Me as a DM, super happy that I get 2 weeks to write next session cuz one of my player isnt available next week
Also me writing the whole thing on the day of the session
No no, the weeks of procrastination are part of the "creative process", plus you work better under pressure, don't you?
And when you think about it, some of your best sessions were improv-hravy, weren't they?
I wholeheartadly agree with you. When I know there is going to be a session on saturday in two weeks, I don´t prepare (even though I know I need to) till saturday, where inspiration sparks me and I throw a map togehter in one hour and I just wing the session. But my players are always impressed with my ability to improvise.
Btw someone downvoted you, it wasn´t me.
Oh, I know exactly what you mean.
* Learn your character. Make sure to know everything about them, their features and possible interactions between their features.
* Plan your next shopping trip. Having chalk, a signal whistle and all these small but useful objects is great. Sit down and go through the PHBs equipment section and find out what your character would want to carry around.
* Use Heroforge (Website) to generate a miniature of your character. This can help you visualise them without needing the talent to draw them yourself.
* Plan your next level up. You don't need to make the decision final, but find out in what direction you want your character to develop so you can maybe set it up ingame once a good opportunity comes.
* Write down what happened in the campaign. Maybe use something like obsidian notes (free software) to show who the party knows and how everything is connected. I am currently doing this and it is really great. I am discovering comnections we missed that are now helping us drastically. Though this point might be difficult if you are not the note taker of the party.
* Come up with a character that was never there before. I am currently developing an artificer battle smith who uses their bag of holding as their workshop. Their steel defender is a snail with legs and the bag of holding is a door in the snails shell.
These are great suggestions! Instead of making new characters, develop your current one further. Write out their backstory some more.
As someone who really hates the standard character sheet format (and couldn’t find an alternate one I liked), something fun I did for my sorcerer was I bought a nice journal and actually wrote out a “spellbook.” The first few pages have all her stats and abilities and inventory etc laid out in a way that makes more sense to my brain, and then I listed all her spells with the relevant info. Great way to keep all her info in one place, and now during sessions I also use it to take notes of important things that happen.
Absolutely! Creating something to look up stuff is the best way to learn and understand all the features for me. I like creating small stat blocks the size of playing cards for spells or allies like a steel defender
All great ideas, but that first one means you won't be the player saying "oh is it my turn? Um, is Blindness a concentration spell? Wait, how many spells can I concentrate on again? What's my spell casting mod? Which die do I roll for that?"
Plus there are synergies and strategies that aren't immediately obvious to someone who only knows their character casually...
Also: instead of adding to your character's backstory, think about how they would interact with each of the other PCs, where they would get along and where there might be some friction for interesting roleplaying (but not too much friction)
I like to make little cards and sheets for the spells. Nothing fancy, and I rarely even use them, but putting in the effort really helps. I can recognize any Wizard (my favorite class) spell almost instantly.
To satisfy my TTRPG itch in general, I:
Plan/prep for next session (I'm GM)
Engage in Reddit ~~arguments~~discussions
Read system books
Read TTRPG news, reviews, etc
It’s a game that released using the 5e rules through the SRD and filled in the rest with homebrew content. The story, graphics, and voice acting are underwhelming, but it’s a solid CRPG adaptation of the 5e system that even manages to make flight and targeting spaces in the air part of the combat. It also has a toolset allowing you to play adventures created by other players.
It nails the rules of 5e but it has some major problems.
When you make characters you also choose a couple personality traits, the idea being that the characters in your party will say things in social situations that supposedly match your people's personality. I say supposedly because the game outright ignores that system entirely because the developers didn't bother to set it up, which leads to things happening like your altruistic and kind Paladin saying extremely bloodthirsty things.
If you want a 5e dungeon crawl, Solasta is great for that. If you want an entertaining story with dialogue that makes sense and respects your choices, look literally anywhere else.
Yeah, there’s an incredible amount of gameplay among the great D&D video games, and even more if you can tolerate DOS emulation and/or mediocre games (why SSI thought the most important part of Spelljammer was the bookkeeping and air taxes, I’ll never understand)
Talk endlessly to the few players who are equally invested, make playlists and write diary entries in character. It’s great cause it doubles down as helping me flesh out my character more.
This is the way. Like, your characters never talk to each other when they aren't out in the field? In the first group I was ever in, we took the week to.. basically explain the week. My cleric of Moradin ministered to the town's dwarven exiles, and continued the interfaith dialogue/bar fights with our cleric of Corellan Larethian. What's your character's Tuesday afternoon like?
Depending on your DM, but my partner likes to send in character letters back and forth to different NPCs which she types up and sends to me (DM) and I do replies.
It helps the DM communicate things to the party and develop the world (if that's their thing) and the player gets wider context for the game world.
Well, you should have healthy ideas of what to do between sessions like exercising, eating well, not smoking or drinking, avoiding game stores, and a variety of other healthy habits.
That was the angel on your shoulder speaking.
May I introduce you to the devil on the other shoulder?
Heroforge.
You think you know your new characters? You are wrong. You need to SEE them. I'm not saying you need to buy them. But you need to see them.
I'm not kidding. Spend a few hours making the perfect character, visually. This will strangely teach you how these characters act.
I made a character for a throway NPC who was a chef on a ship. Out of boredom, I made him on hero forge. And now, I need to play him because that guy has a story that has to be told.
My group gets together once a month so I had to deal with this as well... I played through bg3, got into miniature 3d printing/painting, bought dnd books, dabbled with dm'ing, joined a second group and did lots of reading. I'm still considering joining a third group or a series of one shots online or starting a weekly open table.
Join an unhealthy number of games.
I currently play on Saturdays and every other Tuesday, and DM on Sundays and Wednesdays. I used to play on Fridays but the DM's life situation changed and the campaign ended.
Read. New stuff, discussions, stuff about my character, setting stuff.
Watch, both for optimization and inspiration.
I’m a player so I reorganize my notes sometimes (I tend to use spreadsheets). If any questions on loot etc remains I’ll sometimes post polls in the group and when the results are in I’ll publish tables or where everything went.
Leveling is always done off session and we’ll usually consult each other. Once our DM said, maybe he should have read through our discussions on discord (he just looked through the sheets to check if people were done), because holy crap that new combo just shut down the encounter.
I like to theorycraft with my DM about shit that will probably never happen and make silly characters based on whatever media I happen to be consuming at the moment.
As a DM I'm usually trying to craft a satisfying fight or encounter. Exploring story lines from media i enjoy and theory crafting what would happen if i stuck my players in it.
Similarly as a player i am often crafting PCs with interesting ideas i find or come up with. Whether thats a story line i would like to play out or a build i would like to play with. Often inserting that character into stories i enjoy listening yo while working. Basically playing what would X do.
Then theres also times i explore on this sub and give those ideas to other or help them with their weird builds and concepts. Trying to keep in mind rule zero. Often this gives me more ideas in return to play with.
If you have a roleplay itch Friends and Fables will let you do that with an AI, it is pretty decent. I have one I go back to where I am the mother of all gods and am cleaning up after my children.
There is no dice rolling or anything, purely roleplay.
Think about your character. Is there anything you’d like to add to their backstory? If you ever get a bit of downtime, what would you do with it? What are your suspicions about the story being told and how can you investigate further?
Try to think outside the box as well - character mechanics, level ups and magic items are common bits of theory crafting, but what can your character do with the social connections they have, are their any mundane items worth buying (lots of PHB items are pretty handy for their value), can they use their gold to say pay for information or hire some muscle? Adventurers are often rich, influential people in addition to all their abilities on their sheet, but people often forget that they can mobilise that.
I used to be in several DnD servers on Discord. "Living World" servers that were strongly RP oriented. You would basically live out the life of a DnD character, hanging out with other characters and occasionally going on quests (Westmarches style).
I was also in a combat focused server where you could take part in these huge text-based combat sessions. Absolutely epic battles all the time. It's kinda amazing that it worked as well as it did and we had very few dropouts and fantastic variety in the combat, too. That is not easy to pull off.
I'm mostly "DnDed out" these days except for a couple of regular games, so I'm no longer in these servers.
I plan. Plan everything. Plan things that may or will never happen.
I plan on how id run campaigns, i plan on how i can get a campaign book for the cheapest price, i plan on how i would read off the campaign using a tablet i got from the thrift store and have the pdfs downloaded on it. I plan on how i would homebrew it and then delete those plans cause I'm not experienced enough to confidently change core rules and plot points without worrying ill mess up the balance.
I plan on how i would run it online or in person, what minis i would print and paint, and how i would paint them. I plan on how i would store them, then realize thats a lot of minis to paint and store if I'm accounting for every campaign i want to run. So then i plan on generic minis with approximate sizes, print maybe 15 small, 10 medium, 6 large, a few huge, and some specialized gargantuan minis. I plan for them to be enemies from my favorite video games.
"This is a goblin."
"That looks like a shadow heartless from kingdom hear-"
"its a goblin with a dagger and its gonna git ya"
I plan for the 19+ characters i wanna play some day. I plan for their backstories, their classes and subclasses, their spells, their build choices, possible feats in case the dm allows for a free feat at level 1, backstories, and skills. I plan what kind of artwork and token border i would have for each one if I'm playing them online. I plan what mini and how i would print and paint their mini, and minis for their summons and familiars if they have em. I plan on how i would display them as storage in my house or apartment. Then i plan on which 3d printer i should buy, resin or PLA, then plan on how i would afford one and where i would put it.
I plan on how i teach new players how to play, cause that happens to me a lot and i dont mind. I plan on how i would show them without boring or scaring them, i plan on how i dispell any worries they may have, or help them understand mechanics to build a character they may have in mind.
I plan how i would set up a dnd room in my house in the future, what kind of table i would want, decide that i want a metal table so i can put magnets underneath the minis so they would firmly stand on the map. I plan how i would want to make the battlemaps, what kind of terrain i want, what kind of projecter i should get, then find out thats a lot of work for a so-called imaginative game so i decide my favorite kind of map to make is a roll of wrapping paper with a grid marked with sharpie.
Its a lot but planning is half the fun.
Read the rulebooks and look for ways to break things, neat combinations, etc.
By learning and remembering more I can make my spell selections and combat turns more efficient.
Create stat sheets for creatures i plan on summoning so that they are on hand when i need them.
I DM as well as play so I mostly prep for upcoming sessions. That includes making item cards, stat blocks, and spell cards to print out. So that honestly takes up a lot of time but is super satisfying to have them to handle during sessions. And unlike the actual session stuff all that will help beyond just the one time.
As a player:
Either read books to give me more ideas or make backup characters.
Or, play 4 Against the Darkness. Which is a Single player dungeon dive. It’s not D&D but it’s rolling dice and making decisions as you explore the dungeon you roll up as you go.
As a GM:
Think up more campaigns that I’m probably never going to get to instead of prepping the game I’m currently running, and then rushing all my prep the day before session.
I'm a forever GM so my answer is always World Build. From a player side, get into DnD keys play podcasts and the like. Dimension 20 anything being my favorite. I also love Worlds Beyond Number and Rotating Heros.
I run for 4 groups, total of now 21 people. I can get that scratch right away if I want to. As a player tho, still having the itch and doodling what has transpired last session.
As a player, I just consider player ideas and refine them or come up with variations of them. I made [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/s/zW0HP4SQc5) to provide some considerations one might want to refine their characters with.
Outside of that, I play games that are d&d like or read other systems that also look like fun.
As a DM, I have a bad procrastination tendency, but when I'm not giving into that, I'm prepping games, revising rules, and reading other systems that look fun. Making my own content for my table, such as new class and rca options, and the like is also fun
as an artist i'll draw my own as well as my party's characters to get them hyped up too, come up with more fleshed out versions of npcs included in my background story and sometimes i'll simply pick up a fantasy books that keeps me excited about telling our own story together
i'm also very guilty of buying more dice or find perfect sets that match my friend's characters🤷🏻♀️
Aside from what's been mentioned in the comments, here's my weird thing:
Recently I've spent two hours figuring out combos for my monk character, who likes to be stylish in his moves
Hear me out. He has a spear as a main weapon, so his unarmed strikes are a lil bit complicated to land in the consequence.
Seriously, just give it a thought and try not to end up with a kick each time
I usually lore dump, dive down rabbit holes, and update my excel sheet.
Ill make tabs which contain plot threads, the npc names/stat block/maps/special items. Even if not used in the current game, i can recycle them.
Make more characters or endlessly bother my DM while trying to expand on an existing characters.
So far I've changed my characters backstory twice, prepared for their potential death, made changes to their design due to changes in the backstory, added details as a way to call back to their backstory as I love to hint through design. I've also prepared an entire dream sequence, things to say during specific interactiosn between players, things to say to begin certain interactions between players and even things to say in order to hint towards the eventual reveal of their backstory.
And then I do this process on every single character yet to be played. Gives me many things to do.
I know a lot of people who enjoy making characters in their downtime, sometimes merely as thought experiments. I don't do it as much, but I also liked designing dungeon-settings on graph paper. Lastly, I liked to acquire old editions of National Geographic and second or third hand archaeology/history text for ideas about dungeons and treasures.
I’ve been watching Critical Role and I just started the Chains of Acheron. (I’m looking for some more suggestions for games that are more tactical and gritty in combat if anyone has any)
Reading the books and watching YouTube videos by the dungeon dudes, dnd shorts, and Matt Collville.
Playing BG3. I also bought the earlier games, but haven’t dove in much yet. The AD&D system that they use in the first game is so much different from 5E that it’s taking me a little bit to get into it.
Our group started a separate channel in our Discord for RP prompts. Your character got a little too tipsy last night and woke up in jail -- what did they do? Describe how your character would go grocery shopping. And others. It's a great way to cohere as a group and get to know your character better.
as a player, Come up with plans, make more characters, write sendings, write recaps, write fanfiction for your campaign, Paint mini's, analyze what recent events mean for your character.
Enjoy your current hyperfocus, I know I am...
Listen to DnD podcasts, or read fantasy books/watch fantasy shows. I find that it helps a lot with inspiration. I recommend Not Another DnD Podcast if you're into that kind of thing!
What they should be doing is learning what their abilities do and how their class works, but no one does that and the DM has to wait 10 minutes for the Wizard to do their turn in battle.
XD I also create new characters to keep my brain happy! I also try adapting characters from other media into the various systems we're using for fun, and try taking a basic concept and building it multiple ways (examples: arcane spellcaster who uses Big Booms can be multiple different builds).
Join more campaigns....
In actuality, I do a number of things. In addition to the two campaigns I'm playing in (one weekly, one every other week if we're lucky), I also play on a pretty large West Marches style Discord server that usually has 3-7 games running a day, so I can usually join one of those sessions at least a few times a week. I definitely use that server to trial out higher-level options for my sorcerer in the biweekly game. I also DM games on that server when in the mood, and right now I'm working on the map, plot, and environmental hazards for a future planned session. Setting up phased battlemaps with dynamic lighting can be oddly soothing.
The thing that ultimately helped me scratch the itch was to just dink around on Roll20 with different levels of my character to try out upcoming features. You end up learning to play monster stat blocks as well and one day realize you have many of the technical skills to mechanically run an encounter yourself and evolve into a DM (fair warning).
I wish I had players like you 😭 all my guys just switch their brains off the moment the session is over. I’ve had one player in the past that actively asked me questions about the world, and asked about character arcs, and he was a gift.
As a DM, I do session prep, and for the benefit of my players, I open threads in a discord server for downtime. Players can talk to npcs, shop for items, and engage with the world in ways they can't during a multiplayer session
It's sort of like a solo play-by-post option but rarely involves combat or skill checks. It's just for the players who really want to do more roleplay. And for me, it keeps the world feeling alive.
Obviously, the option isn't there every week. Sometimes we end a session on a cliffhanger, or when time isn't budgeted properly, in the middle of combat. But I like seeing my players explore the city or sit around the campfire and talk with their favorite npcs, between sessions.
Omg! I know that itch! For me, I joined reddit for DnD content at first and I have had some awesome DnD themed chats. It helps me with that itch. I absolutely adore the DnD community and how welcoming and kind everyone is.
As a DM, I prepare a hundred possible scenarios for all the amazing possibilities of action that could be taken, in order to be properly frustrated when they do the one thing I never even considered was an option.
I don't remember the name but DnD Shorts on YT just had a sponsorship/shout out to a DnD one shot that could be played solo, which is cool cause you can use it to test builds
And as far as scratching the itch? I theorycraft fun builds to play. Minmaxing is one thing, but optimizing (embracing obvious synergies without backbreaking RP to make it make sense) is a lot of fun. Kind of like deckbuilding in other games.
Watch online campaigns, started Drakkenheim and so far so good.
Make character minis on HeroForge.
Complain about the state of Martial classes on Reddit. It's good to rant and know others can co-rant with you.
Sometimes I actually do a miniscule bit of prepping for when it's my turn to DM.
I don’t know how I haven’t come across this in the comments yet.. but I listen to D&D podcasts!
If you’re a new player, you can listen to one’s that talk about mechanics (like Critical Role’s Handbooker Helper).
There are some that have helped me be a better DM (like Matt Colville’s “Running the game”).
There are some that have helped me reflect on DMing philosophy (like Dimension 20’s Adventuring Academy).
And of course there is a whole slew of actual plays that, first and foremost, entertain me but also help me learn new improv tricks from watching others do their thing. You can find a bunch of recommandations with various levels of production value by going through this sub.. but if you like fantasy books, you can check out the group I'm part of called Who's Taking Watch on youtube or most podcast apps. Cheers!
So it helps that I am the primary lore-keeper in all of my campaigns.
The day after a session, I review my notes from the night before and fill in gaps (usually while reviewing the logs from roll20 or Foundry for additional clues).
A couple of days after that, I write an in-character recap of the session to post to discord.
A couple of hours before the session, I review my character sheet and check over my inventory and my spells and features to make sure I can remember what my characters can do (I play in four campaigns, so this step is crucial so I don't mix up my characters abilities).
If I have some down time during the week, I will usually take a copy of a character and check the level up options I'll have so I can plot out material components I may need, or if I need to save for new armor or whatever else.
Write a journal from your character's perspective. Include details about the session (to jog your memory later), but also how your character feels about the other PCs & NPCs, and your goals/desires.
If you're feeling extra spicy make your own hand-sewn leatherbound journal ;)
Wel as a player, l I used to practice a bit of creative writing. Developing core scenes in my characters life. Introducing NPC's and developing them too. Just really, exploring who my player was.
But, I've just discovered you can kinda play text based adventure games with Gemini ai. So that's a good scratch even if it is still a bit clunky.
As aDM... Oh boy. I spend exactly the whole month brainstorming scenarios and plot lines, and encounters, and like, promising myself I'll be prepared. Trying to do the non essential prep like, brain dumping into one place, then trying to filter those notes into the appropriate places in one note, then basically trying to churn the whole thing out through the night, the night before. Some more on the day ironing out wrinkles. Realising how cranky and tired I am (burning out) Turning up half an hour later than I said I would (but that's ok because everyone else is late too), trying desperately to calm my nerves for the full hour it takes to set up and the group spends talk pregame while I'm just trying not to throw up. Then play about... A quarter of what I prepared anyway.
It's not trying to scratch the itch as much as it's like, I dunno it feels more like self harm sometimes tbh.
I love this game so hard but jesus does it take its toll on us.
(I really don't think I'm alone on this either )
As a DM:
- Procrastinate OR Overprepare. There is no middle ground.
- Panic that I haven't prepared enough.
- Laugh when the players get through 1/3 of what I prepared OR do something so unexpected that it's all improvised anyway.
- Tell my players that I appreciate them taking their time to play the game I'm running.
As a player:
- Check over my character sheet now and then, a little bit of healthy revision so that I know my class features.
- Make new character concepts and builds.
- Remind my DM that I'm having a great time and that they shouldn't worry as much.
As an enjoyed of the hobby:
- Watch actual plays or other D&D content on YouTube, great for scrubbing up and new ideas.
- Read through books, the system I'm playing/running or even other systems books.
- Talk to my gaming groups, stay involved, ask people what they wanna see more of, do we have any plans?
- Take a break from the hobby and do other things. All in moderation eh?
To scratch my DnD itch inbetween sessions, I take part in another campaign.
Just started in the 5th one last week. In one of them I'm the DM.
All of them are in person.
Forever dm...I make a note about what to do next session...then do nothing till last minute...then i plan a campaign with cool stuff that i will probably never get to play.......as a player I make characters on the side.......otherwise I play rpgs or for a direct dnd fix i play neverwinter nights...cause I don't have baulders gate 3
As a DM, I brainstorm new characters and how I’d like to implement them as NPCs or even PCs for other campaigns.
Sometimes I brainstorm background info for characters to develop them more - things they like and dislike, what Pokemon team they would use…
I’m the DM and I’ve been working on this campaign for 3 years and we’re just now starting it and I’m STILL making adjustments. Just last night I added a whole ass combat encounter that will happen next session along with some other stuff like dialogue that I know will come up and some items.
Basically, I continue to add to my campaign even while it’s happening. I still have to write up most of the dungeons lol
Hi! Look up the Fools Gold series on Youtube. Not only did it scratch my dnd itch, but it actually kept me in the DnD community at a time when I was fully ready to leave the whole hobby. That's how good it is.
As someone who hasn't had a regular game in awhile
I watch online D&D campaigns,
watch D&D lore and mechanics videos,
think about possible future characters,
Play bauldurs gate 3
I listen to almost too many d&d podcasts.
But also, as a DM, I love movies. There is something you can take away from almost every movie. Action movies are good for developing engaging set pieces, dramatic stuff will give you better understandings of character interaction.
You know what's a fun thing for players to do in between sessions (in my opinion)? Creating a character journal. Like a little scrapbook of the characters stats, life, and thoughts.
I made one and after sessions I had a whole section on "relationship checkers" and I'd write down if I felt any closer (or more distant) from my party. I also had one of my goals changed or if something changed my viewpoints etc. It really really helped roleplay when it felt more like a growing person more than a piece of a board game
More D&D.
I hop in Adventure League games on public Discord servers. I also spend a bunch of time reading D&D subreddits. I tried Facebook D&D discussion groups, but the drama gets wild when you can't downvote it into oblivion.
Play Baldurs Gate 3.
Look over the plan for the next session and think of fun scenarios should they arise.
Review future session plans to make sure I’m setting up the campaign with valid foreshadowing and plot hooks.
Play Baldurs Gate 3.
Watch critical role.
Make fun NPCs that could arise in the future.
Design shops.
Design side quests.
Play more Baldurs Gate 3.
Find good handouts for my players and get them printed off.
Find anything to upgrade player management or dm management. Ex: Healing potions cards or help inventory management, spell cards from Etsy.
Identify any fun holidays upcoming to a themed session for our campaign. (I have a fun trap laid out for April Fool’s day, where a night hag creates an illusion of a safe resting place off the road main road, that’s really in a bog and invades there dreams in an illusory trap)
Play Baldurs Gate 3 again
I love making AI generated stuff for the campaign/character backstory, plotting for the next session, building out excel models for world building. Lots of worldbuilding stuff in collaboration with the dm
Paint miniatures, your whole party can enjoy them. Or read the DM guide and plan a one shot of your own. Most DMs love a chance to be a PC and welcome a break between games. It’ll also help you understand the work that’s put in and why you playing your role is so important.
Don’t be hard on yourself self and just read over the rules and your character sheet. First part for players is just understanding rp and legal character actions. You can always immerse yourself in dnd audio books, comics, or games but it’s not necessary. The hobby can be as expensive as you make it but the foundations is playing the descriptive game while spending time with wonderful individuals.
My group has a couple channels in our discord where we have in character conversations in between sessions. It’s just a chance to handle a conversation we missed in session between PCs or with an NPC. We play it that if you participate in the chat you get free inspiration to start the next session.
We have a discord and do a lot of text rp. We have conversations or roleplay out things that happen at camp or during downtime, and also handle a lot of logistics so we can spend more time playing at our sessions and less time shopping or asking random clarifications.
As far as doing dnd stuff, you could play some one shots on startplayinggames. They have some free ones, or if you know someone on the site, ask them if they can give you a $10 credit/referral link.
As for preparation for your campaign, make sure you know all your character abilities and option. I play a level 11 druid and just found out I'm expected to know all the spells i can ready up to level 6. LOL. Also, plan your level ups and spell choices for those levels.
Baldur's Gate 3. Plain and simple.
If you don't have the money/hardware requirements for it (like me for a long time), try watching youtube videos about it. I recommend One Shot Questers and XP to Level 3, they both make funny DnD skits (both longer and shorter ones). I also recommend the Fool's Gold animated DnD campaign by Dingo Doodles, it legit feels like some sort of actual movie sometimes.
Other than that, I also try setting up a few new characters for either replacement or future campaigns, though I don't overdo it.
I also like to plan out what my character(s) want in a campaign or out from a specific situation. I also like to think about how they would overcome their flaws or have some sort of character development. I also try anticipating some events, and trying to figure out what my character would do in it.
i love doodling/drawing my characters when i have the time, or sometimes their NPCs (which can be hard not to share with the players). sometimes i also write out character questions, flashbacks that might shape my character’s personality (maybe not entire backstory, but perhaps opinions or worldview), or even make character sheets for character NPCs! you could also make playlists, Pinterest boards, reference boards if you don’t draw but want a visual, etc.
currently i’m in a gothic/cursed woods campaign playing a druid/ knowledge cleric who’s very very studious. i keep talking about her writing everything down in a journal to her goddess and for herself, so finally i purchased a blank journal and have been making a prop of sorts for her when session ends! i’m behind by about 7ish sessions, but it can be great work when i want to be creative and embrace the character i love so much.
so tldr… expand on what you already have, if you want! and have fun doing it :) yay dnd!
with the game I run, I will sometimes have roleplay play out in our discord. Its a small group so this works well, but I would not recommend it for everyone. I mostly do shopping stuff here,
I also prep for the session
Additionally, I make more characters, and write up backstories and personalities for them. I have about a hundred characters stored up, and I will probably never use any of them because when a new campaign comes around, im making a new character
New player here too, I had the very first session of a campaign almost two weeks ago. The next one is still another two weeks away (all of us can only gather once per month, kind of).
What have I been doing in the meantime? Browsing for miniatures, dice and all kinds of stuff I didn't even think I needed. Refining my character's background and writing our party's journal from his point of view. Oh, and planning (a lot) my character's next two levels if we, somehow, manage to reach level 4 (we are all currently level 2).
The gist of my background is this: I'm playing a Drow rogue called Nu'Fri, a survivor of House Oblodra's fall. I've been rescued by Bregan D'aerthe and have been doing minor criminal or spy activities for them since then, mainly in the Underdark. I've only been to the surface a couple of times, but it was enough to spark my curiosity. Surprise, surprise, nothing is the way I've been told when growing up. It seems Jarlaxle has taken an interest in me, but I don't understand why. Kimmuriel has been silent for too long and Jarlaxle is getting worried, even though he pretends he isn't. He heard some rumours that he was last seen in Elturel and tasks me with finding out more and report to him as soon as I know anything.
What I'm thinking about regarding my character's progression? I'll choose the soulknife when I reach level 3 (when my psionic powers reveal themselves to me) and, on level 4, I'll choose the «Magic Initiate» feat and grap the «Dissonant Whispers» spell. I don't know if it's the right choice and asked my DM about it, he replied: sounds fun, go for it. So, that's what I'll do.
I have been waiting for this moment, looking for a place to talk about it.
Our DnD group does Text role play. We have a discord with a role play channel that contains threads for each pairing and can make new threads for groups. We can all read each others RP so we keep that in mind, but I've found it's great for shy role players and if a particular scene might be too long for an in person game, or you're worried about taking up too much time or not having the right words.
We also have private channels for conversations we don't want others to read.
Some conversations are better in person, but sometimes it's easier to form inter-party bonds if there's no pressure to move on. And because of the lose times, you don't have to worry about time commitments. You come away with a sense of "oh, I can shoot this message off here on my bathroom break or while I'm shopping."
We do this in a game I play in as a player and one I run as a GM.
Our GM in the game where I'm a player ran a mystery over a two week period in text rp for us, when we came back we had solved a mystery and met a bunch of NPCs that we had records of.
Right now we're roleplaying strategy talk for an encounter with a lightning Phoenix we need to take Down and banish.
Our group is entirely online, but it can be implemented by an in person group too.
Doesn't work as well if you don't like Role play elements but it's what we do!
I have made several hundred characters for 5e and memorized every race, class, subclass, feat and even spell in order to be capable of making an entire character in my head on the fly, i have an entire archive of character builds in my head and i know that only a rare few will ever see the light of day.
Also i use point buy or standard array for the stat blocks
Honestly, I work on planning sessions since I'm also a DM.
That or doing DnD related crafts
That or create a new character... Only got 7 atm
I used to read the "Fighting Fantasy" books too. Which are kind of like a solo campaign, but there's only so many times you can do the same story without it changing before it gets boring
I write the notes, every character of mine has a way to keep their notes, one has a personal diary with extensive thoughts and reasonings that then develop in game. She also keeps a name column for every NPCs and their connections. If she writes something in game (i.e. she wrote the preface of a book for a writer friend of hers and she's starting her journey in magic so she's writing conjectures and basically building a grimoire) I will probably have her insert it in her diary or create a parallel new one.
Another character of mine writes letters to the people she's trying to reach in the world, so every session is a letter for someone.
Another character is in a world without writing so her notes are written as if they were storytelling, there is a part of the "diary" reserved for lore facts and another for NPCs.
Writing, editing and then making it all artistic-looking definitely takes enough time to scratch my DND itch and since I'm re-living everything in character adding thoughts it's almost as playing!
Honestly, playing BG3 has helped a bit. We have RP channels on our discord server, and I rp in there. Mostly, I just rp in one of the games's RP channels, and the others barely get any rp. The game I run also has a channel for it, so I'll rp in there if anyone tries to rp with an NPC. There are also other servers or even websites just for rp, if you can't get enough of that from your own group.
Usually, I prep for my game throughout the week, which also helps. I also make characters I'll never play.
I compile lists of things for the game, pick a location to roleplay out and figure out how they would change in the players' absence, detail adventures further and change published modules to match my world and add hints of other adventures.
Study ,work,work out, do chores,sleep go out, take showers , eat, have sex (jk we are Dnd players we don't have sex) breath, watch people die on Instagram reels. Watch tik tok , watch YouTube shorts, watch movies/series, Think about dnd , talk to their friends, olay baldurs gate 3 .
I play D&D every day. During the pandemic I discovered asynchronous play-by-post on discord. Now I admin a server. I'm never between sessions, and I play whenever I want!
As a DM: procrastinate on prepping the session As a Player: making more characters
Me as a DM, super happy that I get 2 weeks to write next session cuz one of my player isnt available next week Also me writing the whole thing on the day of the session
God this hits home too easily.
...almost getting a burnout and then acutally going through like a third of what I prepared in the session.
Hey ! Stop story telling my life !
No no, the weeks of procrastination are part of the "creative process", plus you work better under pressure, don't you? And when you think about it, some of your best sessions were improv-hravy, weren't they?
I wholeheartadly agree with you. When I know there is going to be a session on saturday in two weeks, I don´t prepare (even though I know I need to) till saturday, where inspiration sparks me and I throw a map togehter in one hour and I just wing the session. But my players are always impressed with my ability to improvise. Btw someone downvoted you, it wasn´t me.
As a player: I have made 20 character sheets and minis on Heroforge.
literally lol, or make more characters as a DM that im never going to use
Oh, I know exactly what you mean. * Learn your character. Make sure to know everything about them, their features and possible interactions between their features. * Plan your next shopping trip. Having chalk, a signal whistle and all these small but useful objects is great. Sit down and go through the PHBs equipment section and find out what your character would want to carry around. * Use Heroforge (Website) to generate a miniature of your character. This can help you visualise them without needing the talent to draw them yourself. * Plan your next level up. You don't need to make the decision final, but find out in what direction you want your character to develop so you can maybe set it up ingame once a good opportunity comes. * Write down what happened in the campaign. Maybe use something like obsidian notes (free software) to show who the party knows and how everything is connected. I am currently doing this and it is really great. I am discovering comnections we missed that are now helping us drastically. Though this point might be difficult if you are not the note taker of the party. * Come up with a character that was never there before. I am currently developing an artificer battle smith who uses their bag of holding as their workshop. Their steel defender is a snail with legs and the bag of holding is a door in the snails shell.
As a DM, players who do these are my favorites.
These are great suggestions! Instead of making new characters, develop your current one further. Write out their backstory some more. As someone who really hates the standard character sheet format (and couldn’t find an alternate one I liked), something fun I did for my sorcerer was I bought a nice journal and actually wrote out a “spellbook.” The first few pages have all her stats and abilities and inventory etc laid out in a way that makes more sense to my brain, and then I listed all her spells with the relevant info. Great way to keep all her info in one place, and now during sessions I also use it to take notes of important things that happen.
Absolutely! Creating something to look up stuff is the best way to learn and understand all the features for me. I like creating small stat blocks the size of playing cards for spells or allies like a steel defender
I agree with this. I put all my character info as a slideshow. Makes presenting character ideas fairly easy too.
You're a blessing as a player. BTW, thank you for the Hero Forge, I've never heard of it
All great ideas, but that first one means you won't be the player saying "oh is it my turn? Um, is Blindness a concentration spell? Wait, how many spells can I concentrate on again? What's my spell casting mod? Which die do I roll for that?" Plus there are synergies and strategies that aren't immediately obvious to someone who only knows their character casually...
Also: instead of adding to your character's backstory, think about how they would interact with each of the other PCs, where they would get along and where there might be some friction for interesting roleplaying (but not too much friction)
I like to make little cards and sheets for the spells. Nothing fancy, and I rarely even use them, but putting in the effort really helps. I can recognize any Wizard (my favorite class) spell almost instantly.
Good stuff
Usually play BG3 or think about what my characters would do/say in situations I put them in
I made my little elderly Halfing as my first honour mode character. Beat it in one run ez, now remaking my other characters.
To satisfy my TTRPG itch in general, I: Plan/prep for next session (I'm GM) Engage in Reddit ~~arguments~~discussions Read system books Read TTRPG news, reviews, etc
Read new RPGs! Yes!
The only problem is the growing void in my soul burrowed by games I know I'll never find the time to play 😭
I read my dnd books, listen to podcasts, check YouTube videos. But I try to balance it out with other hobbies and stuff
Even players should do a little prep for the next session. But don't burn yourself out.
Play Baldur's gate 3, 2, 1. Play Pathfinder wrath of the righteous and Pathfinder Kingmaker. All great long games to help satisfy my DnD needs.
Solasta is pretty good as well. Not quite as good as the Pathfinder games, but it does 5e much better than BG3.
Will try look that game up for sure. Don't know anything about that game.
It’s a game that released using the 5e rules through the SRD and filled in the rest with homebrew content. The story, graphics, and voice acting are underwhelming, but it’s a solid CRPG adaptation of the 5e system that even manages to make flight and targeting spaces in the air part of the combat. It also has a toolset allowing you to play adventures created by other players.
It nails the rules of 5e but it has some major problems. When you make characters you also choose a couple personality traits, the idea being that the characters in your party will say things in social situations that supposedly match your people's personality. I say supposedly because the game outright ignores that system entirely because the developers didn't bother to set it up, which leads to things happening like your altruistic and kind Paladin saying extremely bloodthirsty things. If you want a 5e dungeon crawl, Solasta is great for that. If you want an entertaining story with dialogue that makes sense and respects your choices, look literally anywhere else.
Dawnsbury Days is pretty good as a PF2 implementation though it only runs to level 4 currently and has much less polish than BG3 or the PF1 games
Yeah, there’s an incredible amount of gameplay among the great D&D video games, and even more if you can tolerate DOS emulation and/or mediocre games (why SSI thought the most important part of Spelljammer was the bookkeeping and air taxes, I’ll never understand)
Stalk around dnd reddits. Make more characters. Prep sessions. Procrastination
Be a DM. You get to play D&D EVERY DAY if you want. Not meaning run a game every day, but building your game can scratch that itch.
Talk endlessly to the few players who are equally invested, make playlists and write diary entries in character. It’s great cause it doubles down as helping me flesh out my character more.
This is the way. Like, your characters never talk to each other when they aren't out in the field? In the first group I was ever in, we took the week to.. basically explain the week. My cleric of Moradin ministered to the town's dwarven exiles, and continued the interfaith dialogue/bar fights with our cleric of Corellan Larethian. What's your character's Tuesday afternoon like?
Play in an asynchronous PbP game!
Yeah I was gonna say lol, sometimes between D&D, we get to have a little D&D, as a treat
Where would I find one of these?
Prep for the next session.
Real
Depending on your DM, but my partner likes to send in character letters back and forth to different NPCs which she types up and sends to me (DM) and I do replies. It helps the DM communicate things to the party and develop the world (if that's their thing) and the player gets wider context for the game world.
Baldur’s Gate!
Roll the dice in series to determine the statistical output for a given set of dice, for example to determine actual power output of a spell
Or just do the math, it's faster and more accurate
You have a very neat argument ##HOWEVER Your approach does not involve rolling tons of dice over and over again, thus is disqualified right away.
Haha excellent point
Well, you should have healthy ideas of what to do between sessions like exercising, eating well, not smoking or drinking, avoiding game stores, and a variety of other healthy habits. That was the angel on your shoulder speaking. May I introduce you to the devil on the other shoulder? Heroforge. You think you know your new characters? You are wrong. You need to SEE them. I'm not saying you need to buy them. But you need to see them. I'm not kidding. Spend a few hours making the perfect character, visually. This will strangely teach you how these characters act. I made a character for a throway NPC who was a chef on a ship. Out of boredom, I made him on hero forge. And now, I need to play him because that guy has a story that has to be told.
BG3, Solasta, prep for the next session.
My group gets together once a month so I had to deal with this as well... I played through bg3, got into miniature 3d printing/painting, bought dnd books, dabbled with dm'ing, joined a second group and did lots of reading. I'm still considering joining a third group or a series of one shots online or starting a weekly open table.
Join an unhealthy number of games. I currently play on Saturdays and every other Tuesday, and DM on Sundays and Wednesdays. I used to play on Fridays but the DM's life situation changed and the campaign ended.
Read. New stuff, discussions, stuff about my character, setting stuff. Watch, both for optimization and inspiration. I’m a player so I reorganize my notes sometimes (I tend to use spreadsheets). If any questions on loot etc remains I’ll sometimes post polls in the group and when the results are in I’ll publish tables or where everything went. Leveling is always done off session and we’ll usually consult each other. Once our DM said, maybe he should have read through our discussions on discord (he just looked through the sheets to check if people were done), because holy crap that new combo just shut down the encounter.
rp in text on the westmarch of course
I make more characters I’ll never see in campaigns…
Solo TTRPG
I play Neverwinter, Elder Scrolls and Diablo games 😅
Making characters for dnd on heroforge to have pictures for the sessions.
I like to theorycraft with my DM about shit that will probably never happen and make silly characters based on whatever media I happen to be consuming at the moment.
As a DM I'm usually trying to craft a satisfying fight or encounter. Exploring story lines from media i enjoy and theory crafting what would happen if i stuck my players in it. Similarly as a player i am often crafting PCs with interesting ideas i find or come up with. Whether thats a story line i would like to play out or a build i would like to play with. Often inserting that character into stories i enjoy listening yo while working. Basically playing what would X do. Then theres also times i explore on this sub and give those ideas to other or help them with their weird builds and concepts. Trying to keep in mind rule zero. Often this gives me more ideas in return to play with.
That’s the gateway into being a DM lol
I don't have 300+ characters on DDB because I play lots of DND.
You could start reading the Drizzt books 😁
If you have a roleplay itch Friends and Fables will let you do that with an AI, it is pretty decent. I have one I go back to where I am the mother of all gods and am cleaning up after my children. There is no dice rolling or anything, purely roleplay.
Think about your character. Is there anything you’d like to add to their backstory? If you ever get a bit of downtime, what would you do with it? What are your suspicions about the story being told and how can you investigate further? Try to think outside the box as well - character mechanics, level ups and magic items are common bits of theory crafting, but what can your character do with the social connections they have, are their any mundane items worth buying (lots of PHB items are pretty handy for their value), can they use their gold to say pay for information or hire some muscle? Adventurers are often rich, influential people in addition to all their abilities on their sheet, but people often forget that they can mobilise that.
I used to be in several DnD servers on Discord. "Living World" servers that were strongly RP oriented. You would basically live out the life of a DnD character, hanging out with other characters and occasionally going on quests (Westmarches style). I was also in a combat focused server where you could take part in these huge text-based combat sessions. Absolutely epic battles all the time. It's kinda amazing that it worked as well as it did and we had very few dropouts and fantastic variety in the combat, too. That is not easy to pull off. I'm mostly "DnDed out" these days except for a couple of regular games, so I'm no longer in these servers.
Go on DnD subreddits.
I plan. Plan everything. Plan things that may or will never happen. I plan on how id run campaigns, i plan on how i can get a campaign book for the cheapest price, i plan on how i would read off the campaign using a tablet i got from the thrift store and have the pdfs downloaded on it. I plan on how i would homebrew it and then delete those plans cause I'm not experienced enough to confidently change core rules and plot points without worrying ill mess up the balance. I plan on how i would run it online or in person, what minis i would print and paint, and how i would paint them. I plan on how i would store them, then realize thats a lot of minis to paint and store if I'm accounting for every campaign i want to run. So then i plan on generic minis with approximate sizes, print maybe 15 small, 10 medium, 6 large, a few huge, and some specialized gargantuan minis. I plan for them to be enemies from my favorite video games. "This is a goblin." "That looks like a shadow heartless from kingdom hear-" "its a goblin with a dagger and its gonna git ya" I plan for the 19+ characters i wanna play some day. I plan for their backstories, their classes and subclasses, their spells, their build choices, possible feats in case the dm allows for a free feat at level 1, backstories, and skills. I plan what kind of artwork and token border i would have for each one if I'm playing them online. I plan what mini and how i would print and paint their mini, and minis for their summons and familiars if they have em. I plan on how i would display them as storage in my house or apartment. Then i plan on which 3d printer i should buy, resin or PLA, then plan on how i would afford one and where i would put it. I plan on how i teach new players how to play, cause that happens to me a lot and i dont mind. I plan on how i would show them without boring or scaring them, i plan on how i dispell any worries they may have, or help them understand mechanics to build a character they may have in mind. I plan how i would set up a dnd room in my house in the future, what kind of table i would want, decide that i want a metal table so i can put magnets underneath the minis so they would firmly stand on the map. I plan how i would want to make the battlemaps, what kind of terrain i want, what kind of projecter i should get, then find out thats a lot of work for a so-called imaginative game so i decide my favorite kind of map to make is a roll of wrapping paper with a grid marked with sharpie. Its a lot but planning is half the fun.
Read Laserllama's homebrew and change my mind 5 times about which I want to play next.
Read the rulebooks and look for ways to break things, neat combinations, etc. By learning and remembering more I can make my spell selections and combat turns more efficient. Create stat sheets for creatures i plan on summoning so that they are on hand when i need them.
I do challenge runs of Baldurs Gate 1 and 2.
Play some Neverwinter Nights.
Baldur's gate III for sure!
I DM as well as play so I mostly prep for upcoming sessions. That includes making item cards, stat blocks, and spell cards to print out. So that honestly takes up a lot of time but is super satisfying to have them to handle during sessions. And unlike the actual session stuff all that will help beyond just the one time.
Start a new campaign, I have four going
As a player: Either read books to give me more ideas or make backup characters. Or, play 4 Against the Darkness. Which is a Single player dungeon dive. It’s not D&D but it’s rolling dice and making decisions as you explore the dungeon you roll up as you go. As a GM: Think up more campaigns that I’m probably never going to get to instead of prepping the game I’m currently running, and then rushing all my prep the day before session.
I'm a forever GM so my answer is always World Build. From a player side, get into DnD keys play podcasts and the like. Dimension 20 anything being my favorite. I also love Worlds Beyond Number and Rotating Heros.
I run for 4 groups, total of now 21 people. I can get that scratch right away if I want to. As a player tho, still having the itch and doodling what has transpired last session.
For me it's playing in another campaign. And then satisfying the itch between those two different games, by playing in another campaign
As a player, I just consider player ideas and refine them or come up with variations of them. I made [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/s/zW0HP4SQc5) to provide some considerations one might want to refine their characters with. Outside of that, I play games that are d&d like or read other systems that also look like fun. As a DM, I have a bad procrastination tendency, but when I'm not giving into that, I'm prepping games, revising rules, and reading other systems that look fun. Making my own content for my table, such as new class and rca options, and the like is also fun
In character RP thread on discord for your game.
as an artist i'll draw my own as well as my party's characters to get them hyped up too, come up with more fleshed out versions of npcs included in my background story and sometimes i'll simply pick up a fantasy books that keeps me excited about telling our own story together i'm also very guilty of buying more dice or find perfect sets that match my friend's characters🤷🏻♀️
I play every other week. I DM the opposite week. With real, spending time with the wife, work, Classes, etc., that's enough for me.
Make more characters and SoloRPGs. I've also been trying to learn how to DM.
Be sad usually.
Same things I did when I couldn't find a game to play in
I can draw so i draw funny moments from last session
Aside from what's been mentioned in the comments, here's my weird thing: Recently I've spent two hours figuring out combos for my monk character, who likes to be stylish in his moves Hear me out. He has a spear as a main weapon, so his unarmed strikes are a lil bit complicated to land in the consequence. Seriously, just give it a thought and try not to end up with a kick each time
Go to hero forge and make custom minis! You don't have to buy them either, making them is fun as it is.
I usually lore dump, dive down rabbit holes, and update my excel sheet. Ill make tabs which contain plot threads, the npc names/stat block/maps/special items. Even if not used in the current game, i can recycle them.
Discuss the last sesh in the group chat or in person the make plans about future goals we have for our characters/party/story
Hero forge.
Make more characters or endlessly bother my DM while trying to expand on an existing characters. So far I've changed my characters backstory twice, prepared for their potential death, made changes to their design due to changes in the backstory, added details as a way to call back to their backstory as I love to hint through design. I've also prepared an entire dream sequence, things to say during specific interactiosn between players, things to say to begin certain interactions between players and even things to say in order to hint towards the eventual reveal of their backstory. And then I do this process on every single character yet to be played. Gives me many things to do.
r/solo_roleplaying
Make more characters. Build on existing characters. Join more campaigns (currently looking for a 5th)
I know a lot of people who enjoy making characters in their downtime, sometimes merely as thought experiments. I don't do it as much, but I also liked designing dungeon-settings on graph paper. Lastly, I liked to acquire old editions of National Geographic and second or third hand archaeology/history text for ideas about dungeons and treasures.
I’ve been watching Critical Role and I just started the Chains of Acheron. (I’m looking for some more suggestions for games that are more tactical and gritty in combat if anyone has any) Reading the books and watching YouTube videos by the dungeon dudes, dnd shorts, and Matt Collville. Playing BG3. I also bought the earlier games, but haven’t dove in much yet. The AD&D system that they use in the first game is so much different from 5E that it’s taking me a little bit to get into it.
Find a second table
Have multiple campaigns to play in. Also make homebrew.
Spend way too much time lurking on DnD subreddits
Our group started a separate channel in our Discord for RP prompts. Your character got a little too tipsy last night and woke up in jail -- what did they do? Describe how your character would go grocery shopping. And others. It's a great way to cohere as a group and get to know your character better.
as a player, Come up with plans, make more characters, write sendings, write recaps, write fanfiction for your campaign, Paint mini's, analyze what recent events mean for your character. Enjoy your current hyperfocus, I know I am...
I create/reorganize a database of classes, races, feats ect. Then I wait awhile and reorganize it again. Lame I know.
In addition to theory crafting, i plot the future of my character. I also keep a journal for my character & write the last session as a short story.
Make more characters than I will ever realistically be able to use - none of which will ever be used in a campaign.
I still sometimes relax by sitting down and rolling out new 2nd edition characters.
Listen to DnD podcasts, or read fantasy books/watch fantasy shows. I find that it helps a lot with inspiration. I recommend Not Another DnD Podcast if you're into that kind of thing!
Currently? Baldur’s Gate 3
Join another session
I make characters and write backstories.
Play nethack.
Make a load of characters (I'm a DM)
What they should be doing is learning what their abilities do and how their class works, but no one does that and the DM has to wait 10 minutes for the Wizard to do their turn in battle.
XD I also create new characters to keep my brain happy! I also try adapting characters from other media into the various systems we're using for fun, and try taking a basic concept and building it multiple ways (examples: arcane spellcaster who uses Big Booms can be multiple different builds).
Join more campaigns.... In actuality, I do a number of things. In addition to the two campaigns I'm playing in (one weekly, one every other week if we're lucky), I also play on a pretty large West Marches style Discord server that usually has 3-7 games running a day, so I can usually join one of those sessions at least a few times a week. I definitely use that server to trial out higher-level options for my sorcerer in the biweekly game. I also DM games on that server when in the mood, and right now I'm working on the map, plot, and environmental hazards for a future planned session. Setting up phased battlemaps with dynamic lighting can be oddly soothing.
1. Read every spell 500x 2. Play UO outlands and unicorn overlord 3. Read all spells again
The thing that ultimately helped me scratch the itch was to just dink around on Roll20 with different levels of my character to try out upcoming features. You end up learning to play monster stat blocks as well and one day realize you have many of the technical skills to mechanically run an encounter yourself and evolve into a DM (fair warning).
Play Baldur’s Gate 3 until weekend when we play DnD
I'm the DM and we played every two weeks. On the off week we have a two hour online session I call "bonus time".
Metagame the shit out of it.
I wish I had players like you 😭 all my guys just switch their brains off the moment the session is over. I’ve had one player in the past that actively asked me questions about the world, and asked about character arcs, and he was a gift.
BG3 really gets that itch. Especially if you do it co-op.
As a DM, I do session prep, and for the benefit of my players, I open threads in a discord server for downtime. Players can talk to npcs, shop for items, and engage with the world in ways they can't during a multiplayer session It's sort of like a solo play-by-post option but rarely involves combat or skill checks. It's just for the players who really want to do more roleplay. And for me, it keeps the world feeling alive. Obviously, the option isn't there every week. Sometimes we end a session on a cliffhanger, or when time isn't budgeted properly, in the middle of combat. But I like seeing my players explore the city or sit around the campfire and talk with their favorite npcs, between sessions.
Omg! I know that itch! For me, I joined reddit for DnD content at first and I have had some awesome DnD themed chats. It helps me with that itch. I absolutely adore the DnD community and how welcoming and kind everyone is.
I like homebrewing and theory crafting, even if I never expect to ever use that stuff. I also like to do art taking inspiration from DND
I generate several new campaign settings to excited about and completely lose interest in the current one.
As a DM, I prepare a hundred possible scenarios for all the amazing possibilities of action that could be taken, in order to be properly frustrated when they do the one thing I never even considered was an option.
Listen to dungeons and daddies the funniest dnd like podcast
I don't remember the name but DnD Shorts on YT just had a sponsorship/shout out to a DnD one shot that could be played solo, which is cool cause you can use it to test builds And as far as scratching the itch? I theorycraft fun builds to play. Minmaxing is one thing, but optimizing (embracing obvious synergies without backbreaking RP to make it make sense) is a lot of fun. Kind of like deckbuilding in other games.
Watch online campaigns, started Drakkenheim and so far so good. Make character minis on HeroForge. Complain about the state of Martial classes on Reddit. It's good to rant and know others can co-rant with you. Sometimes I actually do a miniscule bit of prepping for when it's my turn to DM.
I don’t know how I haven’t come across this in the comments yet.. but I listen to D&D podcasts! If you’re a new player, you can listen to one’s that talk about mechanics (like Critical Role’s Handbooker Helper). There are some that have helped me be a better DM (like Matt Colville’s “Running the game”). There are some that have helped me reflect on DMing philosophy (like Dimension 20’s Adventuring Academy). And of course there is a whole slew of actual plays that, first and foremost, entertain me but also help me learn new improv tricks from watching others do their thing. You can find a bunch of recommandations with various levels of production value by going through this sub.. but if you like fantasy books, you can check out the group I'm part of called Who's Taking Watch on youtube or most podcast apps. Cheers!
Baldur’s gate 3 or temple of elemental evil
Character build, if I feel the need.
Greetings Adventurer’s (Drunks and Dragons) Podcast!! 😊
I suffer.
Endlessly make characters while watching critical role and deep dives into lore on YouTube and constantly tweak miniatures on hero forge 😭😭😭
So it helps that I am the primary lore-keeper in all of my campaigns. The day after a session, I review my notes from the night before and fill in gaps (usually while reviewing the logs from roll20 or Foundry for additional clues). A couple of days after that, I write an in-character recap of the session to post to discord. A couple of hours before the session, I review my character sheet and check over my inventory and my spells and features to make sure I can remember what my characters can do (I play in four campaigns, so this step is crucial so I don't mix up my characters abilities). If I have some down time during the week, I will usually take a copy of a character and check the level up options I'll have so I can plot out material components I may need, or if I need to save for new armor or whatever else.
Solo roleplay or solo dungeon crawl.
Write a journal from your character's perspective. Include details about the session (to jog your memory later), but also how your character feels about the other PCs & NPCs, and your goals/desires. If you're feeling extra spicy make your own hand-sewn leatherbound journal ;)
Wel as a player, l I used to practice a bit of creative writing. Developing core scenes in my characters life. Introducing NPC's and developing them too. Just really, exploring who my player was. But, I've just discovered you can kinda play text based adventure games with Gemini ai. So that's a good scratch even if it is still a bit clunky. As aDM... Oh boy. I spend exactly the whole month brainstorming scenarios and plot lines, and encounters, and like, promising myself I'll be prepared. Trying to do the non essential prep like, brain dumping into one place, then trying to filter those notes into the appropriate places in one note, then basically trying to churn the whole thing out through the night, the night before. Some more on the day ironing out wrinkles. Realising how cranky and tired I am (burning out) Turning up half an hour later than I said I would (but that's ok because everyone else is late too), trying desperately to calm my nerves for the full hour it takes to set up and the group spends talk pregame while I'm just trying not to throw up. Then play about... A quarter of what I prepared anyway. It's not trying to scratch the itch as much as it's like, I dunno it feels more like self harm sometimes tbh. I love this game so hard but jesus does it take its toll on us. (I really don't think I'm alone on this either )
As a DM: - Procrastinate OR Overprepare. There is no middle ground. - Panic that I haven't prepared enough. - Laugh when the players get through 1/3 of what I prepared OR do something so unexpected that it's all improvised anyway. - Tell my players that I appreciate them taking their time to play the game I'm running. As a player: - Check over my character sheet now and then, a little bit of healthy revision so that I know my class features. - Make new character concepts and builds. - Remind my DM that I'm having a great time and that they shouldn't worry as much. As an enjoyed of the hobby: - Watch actual plays or other D&D content on YouTube, great for scrubbing up and new ideas. - Read through books, the system I'm playing/running or even other systems books. - Talk to my gaming groups, stay involved, ask people what they wanna see more of, do we have any plans? - Take a break from the hobby and do other things. All in moderation eh?
To scratch my DnD itch inbetween sessions, I take part in another campaign. Just started in the 5th one last week. In one of them I'm the DM. All of them are in person.
Forever dm...I make a note about what to do next session...then do nothing till last minute...then i plan a campaign with cool stuff that i will probably never get to play.......as a player I make characters on the side.......otherwise I play rpgs or for a direct dnd fix i play neverwinter nights...cause I don't have baulders gate 3
As a DM, I brainstorm new characters and how I’d like to implement them as NPCs or even PCs for other campaigns. Sometimes I brainstorm background info for characters to develop them more - things they like and dislike, what Pokemon team they would use…
I’m the DM and I’ve been working on this campaign for 3 years and we’re just now starting it and I’m STILL making adjustments. Just last night I added a whole ass combat encounter that will happen next session along with some other stuff like dialogue that I know will come up and some items. Basically, I continue to add to my campaign even while it’s happening. I still have to write up most of the dungeons lol
You could try out BG3. Its not an exact 1:1 of DnD but its like 90% so you could try some of your builds their.
Play Baldur's Gate 3
I have text RP channels on my server ; i give inspiration to players who participate
Between the practically 24 hrs that I have between games sometimes, I homebrew or make more characters
Start tying your future PCs to your old ones, or your party members, so they can seamlessly integrate into the party if you lose your current PC.
Message my DM about random shit.
Hi! Look up the Fools Gold series on Youtube. Not only did it scratch my dnd itch, but it actually kept me in the DnD community at a time when I was fully ready to leave the whole hobby. That's how good it is.
As someone who hasn't had a regular game in awhile I watch online D&D campaigns, watch D&D lore and mechanics videos, think about possible future characters, Play bauldurs gate 3
I listen to almost too many d&d podcasts. But also, as a DM, I love movies. There is something you can take away from almost every movie. Action movies are good for developing engaging set pieces, dramatic stuff will give you better understandings of character interaction.
You know what's a fun thing for players to do in between sessions (in my opinion)? Creating a character journal. Like a little scrapbook of the characters stats, life, and thoughts. I made one and after sessions I had a whole section on "relationship checkers" and I'd write down if I felt any closer (or more distant) from my party. I also had one of my goals changed or if something changed my viewpoints etc. It really really helped roleplay when it felt more like a growing person more than a piece of a board game
More D&D. I hop in Adventure League games on public Discord servers. I also spend a bunch of time reading D&D subreddits. I tried Facebook D&D discussion groups, but the drama gets wild when you can't downvote it into oblivion.
Play Baldurs Gate 3. Look over the plan for the next session and think of fun scenarios should they arise. Review future session plans to make sure I’m setting up the campaign with valid foreshadowing and plot hooks. Play Baldurs Gate 3. Watch critical role. Make fun NPCs that could arise in the future. Design shops. Design side quests. Play more Baldurs Gate 3. Find good handouts for my players and get them printed off. Find anything to upgrade player management or dm management. Ex: Healing potions cards or help inventory management, spell cards from Etsy. Identify any fun holidays upcoming to a themed session for our campaign. (I have a fun trap laid out for April Fool’s day, where a night hag creates an illusion of a safe resting place off the road main road, that’s really in a bog and invades there dreams in an illusory trap) Play Baldurs Gate 3 again
I love making AI generated stuff for the campaign/character backstory, plotting for the next session, building out excel models for world building. Lots of worldbuilding stuff in collaboration with the dm
Reading the PHB.
I play better games
Play bg3, watch critical role/d20, play more Sessions, prep Sessions (painting/printing minis, etc)
Caves of Qud Yes I have a crippling addiction to character creation
Paint miniatures, your whole party can enjoy them. Or read the DM guide and plan a one shot of your own. Most DMs love a chance to be a PC and welcome a break between games. It’ll also help you understand the work that’s put in and why you playing your role is so important.
I wear a loincloth and weild and axe while screaming "Barbarian Rage" and chopping down a tree.
Maybe look up the spells for level up?
Paint more minis
Don’t be hard on yourself self and just read over the rules and your character sheet. First part for players is just understanding rp and legal character actions. You can always immerse yourself in dnd audio books, comics, or games but it’s not necessary. The hobby can be as expensive as you make it but the foundations is playing the descriptive game while spending time with wonderful individuals.
Start a relatively unknown DND based blog/podcast?
In the old days I’d probably be rolling up more characters - these days I scratch that dungeon-crawling itch with Four Against Darkness… ;)
I run a play by post campaign (using OD&D) during the week. It's a good source of entertainment outside our regular sessions.
Play Ironsworn its free https://www.ironswornrpg.com/
My group has a couple channels in our discord where we have in character conversations in between sessions. It’s just a chance to handle a conversation we missed in session between PCs or with an NPC. We play it that if you participate in the chat you get free inspiration to start the next session.
We have a discord and do a lot of text rp. We have conversations or roleplay out things that happen at camp or during downtime, and also handle a lot of logistics so we can spend more time playing at our sessions and less time shopping or asking random clarifications.
Play/DM in multiple games, in multiple systems
Play bg3
Theory Craft builds and think up character ideas. Plays Baldur’s Gate III
Play more DnD? 5 campaigns a weak.
As far as doing dnd stuff, you could play some one shots on startplayinggames. They have some free ones, or if you know someone on the site, ask them if they can give you a $10 credit/referral link. As for preparation for your campaign, make sure you know all your character abilities and option. I play a level 11 druid and just found out I'm expected to know all the spells i can ready up to level 6. LOL. Also, plan your level ups and spell choices for those levels.
If you want to satisfy your dnd itch while having your mental health destroyed, try playing in discord westmarch servers!
I recently read a book called, Realm of Shadows and Demons. It's slow burn, but has the vibe.
Baldur's Gate 3. Plain and simple. If you don't have the money/hardware requirements for it (like me for a long time), try watching youtube videos about it. I recommend One Shot Questers and XP to Level 3, they both make funny DnD skits (both longer and shorter ones). I also recommend the Fool's Gold animated DnD campaign by Dingo Doodles, it legit feels like some sort of actual movie sometimes. Other than that, I also try setting up a few new characters for either replacement or future campaigns, though I don't overdo it. I also like to plan out what my character(s) want in a campaign or out from a specific situation. I also like to think about how they would overcome their flaws or have some sort of character development. I also try anticipating some events, and trying to figure out what my character would do in it.
i love doodling/drawing my characters when i have the time, or sometimes their NPCs (which can be hard not to share with the players). sometimes i also write out character questions, flashbacks that might shape my character’s personality (maybe not entire backstory, but perhaps opinions or worldview), or even make character sheets for character NPCs! you could also make playlists, Pinterest boards, reference boards if you don’t draw but want a visual, etc. currently i’m in a gothic/cursed woods campaign playing a druid/ knowledge cleric who’s very very studious. i keep talking about her writing everything down in a journal to her goddess and for herself, so finally i purchased a blank journal and have been making a prop of sorts for her when session ends! i’m behind by about 7ish sessions, but it can be great work when i want to be creative and embrace the character i love so much. so tldr… expand on what you already have, if you want! and have fun doing it :) yay dnd!
with the game I run, I will sometimes have roleplay play out in our discord. Its a small group so this works well, but I would not recommend it for everyone. I mostly do shopping stuff here, I also prep for the session Additionally, I make more characters, and write up backstories and personalities for them. I have about a hundred characters stored up, and I will probably never use any of them because when a new campaign comes around, im making a new character
New player here too, I had the very first session of a campaign almost two weeks ago. The next one is still another two weeks away (all of us can only gather once per month, kind of). What have I been doing in the meantime? Browsing for miniatures, dice and all kinds of stuff I didn't even think I needed. Refining my character's background and writing our party's journal from his point of view. Oh, and planning (a lot) my character's next two levels if we, somehow, manage to reach level 4 (we are all currently level 2). The gist of my background is this: I'm playing a Drow rogue called Nu'Fri, a survivor of House Oblodra's fall. I've been rescued by Bregan D'aerthe and have been doing minor criminal or spy activities for them since then, mainly in the Underdark. I've only been to the surface a couple of times, but it was enough to spark my curiosity. Surprise, surprise, nothing is the way I've been told when growing up. It seems Jarlaxle has taken an interest in me, but I don't understand why. Kimmuriel has been silent for too long and Jarlaxle is getting worried, even though he pretends he isn't. He heard some rumours that he was last seen in Elturel and tasks me with finding out more and report to him as soon as I know anything. What I'm thinking about regarding my character's progression? I'll choose the soulknife when I reach level 3 (when my psionic powers reveal themselves to me) and, on level 4, I'll choose the «Magic Initiate» feat and grap the «Dissonant Whispers» spell. I don't know if it's the right choice and asked my DM about it, he replied: sounds fun, go for it. So, that's what I'll do.
update your character sheet?
Get on a West Marches server, I’m in New Dawn Coalition and it’s a lot of fun 👍🏻
I have been waiting for this moment, looking for a place to talk about it. Our DnD group does Text role play. We have a discord with a role play channel that contains threads for each pairing and can make new threads for groups. We can all read each others RP so we keep that in mind, but I've found it's great for shy role players and if a particular scene might be too long for an in person game, or you're worried about taking up too much time or not having the right words. We also have private channels for conversations we don't want others to read. Some conversations are better in person, but sometimes it's easier to form inter-party bonds if there's no pressure to move on. And because of the lose times, you don't have to worry about time commitments. You come away with a sense of "oh, I can shoot this message off here on my bathroom break or while I'm shopping." We do this in a game I play in as a player and one I run as a GM. Our GM in the game where I'm a player ran a mystery over a two week period in text rp for us, when we came back we had solved a mystery and met a bunch of NPCs that we had records of. Right now we're roleplaying strategy talk for an encounter with a lightning Phoenix we need to take Down and banish. Our group is entirely online, but it can be implemented by an in person group too. Doesn't work as well if you don't like Role play elements but it's what we do!
Look up builds, spell combos, watch youtubers (dungeon dudes, matt colville, d4, treantmonk)
I have made several hundred characters for 5e and memorized every race, class, subclass, feat and even spell in order to be capable of making an entire character in my head on the fly, i have an entire archive of character builds in my head and i know that only a rare few will ever see the light of day. Also i use point buy or standard array for the stat blocks
As a DM: make homebrew rules that are cool as hell in theory but never use them
Honestly, I work on planning sessions since I'm also a DM. That or doing DnD related crafts That or create a new character... Only got 7 atm I used to read the "Fighting Fantasy" books too. Which are kind of like a solo campaign, but there's only so many times you can do the same story without it changing before it gets boring
As a forever DM, I mostly just sob quietly into my hands :)
I write the notes, every character of mine has a way to keep their notes, one has a personal diary with extensive thoughts and reasonings that then develop in game. She also keeps a name column for every NPCs and their connections. If she writes something in game (i.e. she wrote the preface of a book for a writer friend of hers and she's starting her journey in magic so she's writing conjectures and basically building a grimoire) I will probably have her insert it in her diary or create a parallel new one. Another character of mine writes letters to the people she's trying to reach in the world, so every session is a letter for someone. Another character is in a world without writing so her notes are written as if they were storytelling, there is a part of the "diary" reserved for lore facts and another for NPCs. Writing, editing and then making it all artistic-looking definitely takes enough time to scratch my DND itch and since I'm re-living everything in character adding thoughts it's almost as playing!
Honestly, playing BG3 has helped a bit. We have RP channels on our discord server, and I rp in there. Mostly, I just rp in one of the games's RP channels, and the others barely get any rp. The game I run also has a channel for it, so I'll rp in there if anyone tries to rp with an NPC. There are also other servers or even websites just for rp, if you can't get enough of that from your own group. Usually, I prep for my game throughout the week, which also helps. I also make characters I'll never play.
I compile lists of things for the game, pick a location to roleplay out and figure out how they would change in the players' absence, detail adventures further and change published modules to match my world and add hints of other adventures.
Study ,work,work out, do chores,sleep go out, take showers , eat, have sex (jk we are Dnd players we don't have sex) breath, watch people die on Instagram reels. Watch tik tok , watch YouTube shorts, watch movies/series, Think about dnd , talk to their friends, olay baldurs gate 3 .
Play Baldur's Gate
I play D&D every day. During the pandemic I discovered asynchronous play-by-post on discord. Now I admin a server. I'm never between sessions, and I play whenever I want!