Aw, You Do?

So this is a cheat-sheet I’ve made for personal use to just have an overview over all the basic D&D rules. The first page covers most of the text rules. The color divides the sections more or less from one another.

Some idioms for fantasy races and classes shared by u/nagonjin on reddit. Follow her on instagram (@lyresforhire) for more D&D idioms.

But something they do at the start of every episode is something called Dad Facts. Each player lists off a dad fact about their character, something about their interests or history or personality, that the other characters would have known but “off camera” rather than having all these details RP’d out. After all, your characters in games spend a LOT of downtime together in between scenes, this sort of stuff WOULD have come up.

So, now, just about EVERY RP game I’m in has incorporated Dad Facts, including ones where I and my roommate are the only ones who’ve heard the damn podcast. Some players don’t even know why we CALL them “dad facts”, but they still run with it.

Anyway I recommend it to every RP group. NOT right away, if your characters have JUST met, because some of this shit just flat out won’t be known until after you’ve already had that downtime together.

Some of mine are big and revealing, some are as simple as “Zenrae doesn’t like eating fish” or “Theria only drinks sweet wine and otherwise finds alcohol offputting” - little moments and traits and stuff you want to get out there but haven’t been able to. It helps you flesh your own character out, helps you get to know the other characters better, and helps RP along SO. MUCH. I have used others’ dad facts to help RP in game and I can’t stress enough how fun that is

And I swear in my groups I tried, like, two whole times to coin a term OTHER than “dad facts” but nope. Dad Facts is sticking.

You experiment. Sticking items under your pillow is better than the hassle of Facebook marketplace.

She doesn’t take the plastic plate set you’ve tried to sell for weeks, but she takes a gold rimmed china saucer from your Grandma’s old set. You get brand new market value for it - from 1946 when it had been bought.

She ignores jeans and books, but trades for spoons and costume jewelry. The tooth fairy, you realize, is a bit of a magpie. If it’s a little bit shiny, she’ll give you cash.

You clear out the jewelry table at a garage sale, place them one by one under your pillow. The amount you get varies, but still is brand new market value of when the item was originally bought. Nothing more than $50, but that’s better than the $8 you bought it for.

After a few weeks, something changes. Your bank account isn’t as empty, your pillow is thicker. You take a nap, because sleeping on items isn’t the most comfortable. You wake up to a crinkle, a note next to your nose.

The writing is tiny, you need your phone’s magnifier to read it, but it turns out just as you’ve been using the tooth fairy, she wants to use you. She’s dropped off a list of wants; hints at a finder fee in cash or precious metals.

It’s specific, odd stuff. A clean dollar coin. A chandelier crystal. A reversible sequin pillow. Antique holiday ornaments. Photo hooks. All, you think, easy to get.

doodled all the PC's that I have played so far (most of them for one-shots)

Yarrow (she/her)- half Drow/ aasimar circle of stars druid, sailor background, playing in a Rhime of the Frostmaiden campaign. Accent swings wildly between Scandanavian and something like Polish. She doesn't always know what's going on, but is very tired of the Frostmaiden's shit.

Mirth (they/them)- tiefling protection domain cleric for a minor deity of time, acolyte background, playing in a Princes of the Apocalypse campaign, but retiring soon bc of (in-game) party dynamics. No accent, just very formal affect. They are still learning how to let themself be a person rather than just a vessel of divine will.

Amos (he/him)- wood elf path of the totem warrior barbarian, outlander background, playing in a homebrew campaign. Southern accent. My first ever PC! He's a himbo who just loves his friends and his owlbears.

Moth, short for Behemoth, (she/her)- goliath fighter/ oath of vengence paladin of Helm, gladiator background, playing in the Scrivener's Tale (from Candlekeep). Austrailian accent. Lesbian himbo who's convinced reading is bad.

Keeble, (he/ she/ they)- gnome rune knight fighter, urchin background, played in a holiday one-shot. Talks like mickey mouse. He got most of his early fighting experience pretending to be a human kid in an underground child MMA ring, has almost been eaten by giants on multiple occasions, and is trying to turn over a new leaf.

K'vin, (she/her)- fire genasi rogue/ paladin of Prometheus, guild artisan (blacksmith) background, played in a farewell one-shot for my friend Kevin, (other characters were the gnome wizard Quevyn, the human fighter Kevin, and his very confused monk). Heavy slavic accent. Spent much of the adventure trying to out-stealth the monk.

difficult terrain. flood that cavern! oops the floor is lava! make the walls attack and grapple!

environmental effects in general. make an avalanche happen as soon as combat starts. combat during a storm is a great opportunity for lightning to strike. rain, snow, darkness, distance, fog, anything that'll impose disadvantage on their hits.

charm and fear effects. charm/fear conditions on a PC or two can totally turn the tide of an encounter.

straight up just swallow a PC or two. sometimes ingestion is the answer.

official statblock be damned, your boss should ALWAYS have additional legendary actions and/or resistances, condition and damage resistances/immunities, multiple attacks (probably more than the statblock says) and a motherfucking escape plan!

portals. seriously, just chuck some portals in there. I've never run a combat that couldn't be improved by the addition of a portal or two.

time constraints, mid-combat puzzles, a non-combat goal, anything the PCs have to do during the fight that isn't actually fighting.

Dried curd comes in many forms – kashk, aaruul, quroot, etc. – and was of particular interest to me, since I learned it was used since (and before) medieval times as a trail ration for soldiers and travelers because it is lightweight and high in protein. The more you know. 🌈

Tempeh is one of my favorite food options, but I should note that it originates from Southeastern Asia, Indonesia in particular. 

Bamboo is extremely handy for use as both a carrying and cooking vessel, and would save a character the hassle of bringing a skillet with them (provided the character is in an area with large bamboo and a water source). It’s a method still used today because it’s extremely efficient. Storing eggs in rice is a good way to travel with them and keep them from cracking for a short time.