable with
Claustrophobia Real-world religion the material in a scene, they can hold up or touch the X
Death by exposure Ritual sacrifice card, notifying you that they are not comfortable with
Freezing Self-harm the current situation. When you see this, you can edit
Gaslighting Sexism out that portion of the scene. Or, if you’re not sure what
Genocide Sexual assault exactly is being X-carded, you can call for a break to get
Gore Sexual contact
more information privately.
Harm to animals
Harm to children
Slavery
Spiders PAUSE FOR A SECOND
Homophobia Starvation “Pause for a second” is a verbal cue that players and
Incest Terrorism DMs can use to interrupt the current in-world scene,
Insects Thirst
have everyone break character, and discuss the current
situation as players. It’s specifically designed to work well
Kidnapping Torture
with both online and in-person games.
Mental domination Transphobia
This safety tool works in much the same way as an X
Decide first what you are comfortable with as a DM card. But it can also be used to ensure that all the players
before bringing a list of topics to your players. Add any are comfortable with shifts in the game’s story. To use it,
topics you’re not comfortable with to your own lines and you or any other player can say, “Pause for a second” to
veils (see below). interrupt the current state of play and break character.
When describing these topics, ensure that the players It can be used to edit content (“Pause for a second.
are comfortable with them. But also ensure that you I’m not comfortable beating a helpless character for
identify which topics they are not comfortable with, so information.”) or to check in with the group (“Pause for a
you can omit that material from your game. second. Are we okay making a deal with a vampire?”).
As the DM, think about using “pause for a second”
regularly, so as to break the stigma of using it only for the
most extreme circumstances—which might cause players
to avoid using it at all.
5
BUILDING SITUATIONS
DMs often build adventures from a string of sequential
encounters, matching monsters and environments to be EXAMPLE LOCATIONS
run in succession. Instead, consider building adventures Any of the following locations can work for building a
around a larger situation—a location, a number of situation. Let the location suggest as many options as
inhabitants with particular behaviors, and a goal for the possible by including multiple entrances and multiple
characters. That way, instead of simply playing through paths the characters can follow within the location.
an outline of scenes, the players create a more dynamic
d20 Location Location
scenario by choosing how their characters approach the
1 Noble’s manor 11 Abandoned lair
location and its inhabitants to accomplish their goal.
2 Lord’s castle 12 Underwater city
Creating a situation for an adventure is as easy
3 Mercenary camp 13 Floating fortress
as coming up with those three elements—location,
4 Thieves’ mansion 14 Huge airship
inhabitants, and goals—and seeing how they might work
5 Crime boss’s lair 15 Fiendish prison
together. Consider the following example:
6 Cult warrens 16 Fortified town
• A corrupt lord worships an archdevil within his keep, 7 Unholy temple 17 Underground keep
built on a rocky hill above the local village. (That’s our 8 Seedy undercity 18 Large watchtower
location, which might be set up using a map.) 9 Pirate ship 19 Twisted village
• In the keep’s cellars, mercenaries, cultists, and sentient 10 Ruined citadel 20 Wretched museum
oozes begin to poison the river flowing through the
town. (Those are our inhabitants and their behaviors.)
• The characters must infiltrate the keep, destroy the EXAMPLE INHABITANTS
machinery poisoning the river, and slay the corrupt When building a situation, populate locations with
lord. (Those are the characters’ goals.) creatures that make sense for the story. Always think
about the big picture when considering things like how
TIPS FOR BUILDING SITUATIONS creatures move within a location.
When building situations in your game, keep the
d20 Inhabitants Inhabitants
following tips in mind:
1 Orc knights 11 Lizardfolk druids
• Think “big picture.” Think about how the inhabitants 2 Abyssal cultists 12 Corrupt nobles
act and react across the whole location, not just in 3 Dwarf assassins 13 Vampire thralls
individual encounters. 4 Kobold investigators 14 Vengeful mercenaries
• Let the players fail forward. A single bad roll shouldn’t 5 Undead thralls 15 Dragonkin fanatics
bring total disaster and defeat. Rather, let each failed 6 Human bandits 16 Drow monks
roll lead to interesting complications. 7 Gnome pirates 17 Unholy paladins
• Improvise upward and downward story beats during 8 Grimlock cannibals 18 Hags and thralls
the game—moments that can make the players and 9 Mages and servants 19 Gnoll marauders
characters feel like they’re accomplishing things, 10 Goblin sorcerers 20 War-scarred devils
or which can dash their hopes and highlight the
challenges they face.
• Give the players enough information to plan a strategy. EXAMPLE GOALS
• Add both unexpected benefits and complications as Clear goals similar in setup to those on the following
the characters enact their plans. table are critical when running adventures featuring
• Think about how the inhabitants of a location act and open-ended and flexible situations built from locations
operate when left on their own. Then, during the game, and inhabitants. Ensure that these goals and their
think about how they react to the characters’ actions. importance are clear to the players.
COMPLICATIONS d20
1
Goal
Steal an arcane tome 11
Goal
Meet a monarch
While the characters are involved in a situation, they 2 Rescue a prisoner 12 Retrieve an artifact
might run into a complication like one of the following. 3 Kill a corrupt noble 13 Swap contracts
4 Evaluate enemy forces 14 Kill four lieutenants
d10 Complication Complication
5 Open a back door 15 Poison a supply of ale
1 The villain arrives 6 Something’s on fire
6 Plant false evidence 16 Sabotage cannons
2 Drunken brawl 7 Something explodes
7 Destroy an altar 17 Copy a map
3 Rival infiltrators 8 Drunken witness
8 Steal a crystal ball 18 Steal a weapon
4 Magic goes awry 9 Situation goal is missing
9 Recover secret plans 19 Open a magic portal
5 Monster summoned 10 Training drill
6 10 Save a royal heir 20 Stop a ritual
SPIRAL CAMPAIGNS
Spiral campaign development builds campaign worlds
starting in the area immediately surrounding the STARTING LOCATION
characters, then spirals out, expanding the world as the Spiral campaigns begin in a central location, often a
characters experience it. This section offers suggestions small settlement from which the characters set out
and inspiration for building a spiral campaign. to explore neighboring lands. Though a small village
always works well as a starting location, there are many
CAMPAIGN PITCH alternatives.
Start off by describing the central theme of your d10 Location Location
campaign in a single sentence. This campaign pitch 1 Adventurers’ guild 6 Refugee camp
becomes the main focus of the campaign, and might 2 Mining outpost 7 Fortress under siege
be given to the players during your session zero so they 3 Recent shipwreck 8 Great library
can build their characters around it. Use the following 4 Frontier outpost 9 Planar hub city
campaign pitches as a starting point for a campaign, or 5 Holy temple 10 Crumbling fortress
as inspiration for pitches of your own.
9
WILDERNESS EXPLORATION
This section can be used to build out an interesting
environment while the characters are exploring a WILDERNESS PATHS
wilderness setting. Rather than having a wilderness feel For each of your landmarks, determine what paths—
like an empty landscape, you can focus on memorable literal or virtual—might connect them. Include multiple
landmarks, distinct paths and route markers, and paths, loopbacks, dead ends, and secret paths to create
noteworthy encounter possibilities to bring the interesting options for the characters while traveling.
characters’ wilderness journey to life.
d20 Path Path
WILDERNESS QUESTS 1
2
Dancing faeries
Arcane ley line
11
12
Pointing skeletons
Obsidian markers
If you don’t have a quest already in mind, or if you’d like 3 Bloody game trail 13 Strange smells
to set up a side quest during the characters’ wilderness 4 Glyphed trees 14 Tree carvings
exploration, you can use the following table for 5 Mushroom path 15 Ghostly wolf
inspiration. 6 Running hares 16 Laughing nymphs
7 Lines in the stars 17 Alluring songs
d10 Quest
8 Ancient ravine 18 An old string
1 Restore a defiled grove
9 Roaring river 19 Unique plants
2 Find and heal a wounded beast
10 Friendly critters 20 Ivy-covered statues
3 Locate an ancient fey gateway
4
5
Find a lost city
Recover an item stolen by unseelie fey MONSTROUS ENCOUNTERS
6 Find a rare spell component You can use this table to determine what monstrous
7 Hunt down a defiler encounters the characters might face while exploring.
8 Seek the counsel of an ancient being And even if the characters don’t face a monster, they
9 Locate someone lost in the deep wood might see signs of monsters that traveled through an area
10 Plant a magical acorn earlier.
d10 Encounter
1 Secluded village
2 Ancient healing fountain
3 Natural restful spring
4 Holy knight on a quest of honor
5 Helpful but mischievous faeries
6 Celestial entity of a hero’s god
7 Elder tree of wisdom
8 Lost enclave
9 Glade of empowering flowers
HISTORICAL SECRETS 10 What secret does the NPC want to keep hidden?
QUESTS 6
7
Poisonous
Necrotic
6
7
Sunken
Forgotten
6
7
Tiefling
Dragonborn
Any quests the characters are asked to fulfill might be
8 Thunderous 8 Macabre 8 Orc
distilled down to one of the following starting points.
9 Ringing 9 Ancient 9 Goblinoid
10 Lightning 10 Festering 10 Undead
d20 Quest Quest
11 Radiant 11 Monstrous 11 Celestial
1 Find an item 11 Open a gate
12 Shadowed 12 Golden 12 Fey
2 Kill a villain 12 Activate a monument
13 Oozing 13 Spired 13 Elemental
3 Rescue an NPC 13 Disable an artifact
14 Ethereal 14 Towering 14 Giant
4 Uncover a secret 14 Recover an item
15 Whispering 15 Forsaken 15 Fiendish
5 Clear out monsters 15 Convince an NPC
16 Windswept 16 Gloomy 16 Unseelie
6 Protect a monument 16 Awaken a monster
17 Drowned 17 Horrific 17 Aberrant
7 Protect an NPC 17 Put a monster to sleep
18 Diseased 18 Colossal 18 Shadow
8 Steal an item 18 Bury a secret
19 Crystalline 19 Overgrown 19 Ethereal
9 Return an item 19 Discover a monument
12 10 Close a gate 20 Dig up an artifact
20 Silvered 20 Shattered 20 Abyssal
CHAMBERS TRAPS AND HAZARDS
Use this table when you need to define the purpose of a Add traps as they make sense for the adventure. At 1st
chamber in a dungeon, keep, or similar site. Reflavor any through 4th level, traps often have a DC of 13, and deal
chamber to suit the theme of the adventure. 7 (2d6) damage for easy traps or 11 (2d10) damage for
hard traps.
d20 Chamber Chamber
1 Armory 11 Torture chamber d20 Trap or Hazard Trap or Hazard
2 Prison 12 Bedchamber 1 Spiked pit 11 Bear traps
3 Throne room 13 Gallery 2 Lightning blasts 12 Ghostly haunting
4 Crypt 14 Dining hall 3 Poisoned darts 13 Poisoned gas
5 Treasury 15 Library 4 Swarms of insects 14 Magical instability
6 Barracks 16 Pantry 5 Explosive runes 15 Barbed spears
7 Monstrous lair 17 Laboratory 6 Psychic pillars 16 Dense fog
8 Storeroom 18 Cesspit 7 Flame-jet idols 17 Psychic feedback
9 Charnel pit 19 Bone yard 8 Force beams 18 Greasy floor
10 Museum 20 Scrying chamber 9 Crippling caltrops 19 Thick webs
10 Acidic pools 20 Freezing jets
DUNGEON DISCOVERIES
Add useful discoveries such as the following to your TREASURE
adventure, to create upward beats in the characters’ story. This table lets you add treasure to the adventure as
appropriate. Roll a d10 to determine monetary treasure,
d20 Discovery Discovery or a d20 for monetary and magical treasure.
1 Helpful NPC 11 Adventurer’s journal
2 Holy fountain 12 Escape tunnel d20 Treasure Treasure
3 Inspiring statue 13 Useful teleporter 1 Coins 11 Potion of healing
4 Revealing mosaic 14 Enlightening mural 2 Bag of gemstones 12 Other potion
5 Radiant shrine 15 Healing spring 3 Platinum jewelry 13 Scroll or spell scroll
6 Friendly spirit 16 Wounded enemy 4 Rune-scribed gem 14 Bag of holding
7 Hidden campsite 17 Well-stocked armory 5 Golden goblet 15 Wondrous item
8 Edible mushrooms 18 Friendly creature 6 Ancient tome 16 Wand or rod
9 Explorer’s pack 19 Useful machinery 7 Treasure map 17 Magic light weapon
10 Spy hole 20 Historical library 8 Ancient relic 18 Magic heavy weapon
9 Fantastic art 19 Magic ranged weapon
13
PROTECT THE VILLAGE
This adventure generator builds upon the story model of
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, a movie that’s inspired THE VILLAGERS’ SECRET
dozens of other movies and hundreds of other stories Even as they ask for help, the villagers have a secret they
since it premiered in 1954. The setup of the adventure don’t want the characters to know.
sees the characters hired by villagers to protect them
d10 Secret
from marauders. It delivers an excellent situation-based
1 They know of treasure hidden beneath the village
adventure in which the characters are free to choose
2 They once burned witches
how, when, and why they protect the village.
3 They committed a sacrilege
VILLAGE FEATURE 6
7
Sahuagin
Drow knights
16
17
Armored ogres
Bloodraging ghouls
Some specific feature makes the village unique, and 8 Dwarf cultists 18 Zombie villagers
might have a connection to why the marauders are intent 9 Gnoll warriors 19 Ancient specters
on attacking. 10 Duergar priests 20 Vengeful wraiths
d10
1
Village Feature
Built atop collapsed mines MARAUDERS’ LAIR
2 Built atop ancient catacombs Before or after they encounter the marauders in the
3 Surrounded by ancient standing stones village, the characters might investigate the lair the
4 Was the site of a terrible battle marauders strike out from.
5 Built above the bones of a dead dragon
6 Built atop a bottomless dungeon d20 Lair Lair
7 Built within a mysterious crater 1 Fortified keep 11 Deep grotto
8 Built underneath a gleaming star 2 Mountain caves 12 Ancient castle
9 Built in the shadow of a huge statue 3 Twisted warren 13 Destroyed village
10 Surrounded by petrified titans 4 Unholy temple 14 Ruined watchtower
5 Forgotten tomb 15 Abandoned mines
6 Occupied manor 16 Docked warship
7 Old catacombs 17 Huge dead tree
8 Shattered tower 18 Floating citadel
9 Extraplanar sanctum 19 Extraplanar world
10 Unhallowed grove 20 Burned-out war camp
14
THE KEEP
Based on the film of the same name written and directed
by Michael Mann, this adventure generator builds on the THE BREAKERS
idea of a powerful entity intent on breaking free from its The nature of the group that is purposefully or
prison. One faction serves the entity in its imprisoned inadvertently freeing the entity from its prison will
state, while another faction is set on freeing it—perhaps help set the tone of the adventure. Consider any of the
inadvertently. The characters must deal with both these following options.
factions in order to either prevent the entity’s release,
d20 Breakers Breakers
destroy the entity, or return it to its prison.
1 Dedicated cultists 11 Greedy mercenaries
THE ENTITY 2
3
Ignorant soldiers
Cabal of mages
12
13
Power-hungry nobles
Astral hunters
The entity breaking free from its prison is some manner 4 Holy paladins 14 Unscrupulous thieves
of powerful or unusual being, including any of the 5 Grim gravediggers 15 Naïve archeologists
following. 6 Devout priests 16 Innocent children
7 Enslaved telepaths 17 Scheming devils
d20 Entity Entity
8 Demonic thralls 18 Hag coven
1 Ancient vampire 11 Doom construct
9 Devilish servants 19 Sinful villagers
2 Powerful lich 12 Powerful child
10 Undead minions 20 Enthralled dreamers
3 Raging demon 13 Elemental prince
4
5
Archdevil
Hunting revenant
14
15
Otherworldly horror
Deadly shapechanger RELICS OF FEAR
6 Hellish hag 16 Cursed mummy A powerful relic the entity fears might be central to the
7 Soul-draining ghost 17 Demon lord adventure—perhaps one usable as a weapon against the
8 Sleeping tarrasque 18 Psionic horror entity if battle is inevitable.
9 Undead dragon 19 Evil wizard
10 Elder evil 20 Rogue angel d20 Relic Relic
1 Holy sword 11 Powerful holy symbol
THE PRISON 2
3
Arcane wand
Arrow of slaying
12
13
Sun blade
Binding idol
The entity’s prison might be found at some manner of 4 Jeweled medallion 14 Mummer’s mask
fantastic location, a more inconspicuous site, or even 5 Glyph-scribed stone 15 Bestial claw
within a magical object. 6 Tattooed NPC 16 Marked skull
7 Mace of disruption 17 Alchemist’s bottle
d20 Prison Prison
8 Flaming blade 18 Vial of blood
1 Ancient keep 11 Astral prison ship
9 Gnarled staff 19 Binding cage
2 Castle cellar 12 Deserted island
10 Ancient censer 20 Rune-marked bell
3 Featureless obelisk 13 Hollow meteorite
4
5
Cracked crystal
Dreamscape
14
15
Elven temple
Dwarven citadel THE SERVITORS
6 Pocket dimension 16 Cooled volcano Finally, determine which beings serve the entity and
7 Buried crypt 17 Abandoned church enforce its will.
8 Crashed vessel 18 Wizard’s tower
9 Old mine 19 Massive sarcophagus d20 Servitors Servitors
10 Uncovered tomb 20 Forgotten city 1 Dark monks 11 Otherworldly guardians
2 Mindless undead 12 Devout cultists
3 Abyssal beasts 13 Servant elementals
4 Powerful constructs 14 Unholy priests
5 Draconic servants 15 Bound devils
6 Ageless giants 16 Alien aberrations
7 Deadly traps 17 Fallen knights
8 Crystalline entities 18 Unerring constructs
9 Bodiless specters 19 Lycanthrope clan
10 Vampiric thralls 20 Enthralled mummies
15
COMPANION MAPS
Many of the adventures generated from these pages can crypts, and the like. You can shift the orientation, cut
benefit from a good map. This section features a number off hallways, and change the features of rooms in your
of general-purpose maps intended to be used for a descriptions to fit your needs. If this map suits your
variety of situations—caves, temples, ruins, dungeons, desires, wonderful! Otherwise, the internet brims with
useful maps from amazing artists that can fit just about
every location you might build from these pages.
16