#dm academy

[hiscursedness]

So I found this on reddit and I think there's an interesting nexus of rules here that many newer DMs might not appreciate, so I'm gonna give some advice on how to handle it.

First of all, if you're ambushing party members or if your party members are setting an ambush, attacking mid-conversation, or whatever, you roll initiative. It's the first thing you roll.

That determines if some people spot you before you strike or are just faster to the draw.

Now, the players might be Surprised, but they might not be either. With the Alert feat, as mentioned here, a PC who beats the ambusher on initiative can take the dodge action (or any other action) on their turn, because they're not Surprised.

Even if they are surprised, they cease to be at the end of their first turn, meaning they can now suddenly take reactions where they couldn't before.

In an ambush, this is critical, because Monks can use their reaction to catch projectiles.

So that's step one. No attacks until initiative is rolled. That applies to the players and to the monsters. Rest of it, I'll put under the fold, but that's the most important thing.

Second, Dodge is not an action you can take outside of combat, RAW. You might situationally approve it as a DM, but players do not have the *right* to demand they can.

The Actions in Combat section is just that - the things you can do once initiative is rolled. This is because they're balanced by the time they take. Outside of initiative, that isn't a factor.

Side note: This also applies to the Help action. Helping with a check and Taking The Help Action are two different things.

Your pet dog who can take the Help action cannot automatically grant you advantage on a history check to decipher ancient runes. All they can do is distract a foe to make it easier for you to land a shot.

Thirdly, there is actually a rule for if you want to move through a dungeon carefully! There are three travel paces (and they apply in dungeons too). Choose the Slow pace, move Stealthily to avoid ambush, and lastly, have a good Passive Perception.

If an ambusher rolls stealth and gets lower than the Passive Perception of any of your players, they fail to hide. It's important to do that bit by the book or you're robbing players of their wins!

And if an ambusher fails to hide, they no longer get the benefit of surprise. This means when initiative is rolled (see point 1) an alert character might win and get to take their dodge action.

[thiefpodcast]

One problem with low rolls is the player knows they did poorly. Often the DM might admit “you can’t tell” or “you don’t know” because the dice turned sour.

The character shouldn’t know they did poorly on certain skills, like insight or perception. I, instead, tell them what they perceive - and sometimes it’s the truth.

The die roll then becomes a measure of confidence.

[fuzzyhairedfreak]

um uh uh um. so. did anyone else used to follow Nate Stevenson's D&D campaign drawings back in the day or-

[goddessminxy0]

[pawthorn]

Finally started watching the new Matt Mercer Adventuring Academy, and be still my heart, Brennan bringing up Caduceus as a character whose spotlight and stakes comes from loving his friends and Matt agreeing a calling Cad the heart of the group and talking about how beautifully Taliesin played him and then Brennan bringing up Ricky Matsui as the same type of character, how masterfully Zac played him despite the obstacles of lacking big internal conflict in TUC season one I am well fed.

[expensivemistake]

If you’re expecting me to make umbrella academy content again after that season uuuuuh…

[ishhbowl]

finally started on fh soph yr. ive been scared to start it bc when I watched freshman year i hyperfocused on it so hard that i physically couldn't think of anything else for like a week and i don't really want that mental state rn. HOWEVER i was grinning like stupid the entire first episode i missed my best friends the bad kids so much :(

[lunarsolar1]

The umbrella academy huh…

Yeah I have a lot to say about that :)

[abigail-stan]

Help me, Sammy.

[suntails]

anyone that ever thought i was crazy for doing this pmv full color: i am two files from fully drawn. i. oughh. i've planned a rough schedule around my job and i am tentatively planning to post on friday 3/1. i can feel it in my BONES im so close to done

[total-lunareclipse4]

Looking for mutuals!

Hi, I want people to talk to about all the crazy fandom thoughts I have and can’t share with anyone. Message me if you’re part of the same fandoms as me!

[enneadau]

This is the best image I can find for how I imagine Jurai looking at Duel Academy. I'm not going to repost it, but I will link to the original artist on DeviantArt

[realbeefman]

Your username seems really familiar. Did you by chance have a tiktok account and post the umbrella academy stuff on there? If you don’t mind me asking

OMG yes that was me hi hello!!! they banned my account and i ended up rage-deleted tik tok and moving here. i was on tuatwt for a bit but ive rlly never been a twitter enjoyer so i ended up leaving after they wrapped s4 filming. i still love LOVE tua, but tbh i think most of my opinions n character interests are not very welcome in the fandom rn so i’ve mostly been lurking and reading fic. i’m positively VIBRATING with excitement for s4 tho :D

[tiredassmage]

I... finished my last final of the semester (it went well, btw, bc this post is about to take a sharp left turn that has nothing to do with finals) and then went back for a nap bc body was like 6am!!! 6am is a good time to be awake today! (Incorrect answer).

And all I vaguely recall from that time is like... dreaming??? Plotting???? Something I can only really describe as if you took Imperial Agents and put them in a movie that is essentially the lovechild of Top Gun: Maverick (Leave me be, I just watched it last week and apparently I Really Enjoyed It) and... I dunno, heist movie of your choice????

So, that’s how my week’s going, in case anyone was curious. Something something let’s get down to business and ruin the Sith Order!!!!!! Confetti guns. I think agents deserve a little heist against the Sith Order. As a treat.

[its-to-the-death]

Mod’s Crush Competition Round 3

Ryou Bakura (Yugioh DM)

Yugioh Abridged Bakura Compliation

My boy is always overshadowed by Yami Bakura

I can't believe I forgot that the Millennium Ring was a gift from his father

Five Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy)

Number Five - Blood in the Water

Number Five - Look What You Made Me Do

Five Hargreeves once said

[entusiastshipper]

Hello Klive Nation! Hahahaha

So, me and a friend made a Discord server focused principally on klive, if anyone is interested on it, please send a message!

It's a little simple, but i hope we can have more friends and met people who likes klive as well, help each other and have a good time :) <3