Guide to Running Hall of Harsh Reflections
A prep guide for Hall of Harsh Reflections, the fourth Age of Worms adventure — the Free City investigation, Telakin's doppelganger stronghold at Sodden Hold, and Zyrxog's mind flayer domain.
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Guides, reviews, and 5e conversions for dungeon masters
My Favorite Dwarven Forge Pieces
A rundown of my favorite Dwarven Forge pieces after years of running dungeon-heavy campaigns — starter sets, showpieces, and terrain trays worth the money.
Review of Hall of Harsh Reflections from the Age of Worms Adventure Path
A review of Hall of Harsh Reflections, the fourth Age of Worms adventure — a paranoid urban investigation into a doppelganger conspiracy that culminates in a mind flayer's underground lair.
New Website, Who Dis?
The Giantsbane has a new home. Here's what changed and what's coming.
Guide to Encounter at Blackwall Keep
A guide to running Encounter at Blackwall Keep, the third Age of Worms adventure — the keep siege, the Mistmarsh lizardfolk diplomacy, and the terrifying Spawn of Kyuss confrontation.
Guide to Running the Three Faces of Evil, Part 4
Part 4 of the DM guide to The Three Faces of Evil — the kenku-filled Labyrinth of Vecna, the Faceless One's escape, and a full 5e stat conversion of the Ebon Aspect boss fight.
Guide to Running the Three Faces of Evil, Part 3
Part 3 of the DM guide to The Three Faces of Evil — the pitch-dark Caves of Erythnul, from the grimlock ambush on the ledge to the showdown with Gralluck Kur's hallucinogenic shrine fire.
Guide to Running the Three Faces of Evil, Part 2
Part 2 of the DM guide to The Three Faces of Evil — a room-by-room breakdown of the Dark Cathedral (Hextor's temple), with a dynamic enemy response table showing how the cult reacts to the intrusion.
Guide to Running the Three Faces of Evil, Part 1
Part 1 of the DM guide to The Three Faces of Evil — the modified Call to Action using Balabar Smenk as a coercive villain hook, and detailed notes on infiltrating the Dourstone mine.
Running the Age of Worms Adventure Path
A master index of all Age of Worms content on this blog — reviews, DM guides for each adventure, and supplements for the classic Greyhawk adventure path, updated as new posts are published.
Guide to Running The Whispering Cairn, Part 3
Part 3 of the 5e DM guide to The Whispering Cairn — the outside interlude, interrogating Kullen's grave robbers at the Feral Dog, and defeating Filge the necromancer at the abandoned observatory.
Guide to Running the Whispering Cairn, Part 2
Part 2 of the 5e DM guide to The Whispering Cairn — the false tomb's seven-lantern puzzle, the deadly Screaming Mouth trap, the underwater Laborer's area, and Alastor's haunted gauntlet.
Guide to Running the Whispering Cairn, Part 1
Part 1 of the 5e DM guide to The Whispering Cairn — the tomb entrance, wolf den, and Gallery of Seven Lanterns, with room-by-room checks, 5e trap conversions, and stat block recommendations.
Player's Guide to Diamond Lake
A player-facing setting guide to Diamond Lake, the corrupt Greyhawk mining town at the heart of the Age of Worms adventure path — key NPCs, rival mine managers, and notable locations.
Review of the Three Faces of Evil from the Age of Worms adventure path
A detailed review of The Three Faces of Evil, the second Age of Worms adventure — a dungeon crawl through three evil cults that is better than its lackluster reputation suggests.
Review of The Whispering Cairn from the Age of Worms Adventure Path
A detailed review of The Whispering Cairn, the first Age of Worms adventure — an excellent tier 1 dungeon crawl with clever trap design, satisfying out-of-dungeon interlude, and important Greyhawk lore.
Running the Vault of Dragons from Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Post-mortem on running the Vault of Dragons finale of Dragon Heist — tips on the enthralling fresco, negotiating with Aurinax, and balancing the climactic Manshoon fight with Doom Raider backup.
Random Guilds of Waterdeep
A d100 random table of all 44 Waterdhavian guilds for quick scene-building, plus a comparison of how ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude each generated the table from the same raw guild list.
5E Adventure Database
A growing Notion database of 5e published adventures rated by quality and portability — currently covering Storm King's Thunder, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and Tales from the Yawning Portal.
The Mystery of Maeralon's Tower: Tools for Running a Hybrid Adventure
A review of tools for running a hybrid D&D session — VorpalBoard streaming, Dwarven Forge Watchtower terrain, a Jabra speakerphone, and miniature recommendations for Mystery of Maeralon's Tower.
Building The Mystery of Maeralon's Tower with ChatGPT
An honest look at using ChatGPT to flesh out a custom Dragon Heist adventure, covering what AI does well (saving prep time) and poorly (magic item balance and WotC house style).
The Mystery of Maeralon's Tower, A Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Faction Quest
A complete Dragon Heist faction quest — The Mystery of Maeralon's Tower, a four-floor wizard tower with a wild magic zone, animated ballista, stone cursed, clockwork iron cobra, and mimic.
Preparing a Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Campaign
Practical lessons from ten sessions of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist — gold pacing, faction assignments, villain selection, season choice, and the best DM's Guild supplements to expand the campaign.
Dungeons and Dragons Settings 101: The Forgotten Realms (Part 1)
A primer on the Forgotten Realms for players new to the lore — major historical events from Netheril to the Second Sundering, plus iconic heroes like Elminster, Drizzt, and the Seven Sisters.
Dungeons and Dragons Settings 101: Greyhawk
A primer on Greyhawk for players new to D&D lore — covering iconic wizards, famous villains like Vecna and Iggwilv, classic adventures, and key deities of the original D&D setting.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 12: Outlands Explorations
Guide to the final chapter of Part 2 of Turn of Fortune's Wheel — the Mausoleum of Chronepsis time dragon encounters, Semuanya's Bog, and notes on optional Outlands locations.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 11: Sylvania
Guide to Sylvania, gate-town to Arborea in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — a roleplay-heavy chapter where the characters babysit a petulant demigod named Kopoha through a series of wild celebrations.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 10 - Rigus
Guide to Rigus, the militaristic gate-town to Acheron in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — the characters must root out a gray slaad spy before coordinated Acheron attacks exploit the defenders' weaknesses.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 9 - Glorium
Guide to Glorium, the glory-obsessed gate-town to Ysgard in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — games of athletic prowess ashore, then a race across the sea to defend a bariaur village from a massive whirlwyrm.
Waterdeep Dragon Heist Session Zero
Session 0 guide for a Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign — six truths about Waterdeep, house rules for the 2024 Player's Handbook, faction options, and safety tools for an urban investigation adventure.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 8 - Faunel
Guide to Faunel, the half-absorbed beastland gate-town in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — solving the murder of an ibex to track the Vile Hunt gnolls terrorizing the wild, aided by an elephant sage.
Guide to Running Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel, Part 2 Released on DM's Guild!
Announcement of the DM's Guild release of the comprehensive guide to Part 2 of Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel, collecting all the Outlands gate-town chapters in one PDF.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 7 - Excelsior
Guide to Excelsior, the celestial gate-town to Mount Celestia in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — investigating a tiefling selling primes to a night hag, with notes on the tricky glibness-protected interrogation.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 6: Curst
Guide to Curst, the prison gate-town to Carceri in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — a jailbreak through a junkyard to smuggle a ghostly son past Mercykiller agents so he can reach his rightful afterlife.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 5: Automata
Guide to Automata, the orderly gate-town to Mechanus in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — tracking a fugitive through the anarchic Inverse, the chaotic underground reflection of the modron-run city above.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel, Chapter 4: Into the Outlands
Guide to Chapter 4 of Turn of Fortune's Wheel — securing the walking castle Iedcaru from fiends, learning the mimir quest from the freed sage Zaythir, and the lore of the early Great Modron March.
Guide to Running Light of Xaryxis, Chapter 12: Light of Xaryxis
Guide to the final chapter of Light of Xaryxis — the fight against the crowned emperor and their solar dragon, and how to frame the star-destroying ending as a proper victory.
Guide to Running Light of Xaryxis, Chapter 11: Crowning Moment
Guide to Chapter 11 of Light of Xaryxis — infiltrating or arriving as prisoners at the Citadel, making the case for Xedalli at the coronation, and fighting the ancient zodar in trial by combat.
Guide to Running Light of Xaryxis: Chapter 10 - Space Invaders
Guide to Chapter 10 of Light of Xaryxis — the multi-faction fleet battle to reach the Citadel of Xaryxis, with tips for managing ship combat and keeping the session from becoming a combat slog.
Guide to Running Light of Xaryxis: Chapter 9 - Discord and Diplomacy
Guide to Chapter 9 of Light of Xaryxis — a challenging diplomacy chapter requiring the characters to convince five alien factions to join the war effort, with advice for sharing the spotlight.
Guide to Running Light of Xaryxis: Chapter 8 - Arena of Blood
Guide to Chapter 8 of Light of Xaryxis — negotiating with the mercane warlord Vocath, then surviving three escalating arena fights against exotic Wildspace creatures to earn his military alliance.
Guide to Running Light of Xaryxis: Chapter 7 - Trust Issues
Guide to Chapter 7 of Light of Xaryxis — a character-driven travel chapter to Doomspace, building bonds with the NPC crew and a memorable Deck of Many Things fortune-telling with Topolah.
Guide to Running Light of Xaryxis, Part 2: Terrors of the Void
Guide to Part 2 of Light of Xaryxis — expanded Rock of Bral encounters, recruiting vampirate Grimzod and navigator Topolah, and surviving Hastain the reigar's sabotage that strands the party.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel, Chapter 3 Overview
Guide to Fortune's Wheel casino in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — a room-by-room breakdown of Shemeska's casino, with gambling mechanics, Vecna impersonator thieves, and the hour Shemeska finally appears.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 2, Part 2 - Scenes in Sigil
“A collection of scenes for the characters' free exploration of Sigil — the Smoldering Corpse Bar, Fell's Tattoos, the Great Bazaar, and the Harmonium encounter that closes the chapter.”
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 2, Part 1 - An Introduction
Introduction to the Sigil sandbox chapter of Turn of Fortune's Wheel — a glitch memory mechanic for inspiration and a bingo card structure to give players direction while exploring the City of Doors.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Chapter 1 - The Mortuary
Guide to Chapter 1 of Turn of Fortune's Wheel — escaping Sigil's Mortuary, with room-by-room notes, tips for increasing lethality to trigger glitch deaths, and advice on the Morte callback scene.
Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel Session 0
A session 0 guide for running Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel, including everything players need to know to kick things off.
Guide to Running Light of Xaryxis, Part 1: Seeds of Destruction
Guide to Part 1 of Light of Xaryxis — escaping the astral seed attack on Faerun, a space battle with an astral elf Star Moth, and exploring the dangerous derelict mind flayer ship Lucent Edict.
5e Conversion of the Adventure "Misplaced Spirit" from the 2e Planescape Campaign Setting
A 5e conversion of Misplaced Spirit, a short introductory 2e Planescape adventure, with scene breakdowns, faction summaries, and stat block recommendations for tiers 2 and 3.
Planescape Factions Quick Reference Sheet
A quick-reference table of all 15 Planescape factions — listing each faction's nickname, headquarters, philosophy, factol, allies, and enemies for use during Sigil-based play.
How to Choose Your Next DnD adventure: Ghosts of Saltmarsh
A guide to deciding whether to run Ghosts of Saltmarsh — a great coastal home base and several standout sub-adventures, but thin connective tissue that requires significant DM work to hold together.
How to Choose Your Next 5e Dungeons and Dragons Campaign: Out of the Abyss
A guide to deciding whether to run Out of the Abyss — atmospheric Underdark setting and demon lord showdowns weighed against an unwieldy NPC roster and a structure that frustrates contrarian players.
How to Choose Your Next 5e Dungeons and Dragons Campaign: Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
A guide to deciding whether to run Dungeon of the Mad Mage — the best 5e dungeon crawl with brilliant individual levels, but requiring real DM effort to weave into a coherent narrative.
How to Choose Your Next 5e Dungeons and Dragons Campaign: Storm King's Thunder
A guide to deciding whether to run Storm King's Thunder, with a chapter-by-chapter portability breakdown — great building blocks and a fantastic Savage Frontier chapter, but uneven quality throughout.
How to Choose Your Next 5e Dungeons and Dragons Campaign: Curse of Strahd
A guide to deciding whether to run Curse of Strahd — widely considered the best 5e adventure, with an unmatched sandbox and villain, but too challenging for first-time DMs to tackle.
How to Choose Your Next 5e Dungeons and Dragons Campaign: Tyranny of Dragons
A guide to deciding whether to run Tyranny of Dragons — a classic 5e adventure with a memorable caravan chapter worth stealing for travel even if you skip the rest of the campaign.
How to Choose Your Next 5e Dungeons and Dragons Campaign: Dragon of Icespire Keep From D&D Essentials
A guide to deciding whether to run Dragon of Icespire Keep — an excellent starter adventure for new DMs and players, with individual quests versatile enough to steal for any low-level Sword Coast campaign.
Spelljammer Academy Review: DnD Meets Star Trek
A review of Spelljammer Academy, the limited-release promo adventure — a delightful Star Trek-inspired onboarding experience with rough ship combat rules and a weak tie-in to Light of Xaryxis.
Spelljammer Academy: Behold H'catha! - A Guide to Running the Adventure
Prep notes for Behold H'Catha, the third Spelljammer Academy adventure — negotiating with spectators over a meteorite on the beholder world, with tips on cutting the awkward Journey Interrupted encounter.
Spelljammer Academy: Realmspace Sortie! - A Guide to Running the Adventure
Prep notes for Realmspace Sortie, the third Spelljammer Academy adventure — commandeering a tyrant ship, battling clockwork horrors, and uncovering Miken Haverstance as the academy saboteur.
Spelljammer Academy: Trial By Fire - A Guide to Running the Adventure
Prep notes for Trial by Fire, the second Spelljammer Academy adventure — a competitive spelljammer simulation followed by sabotage that kills a crew member and implicates an academy cadet.
Spelljammer Academy: Orientation - A Guide to Running the Adventure
Prep notes for Orientation, the first Spelljammer Academy adventure — an in media res combat start followed by a day of tasks introducing the academy, its NPCs, and a hungover Mirt the Merciless.
Spelljammer Academy and Light of Xaryxis Campaign Guide
Session 0 guide for running Spelljammer Academy and Light of Xaryxis — campaign pitch, seven truths about Wildspace, character creation hooks, and safety tool recommendations.
Review of Princes of the Apocalypse
A frank review of Princes of the Apocalypse — too many bland dungeon crawls to recommend running in full, though the Red Larch conspiracy, water cultists, and Weeping Colossus are worth stealing.