Free and Pay-What-You-Want 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Two Weeks Ending 4.11.21

Week after week, talented creators release killer 3rd party material on the DMs Guild, only to have it immediately buried and forgotten. In this long-running blog series, I highlight some of the best free and pay-what-you-want releases on the Guild. You can find previous posts in this series HERE.

Into the Wonderland from William Rotor

Absolutely epic 240-page Feywild campaign, up there with the best products ever released on the DMs Guild. The first 100 pages or so constitute a detailed Feywild sourcebook, with lots of player options. The campaign itself is broken into digestible quests, making it easier to run than most mammoth adventures. I love everything about this one, from the layout, to the art, to the dark vibe. Grab it immediately. 

Session Notes Template from Intrepid Adventuring

This is just what it sounds like, some nice templates to help you keep track of your campaign. Includes spots for NPCs, locations, events, etc. 

Ships at Sea Map Pack from Emiliano Noriega-Petti

The day will one day come when I will not hoard D&D battlemaps, but that day is not today. 

Haunted Chapel from Peter Kuna

The plot isn't exactly groundbreaking, but this straightforward one-shot adventure benefits from clear writing and truly exceptional maps. 

Charon's Drowned Shrine from Rhodarin Press

Any DMs out there with groups still slogging through hell will want to check out this sidequest for the Avernus adventure. Quality layout, new items and monsters, undead character options.

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for as little as $1 per month.

Free and Pay-What-You-Want 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Two Weeks Ending 3.28.21

You can find previous posts in this series HERE.

Fungus is Fun Stuff from Harmony the Bard

Colorful guide to various mushrooms of the Underdark and their uses. I like the graphic design quite a bit. Would make a cool zine.

Castle Dice Box from Becci Sewell

What can I say, I just think papercraft is cool. I love this little castle box. 

Old School Guide to Dungeon of the Mad Mage from Harald Maassen

This is up there with the best products in the history of the Guild. A 96-page, comprehensive guide to "old-schooling" Dungeon of the Mad Mage, with exhaustive alternative OSR-inspired rules. If you ever plan on running it, consider this a must.

Lonely Locations from Taylor Navarro 

Collection of three location based one-shot adventures each highlighted by great maps and lots of random elements. The random tables allow DMs to adjust for party level, and there are separate map files for easy VTT play. 

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for as little as $1 per month.

Free and Pay-What-You-Want 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Two Weeks Ending 3.14.21

You can find previous posts in this series HERE.

Festival Games and Fortunes from Douglas J Coughler

So you want to have a festival? Bring it to life with this great collection of games, encounters, items, and more! Even includes fortune telling. Outstanding.

Multiple Adventures from Peter Kuna

Red Like Blood

Bathhouse Diplomacy

Infiltration

Sewer Snakes 

In Your Parents' Embrace

Peter Kuna BURST onto the scene over the last couple of weeks with a series of really nice one-shot adventures. To be honest, these would be worth snagging simply for the incredible maps, which Peter does themselves. Creative hooks. Good stuff.

Animated Tarokka Cards from Linus

These are little animated files of the Tarokka cards from Curse of Strahd flipping over. Nothing too mind-blowing, but could add a little fun and flavor if you are running it online.

Storm Spells from Whitney Ahn

Short collection of creative weather-related spells. Really flavorful and perfect for fleshing out a sorcerer or druid build.

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for as little as $1 per month.

Free and Pay-What-You-Want 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 2.28.21

Every week, talented creators upload Dungeons and Dragons products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pay-what-you-want in order to reach customers and establish their brand. Dozens of new free and PWYW products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve.

You can find previous posts in this series HERE.

Mimic Miniatures: Chests and Barrels from Becci Sewell

Mimic Box for Dice and Miniatures from Becci Sewell

Papercraft minis are fun to make and are affordable options for GMs. A mimic dice box is a great idea, and I am thinking about doing one for my work desk for paperclips and rubberbands.

Magic Items for New Players from Xhango Games

Fun selection of magic items. This document is especially geared towards new GMs; it features brief design notes that can help GMs understand how the items might affect their games and suggestions for scenarios in which they might make for good rewards.

Henchmen 5e from Seth Kenlon

Interesting and easy-to-use set of henchmen rules. Your possible number of henchmen keys off of your charisma modifier, and you are able to deflect some of the damage you might take onto them. They require upkeep costs. Creative blend of old and new. I was surprised by how much I liked this.

Goldenfields Vacation Cancelled from Patrick McKay

Solo adventures are awesome, especially given the current pandemic. I love having solo gamebooks and other convenient ways to play games without having to navigate online forums, fill out long applications, and/or beg in order to find a game. 

Trade Guilds of Waterdeep from Firblog Factory

This is a really well-developed set of downtime activities based around different guild memberships. You can actually "level up" within guilds, starting off as an apprentice and slowly working your way up to being a master. Probably the best homebrew downtime rules that I have seen on the Guild. Free.

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for as little as $1 per month.

Free and Pay-What-You-Want 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 2.21.21

Every week, talented creators upload Dungeons and Dragons products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pay-what-you-want in order to reach customers and establish their brand. Dozens of new free and PWYW products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve.

You can find previous posts in this series HERE.

9 Battle Maps from William the Scribe

Extraordinary map set. A lot of these are keyed so you can sort of fill in the blanks and use without much prep. Includes a compiled pdf and separate image files. 

Boomstud's Curio Cabinet from Boomstud

Creative set of items, including magical wool slippers that build up static electricity and allow you to cast shocking grasp, and a goodberry bonsai bush.

The Flesh Sculptor from Zachary Tounzen

There are thousands of class archetypes on the Guild at this point, and the only ones that really catch my eye anymore are ones that provide for unusual and fun roleplay. This Frankenstein-inspired Bard variant creates its own "Abomination" companion from corpses. Lots of potential here for creepy humor. 

Greenbird's Cursed Inventory II from Greenbird RPGs

Some GMs can be a bit timid and apprehensive when it comes to introducing cursed items into the game. It helps when the items have a sense of humor to them, like the Cloak of the Flumph, which...well...turns you into a flumph when you put it on. I am a huge fan of the Greenbird team, and this is yet another entry in their long line of winning supplements for 5e. 

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for as little as $1 per month.

Free and Pay-What-You-Want 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 2.14.21

Every week, talented creators upload Dungeons and Dragons products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pay-what-you-want in order to reach customers. Dozens of new free and PWYW products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve.

You can find previous posts in this series HERE.

Litwick's Guide to the Forgetful Forest from Maddison Nichol

This supplement details an enchanted forest that would be easy to port into any game. What excites me the most about this one is that the forest effects will definitely generate some interesting and likely hilarious roleplay at the table. 

Sword and Sorcery Magic from Taylor Seely-Wright and Matthew Fenn

This is a complete restructuring of 5e's spell system to emulate grittier "pulp" magic. Basically, your potential number of spells per day is pretty much limitless, but spells are much less likely to work. Interesting ideas.

Dice and Deck Boxes from Tabletop Unglued

If you haven't checked out the huge line of papercraft products from Tabletop Unglued, you are missing out. Over the years they have done everything from tiny character sheets to dice towers. 

Exciting Tales of Adventure #3 from Todd Kleinpaste

The latest in the Exciting Tales line. This one has an additional booklet pdf for printing, so you can have a sort of zine version. I really like this series because they take hardly any prep and can fill out a session. 

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for as little as $1 per month.

Free and Pay-What-You-Want 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 2.7.21

Every week, talented creators upload Dungeons and Dragons products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pay-what-you-want in order to reach customers. Dozens of new free and PWYW products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve.

You can find previous posts in this series HERE.

Aqin's Kaff Stand from Green Bird RPGs

I have done my best to let the world know about the great work that the Green Bird RPG team have done with their 5e releases. The art is always fun and unique, and there is always some little idiosyncratic detail that sets them apart. This short supplement details an NPC, their market cart, and their rumor-spouting parrot. 

Besiege! from Stephen Bull

Absolutely EPIC adventure aligning the PCs with an invading army. This is just jam-packed with great encounter ideas. This would be an awesome campaign opener, starting off in media res during a siege. 

Sylloges Strabonis from Tim Davis

Tight collection of magic items inspired by Greek history and myth. Obviously geared towards Mythic Odysseys of Theros, but the interesting item backstories would be suitable for just about any setting.

The Witch from Tenacity

Intriguing take on a witch class. The core mechanic involves generating spell slots by reducing your maximum hit points. 

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for as little as $1 per month.

Free and Pay-What-You-Want 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 1.31.21

Every week, talented creators upload Dungeons and Dragons products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pay-what-you-want in order to reach customers. Dozens of new free and PWYW products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve.

You can find previous posts in this series HERE.

The Sanctum of Pain from The Bugbear Brothers

HOLY SMOKES. What...who....who are The Bugbear Brothers? This is incredible. I looked for other products from them immediately, but this is it. I am ready to buy anything they do. Absolutely fantastic artwork, cartography, layout, and content. This is 5th edition done right. Download immediately. Free.

100 Trinkets from Official DNDSpeak

Funny how something so simple, with no obvious mechanical benefit, can end up being one of my favorite things about 5e, but that's trinkets. I really think 4 or 5 unique trinkets per PC is the way to go, and for that you'll want lists like this. 

Exciting Tales of Adventure #2 from Todd Kleinpaste

This is a simple low-level campsite encounter that you can easily drop into a campaign or use as a starting point to help new players get used to the game. I really like the classic comic look of the cover, and it has a nice map. This is turning into a cool little series. Grab the first one HERE.

Eoth Khalstan's Revised Encyclopedia of Great Animals and Draconic Beings from Daniel Kay

A really fine collection of new animals, monsters, items, and subclasses, all charmingly illustrated and designed by promising first-time Guild creator Kay. Half of the proceeds go to animal-related causes. 

Roll Table Encyclopedia: Issue 1: Aaracockra from Chris White

The first in what will ideally be a long-running series. This initial installment focuses on the Aaracockra, with numerous random tables, magic items, adventure hooks, statistics, and more. Hopefully they keep this going; a compilation of these covering all playable races would be really great.

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for as little as $1 per month.

Free and Pay-What-You-Want 5e DMs Guild Highlights: Week Ending 1.24.21

 Every week, talented creators upload Dungeons and Dragons products to the DMs Guild, pricing them as free or pay-what-you-want in order to reach customers. Dozens of new free and PWYW products are added each week alone. It is a lot to sort through. My hope is that highlighting a few of each week's best supplements will help the designers get the attention they deserve.

You can find previous posts in this series HERE.

50 Encounters for Dungeons and the Underdark from Green Bird RPGs

I will keep proclaiming the greatness of the Green Bird team from every mountaintop, hill, and dale until the world listens. Great table to add flavor and unpredictability to your underground adventures.

Camp Deep Lake from Samantha Conklin

This is perfect one-shot material. The PCs are camp counselors attempting to solve the murder of the camp director. Good adventures start with good hooks, and as a huge fan of 80s horror, this immediately appealed to me. Has a really good twist. I would actually really love to run this.

Fantasy Battlemaps from Adela Quiles

MORE MAPS! MORRRRE MAPS!!!! I don't have a problem. I can stop any time I want. 

Hypothermia: An Icewind Dale Adventure from Kamil Bynoe

Aside from being a nice little sidequest for Rime of the Frostmaiden, this is a tour de force in great layout. There is an astonishing amount of content jammed into fifteen pages, with no filler. Even has a helpful flowchart. Bynoe knows what they are doing.

Mike's Free Encounter Collection #7 from Michael LaBossiere

One of the most prolific designers on the Guild, LaBossiere has been pumping out free encounters for years now. In this, the seventh collection, you get more handy encounters to sprinkle into your sessions, along with a zip file of maps for VTT play. 

If you enjoy my free zine, podcast, and/or blog, please consider supporting my work for as little as $1 per month.