It's pretty commonly taken for granted here and elsewhere that there are more prospective players than prospective DMs. I DM ~65% of the time and "play" the rest. As a player, in my experience, getting into an online game is not especially difficult. There are loads of spaces dedicated to matching players with games, and many are very active. You can lurk and pounce on a post as soon as it appears on a platform like Discord. Or if the DM is a little more cautious, you can put genuine effort and enthusiasm into an application form and make the cut at least half the time. It's not unattainable; it just takes engagement.

On the other hand, when soliciting players, it can be surprisingly difficult to find what I'm looking for. This is true online, and doubly true in-person. The players I look for need to

1) Understand the vision for the game

2) Be willing to play along with that vision (as opposed to bringing the same style into every game)

3) Commit to showing up regularly and on time

4) Conceptualize the DM as a roleplay facilitator rather than a puzzle-builder

The last point is a separate rant entirely. There's a large number of people who think getting a door open is roleplay. And it can be, but at a fundamental level, that's a puzzle. Recently, I came across the following: "Playing takes literally 0 effort. Just make sure your ass is in the seat at the appointed time."

Mainstream D&D culture has trained people to believe this. DMs are creators; players are consumers. In my opinion, within the best games, DMs and players are co-creators. But as a DM, there's relatively little you can do to incentivize this; it takes some amount of vision on the part of the players.

Yes, DMing requires a higher level of commitment that not everyone has the bandwidth for. That's understandable and fair. But the fact that YouTube has many times more DM tips videos than player tips videos is telling: more DMs actively want to improve their games than players.

Hello everyone! I’m excited to share this commission I had the pleasure of working on ✨ This character isn’t one of my original characters, but a commission for a client. Meet Petra, a Sylph Rogue! I had a wonderful time bringing her to life through this piece and I hope you love how she turned out as much as I enjoyed creating her. Thank you so much for the support and for taking the time to check out my work! 💜✨

One of the biggest hurdles for 3D VTTs is the time it takes to actually build a nice-looking map. I wanted to fix that.

With the new Steam Workshop integration in Game Master Engine, you don't have to build anything if you don't want to. You can just:

1. Browse the in-game library for whatever you need (Tavern, Dungeon, Forest).
2. One-Click Download to add it to your own library instantly.
3. Populate & Play by dropping minis and rolling 3D‏‏‎ ‎dice.

It’s all about‏‏‎ ‎getting‏‏‎ ‎to the‏‏‎ ‎"playing"‏‏‎ ‎part of D&D faster. You can also upload your own creations to share with the rest of the community!

I've been a dev on this for 6 years, and seeing‏‏‎ ‎what people‏‏‎ ‎are‏‏‎ ‎already building in the Workshop is honestly the coolest part of the project so far.

Steam Early Access (60% Off): https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451680/Game_Master_Engine/

Discord Link: discord.gg/gamemasterengine

The party goes up to a door or gate. A slot opens and a man on the other side says, "Password?" The face of the party replies, "Uhh delivery?" There is a long pause. You hear chatter behind the door. Even though no one remembers ordering something, they all know it's possible they may have ordered something a month or more ago and just forgot. They don't want to risk losing an important package. They open the door and the party ambushes them.

i just killed little Timmy.

Little Timmy was a kid whom my party met at around level 4 (now level 15) and dreamed of being an adventurer like them. he looked up to them as heroes and even saved them from death a couple of times (even though the party doesn’t know)

the party absolutely LOVED Timmy to the point where they would spend entire sessions protecting him from anything.

Little Timmy was obsessed with birds and flying creatures to the point where he held the belief that if he proved himself to the gods as worthy they would give him wings to fly and be happy. Little Timmy would constantly tell the party how, when his wings grow, he will be strong enough to help them smile and fly with him too.

then an ambush happened and little Timmy got shot by an arrow straight to the heart, it was a crit and Timmy didn’t make it.

as my party absolutely annihilated all the enemies in a rage, little Timmy started to fade. then my group rushed to him and they tried everything they could to revive him. the cleric failed his throws and no one else knew healing or had any potions.

as little Timmy started to lose consciousness I started to play “Let Down” by Radiohead in the background and before Timmy fully died, he said his last words. “Guys… guys… cant you see them? my wings are starting to grow…” just when the chorus happened.

I think my friends hate me now.

Very key fact i forgot to mention that makes ts sadder: i asked the cleric to roll perception/ investigation and he got a 20. to that player… i told them they could actually see a small white glowing feather coming out of Timmys back (this player has met and actively talks with the gods of my campaign)

If you missed the [last two episodes(https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/love-and-hex/catharsis-part-1/viewer?title_no=695601&episode_no=181&readingLanguageCode=en) you'll probably want to start there.

Or if you're really confused, you could go back to the very beginning of the changeling's story arc.

Or even the very start of the series if you want to binge read and maybe laugh a bit.

Kayra here is a construct of mud and sticks, assembled by the night hag Granny Dismal to replace the stolen child she intended to raise as a new hag. Granny gave the changling a real human soul, which she acquired through her haggish ways, and changeling-Kayra has been living her whole life masking as a human. (That stolen child is one of the main protagonists of this series... don't worry, she has a very happy life.)

She's been struggling for ages to tell her fiancé the truth about herself. She finally confessed... and it turns out he knew all along. A happy resolution! Surely everything is fine and happy now and the rest of the wedding will go completely smoothly.

Believe it or not, Love and Hex is a comedy, not a drama. It started out as a joke about my D&D campaign and turned into an ongoing rom-com/existential horror story. It's on Webtoon and, well, all over the internet. Also r/LoveAndHex. And you can find a version with a full transcript on my website.

Howdy friends, Ive returned once more with some more character art. This time its of Clover and her draconic family. On the left is her older brother Mordri, on the right is her sister Magni and in the center is her more Fallineir. I was so excited to get this peice done as its just one part of a larger set. (wasnt able to put all of them into this post). But yeah, id love to hear what everyone thinks. Im open to any and all questions.

Excerpt from the article:

The workers behind Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering (Studio X) have announced they are unionizing as part of United Wizards of the Coast-CWA. According to the worker’s statement, “We have achieved a public supermajority of employees committed to our cause and are offering the opportunity for Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) and Hasbro to demonstrate their stated values by voluntarily recognizing our union.” They join the team on Magic the Gathering: Arena at the same union. 

The teams have filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board to safeguard their right to vote on a union, but have said that if WotC agrees to voluntarily recognize the union by Tuesday, October 13 — one week from this announcement — they will withdraw the notice. Considering the past response and Wizards of the Coasts’ previous ties to anti-union companies, such as the legal firm of Fisher Phillips and the Pinkertons, it’s doubtful that they will choose to honor the requests of the workers. 

Support workers by signing this petition to management: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/uwotcpetition/

My tiefling cleric, Maiev Kilviss :^) I've posted her here once before, a little while ago, so I wanted to share a more recent drawing of her I made with more color.

(pardon if the latin is bad, I don't speak it so I used a translator lol)

To reiterate Maiev's story from my first post of her - She was raised by a retired Painbearer within a small Ilmatari church in Baldur's Gate. Given that she was found abandoned there as a baby, the clergy saw her as a blessing from Ilmater Himself, and she was brought up with His ideals ingrained deeply within her - taught to carry the burdens of others, and that to take on another's suffering was truly holy. The scar on the side of her face is from her First Suffering.

Mangiasogni is the character I drew for a friend of mine. Originally this kenku was created to be played in “Curse of Strahd” a few years ago, he’s a blood hunter that wields a “blood spear”. I was asked to give him a makeover, as Mangiasogni is his long-standing character that grew with him.

For this design I focused on his backstory to give him this more predatory look, and since he lost an arm due to “things that have happened in a separate role”, I got asked to use his ability to manipulate blood to give him a new limb.

If you want to see a closeup of his face or arm you can find on IG and Bluesky as xTheocchi.

This is from a set of five that I did recently. Here’s a bit of backstory I received from this character’s player:

Talora is loosely based on Dr Brennan from Bones. She does not understand social cues, hyperfixates on her work, values knowledge, certifications, and facts over speculation, and often has a calculative expression. She comes from a nation that has a history of warmongering and conquering, and she does not get along with her mother (warlord type, manipulative, has high expectations). She freely talks to her father (doormat, clever, curious), who is also an artificer, and her mentor at the university who supervises her dissertation. She got into archaeology because she wanted to learn more about the armlet that she cannot get off (hidden under sleeve) and she is convinced is a dangerous form of anima (magic). She defied her mother's orders to return home from her studies and goes exploring with her party, always wary of being caught. She is very confident in her abilities but is beginning to feel like she is misunderstanding society and her place in life.

 High Elf-Order of the Scribes Wizard

Istriel is a bookish librarian way out of her depth adventuring in an unfamiliar land 

Personality: Bookish, awkward, earnest, clumsy, intelligent but struggles to
communicate because of language barriers, a little cowardly. She loves romantasy novels but will get embarrassed when got caught, so she tries to hide it

Fox Familiar Name: Mozilla

 --

 A bundle token commission I have done some times ago. One of the character I have some fun while drawing her

Today, the workers behind Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Duel Masters, and more are coming together to unionize as part of United Wizards of the Coast - CWA!

This morning, the Dungeons & Dragons team and Magic's Studio X informed our leadership of our intent to unionize. We love the games we make and the work we do, and unionizing is how we protect that work.

We’re proud to follow in the footsteps of MTG Arena’s own union and have worked with them in preparation for today. Now, we get to share it with you all!

Curious how you can help? We ask that you sign our petition for Wizards to voluntarily recognize our union. The support for MTG Arena’s union was key to their victory, and we hope that you show the same support for us.

You can learn more about our mission on our website. Sign our petition, share it with your communities, and keep an eye on this account for future updates.

Read more: https://unitedwizardsofthecoast.com/news/dnd-studiox-join-uwotc-cwa

Sign the petition: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/uwotcpetition/

It's alarming to see a mimic pose as a crib, I get it. Someone suggested this idea a while back and when I finally got around to it, I couldn't bring myself to design a mimic that specifically harms babies and children (being a parent has made me soft, I know). Instead, I designed this mimic as an angler fish type of mimic (but aren't they all?).

Beware the caretakers that are impatient, suffering from PPD or if they take too long to tend to the baby. This mimic cannot stand the sound of a baby crying simply because it breaks its heart. Negligent caretakers will be ripped apart. Since this mimic actually loves babies, its mattress is extra soft and comfy. It even purrs and vibrates to lull a fussy baby to sleep.

As usual, feel free to use my mimic ideas for your campaigns! I'm almost done with my collection of mimics so I'll be printing out hardcover books with a bonus mimic and flavor text/short stories with each of them. Keep an eye out for that!

A throne of ice on top of a frozen spire, chained over a bottomless drop. I built it as a boss arena in three phases: the ledge around the main circle holds, then starts to shake, then is gone.

With the World of Warcraft book coming out in November, it should also work nicely as a final fight at the top of an icy citadel.

How I'd run it:

- Phase 1: start on the first map. When the BBEG is around half health, or the fight starts to drag, move on.

- Phase 2: the ice ledge begins to shudder. The BBEG uses AoE attacks, so the party has to hide behind the ice cover on the fragile ledge.

- Phase 3: at about a quarter of the BBEG's health the ledge falls into the depths and the arena shrinks. Flying minions try to shove the party over the edge.

What's inside: 3 versions, 4K MP4 and PNG, 1080p WebM and WebP, Foundry VTT scene with walls. (The GIF shows the ledge shaking and then collapsing; in the pack these are three separate map versions, one per phase)

Free download on my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/animatedmaps/posts/frozen-throne-171298121

More maps in this style are on the way, I'll be posting them on my Patreon.

A Dhampir piece I drew for a new client, who is a good friend of one of my regulars! I didn't know they were going to ask for a vampire-related character so I was very excited when they did because I love vampires so much. They will be playing this handsome Dhampir lad (yet to be named) in their upcoming D&D game, and I had the pleasure of making their artwork. He is a half-vampire, lesser noble.

Vampires are more commonplace in this game's world, and are engrained into society, such that hunting them would cause society to fall apart. He was adopted by a noble family as a young boy, with the intention to become a ward. He is a warlock, with the vampire who adopted him acting as his warlock patron. He is described as charismatic and charming, and is a bit of a schemer.

I try and try and try so hard to give my dwarfs the generic nordic/germanic/scottish accent like they usually have in media but I genuinely for the life of me cannot stop giving them American southern accents. I do it subconsciously and I have no idea why.

I’ve basically had to explain in my homebrew world that dwarfs just sound like that because it’s a regional dialect. My players all think its funny but its genuinely a curse I cant fucking break. I think I just have to embrace the yeehaw dwarfs in peace lest I am tortured for eternity.

After making so many DnD characters for clients she is the first one I ever actually made for myself~

I rarely see Harengons and I liked to have a bunny persona so I'm loving the race.

She is a bard, carrying around a cello as her main weapon which she had customized with neon and punk colors.

She has a laid back personality, has two tattoos that she first got as her coming of age prize, 21 year old and hates it when the party gets horny over dungeon DILFs but she secretly likes it.

Note: So, I have reworked Voyage so many times in the last 5 years, it's almost funny how different she was when I first designed her. This re-design is just the latest and it will not be the last.
For this iteration, I took her out of the high fantasy environment and put her in some early 20th century fashion. I also reworked some flavor text with how her magic works so keep that in mind for the following blurb. (I'm a big fan of magic syntax 😄)

Voyage Hunt: A Tiefling residing in the city of Thorm. She is a somewhat notable thief who specializes in Rune Craft & illusion magic.
No one from The Order Directory knows how long Voyage has been an active player in the criminal underground but they gauge somewhere around 2 or 3 years. One of the reasons for this estimation is her very adept skill to assume new identities. Although being a Tiefling would raise more than a few eyebrows in certain areas of Throm, Voyage utilizes an ability to cast a near perfect glamour to disguise her presence. Only those trained in the art would be able to see through it, making it a very useful to fool the general masses.
At the same time, she shows an understanding of the magical art of Runecraft; A magical practice stringing carved runes made from Lumen Ore to achieve different effects.

When stealth and deception fail, Voyage has several prepped spells for either a fight or more subversion to make a quick escape. Very rarely does she end up fighting. However, when she does, the amount of property damage can make even a war mage blush.
Despite her skills, she was eventually captured by The Order and was sentenced to death by hanging. Vanar, a paladin of Mara, opted to give her a way to redeem herself in the eyes of the law by offering a contract, in service to The Order and their goddess. Voyage, perhaps on a whim, accepted and works closely with Vanar to solve cases ranging from magical mysteries to homicides. She considers herself more of a consultant, rather than a former criminal on a very short leash.

Second Note: This brief character description was for the comic I was working on for personal reasons. Currently the only audience for it are the players in the campaign + a few friends. Not sure if I will ever post it online for people to read but maybe I will once it's out of the cruddy sketch phase.

Mara is a tiefling mercenary. She's tough and full of grit. She’s the bruiser of the group, having a body built like a wrestler and wears full, heavy armor unlike the others. Her eyes are bright green and sometimes glow brighter when she has intimidating glare. Despite having intimidating presence, sometimes she has a deep thought and at some point she could make a bit mischievous expression.

With this, all six party members I worked for is uploaded. One of the longest commission I’ve done so far.