Curious what Physical Tools/Props and digital tools everyone uses. I'll go first. Character Management: DNDBeyond, but due to the problems with the latest 24.5e (requiring homebrewing 2014 spells) I may transition to Demiplane. EDIT: DNDBeyond just walked back their homebrew requirement for rewritten content. I'll be sticking with dndbeyond. https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1806-2024-d-d-beyond-ruleset-changelog-update VTT: Dndbeyond maps and Owlbear Rodeo Audio/Video: Discord with Avrae Notes, Lore, Session planning. Google docs with Table of Contents for NPCs, Session Notes, Plots, Characters, Magic Items, Locations, Factions, etc. NPC Generator: This Chrome extension by Power Word Spill: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/npc-generator/kbomfcanlhhooddbinjiekepooimpcma Idea brainstorming: Everything. Occasionally, if I need to somehow fit ideas together or something out of left field, I use chatgpt, but keep in mind, chatgpt is highly repetitive and can often times use a lot of words to say nothing. Encounter creation: Kobold Plus Fight Club or Dndbeyond. Advice or collaborative discussion: Here or reddit. Guides for Character creation for new players: rpgbot.net

At prep night yesterday, we talked for a bit about players who take notes during our games, and how useful those notes can be for us as GMs. I usually have at least one player per campaign who enjoys keeping a pretty detailed record of people, places, things, events, etc, and I reference it all the time: I can check what treasure I've already handed out, what NPCs were memorable to the players, what points of interest they found notable enough to write down. It's super handy, and there's usually one player who becomes our "archivist" so to speak. I've seen some people on here talk about other roles they've given their players, to split the GMing work up a little more between the players, like a cheerleader or a rules lawyer. What roles do you offer or assign your players? What roles do they often choose to take on their own?

Hello everyone! I'm brand new to this and I am in the middle of GMing the Pulp Cthulhu campaign The Two-Headed Serpent (but I am running it in an OSR system called Amazing Adventures). We're kind of at a break point in the campaign between world-traveling adventures and they're going to feel out their employer in New York City (this takes place in 1933). They've gone on just two missions so far and have seen some strange things. So I was thinking about having a goal-planning session first. How should I go about facilitating a goal-planning session in the middle of the campaign? (and to make things harder, I've never really done anything like this or a session zero before)

Do you allow your players to have their PCs fight? Feel free to elaborate as a comment!

Hey everyone, to celebrate our move to Skool I'm going to be hosting a Q&A on Monday evening. I'll be prepping for my Tuesday game and talking about encounter design for that, plus answering any questions about encounter design and proactive play. If you're not sure how to implement proactive roleplaying for your group and you'd like some pointers, this is for you. I'll also record the call and post some or all of it as a VOD in the Learning tab, so no sweat if you can't make it. This will be 8pm EST on Monday evening. Check out the "Calendar" tab in Skool to add it to your own calendar. See you there!