Salutations! I am a fantasy and sci-fi enthusiast, student of the human condition, collector of easy-to-play instruments, lover of the written and spoken word, wearer of costumes, and nascent TTRPG player (played my first 5E one-shot just over a year ago). I believe TTRPGs are incredible systems for collaborative storytelling. I’m here to soak up knowledge and cut my teeth. I think I’ll enjoy DMing because I enjoy facilitation. I get a thrill from learning, thinking on my feet, and creating conditions that allow others to shine. I won’t ask you how I should start, though I welcome you to share that if you care to. Thank you for being here!

Many of my players are struggling with meaningful failure of their goals, in the form of repeatability. - Kill my first undead - Steal 5 items - Find a lead about where my mentor went - Use runemagic to protect an innocent - Craft/upgrade a weapon in the party I feel like the root cause is no "why" or "stakes" attached. I don't want failure to mean my players are sad and repeat attempting the same goal over again. I'm trying to come up with some actionable guidance to give these players. Maybe attaching these goals to an ongoing conflict, either in the world or internally with the character would help? - Kill my first undead: So I can be inducted into the Order of Kellos - Steal 5 items: To pay off a debt I imminently owe - Find a lead about where my mentor went: because I need their wisdom to stop the blight - Use runemagic to protect an innocent: (from the undead plague) because if I don't, the undead army will grow - Craft/upgrade a weapon in the party: to prove my craftsmanship worthy and secure my entry to Grayhaven Am I being too hard? Would the suggestion to tie these goals to ongoing conflicts help you if you were in their shoes? Do you have any other recommendations for these goals?

I'm introducing a monster into my campaign that is from a Fantasy Novel my players and I are fond of, (it's the Mortiwraith from The Door Within) and one of its abilities is that it can see the true intent of anything in its vicinity. They are often very wise, and relatively good natured, so it's normal for them to test the moral integrity of potential allies. I'm intending to run a small vignette between modules where they help a living skeleton fulfil a dying promise, and the Mortiwraith sees this, so it decides to test the party with a small moral dilemma to reveal their integrity. If they succeed, they will gain a strong ally (though not a party member since Mortiwraiths die in the sunlight) I'm just a bit strapped for ideas. I thought of having it lead them to a starving family of kittens but that's kind of an easy one. But I don't want to give them the trolley problem that most superheroes face either. Can anyone help?