DM David Hartlage

@dmdavid.com

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D&D design, advice, rules, and inspiration from your friend DM David. He/Him dmdavid.com

Phoenix miniature towers over ogre and summoner figures
A cat walks on a hand-drawn, gridded D&D battle map of a cavern
A narrow spiral staircase constructed of timeworn stone descends into darkness
I am a huge fan of mechanics that fade into the background, ones that become part of the routine of play in a way that merges with the flow. If a mechanic is big and messy, I want it to come online in a dramatic way (I rage!). If it's a routine effect, I want players to manage it themselves without needing to bring the game to a halt.
Moving On section in adventure text
Sign of Labrys by Margaret St Clair among other books that inspired D&D and Gamma World
Vincent Price shoots magical rays from his fingers in The Raven (1963)
13th age second edition books
Cross-section map of caverns below Bryn Shander featuring giant runes, throne room, ooze swam, and a frozen horror.
A singer in a flower mask performs in front of a band. Recreates Peter Gabriel fronting Genesis in 1973.
Map of the area surrounding White Plume Mountain from the original adventure.
A hand sculpted, gridded diorama featuring miniature figures facing off in a box canyon and a giant goat.
Three Nimble RPG books boasting a fast, tactical RPG
Heroic Sacrifice Heroics She fought like a demon. She saved us all. Trigger You are reduced to O Hits. Requirement Spend 1 or more Heroics up to the number you currently possess. Effect For a limited time you are not considered dying, and can continue to take actions. You gain as many actions as the number of Heroics you spent on this reaction. You can no longer use Heroic talents, you are vulnerable, and as long as you have the actions to spend, you must spend at least two actions on each of your turns. Until all the actions granted by this talent are taken, you stay alive and you can take an unlimited amount of damage, though effects may otherwise harm or debilitate you. When all the actions are spent, you fall permanently dead. A permanently dead creature cannot be resurrected, but they can become undead.
Dungeons & Dragons Trivial Pursuit
A medieval castle stands on a rocky outcrop on the sea
In an ink drawing of an ogre menacing a rogue, the ogre says, "There's not a shadow dark enough to hide you now, pal."
While holding this brass-stoppered iron flask, you can take a Magic action to target a creature that you can see within 60 feet of yourself. If the flask is empty and the target is native to a plane of existence other than the one you’re on, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be trapped in the flask. If the target has been trapped by the flask before, it has Advantage on the save. Once trapped, a creature remains in the flask until released. The flask can hold only one creature at a time. A creature trapped in the flask doesn’t age and doesn’t need to breathe, eat, or drink. You can take a Magic action to remove the flask’s stopper and release the creature in the flask. The creature then obeys your commands for 1 hour, understanding those commands even if it doesn’t know the language in which the commands are given. If you issue no commands or give the creature a command that is likely to result in its death or imprisonment, it defends itself but otherwise takes no actions. At the end of the duration, the creature acts in accordance with its normal disposition and alignment.
Two-page interior spread of the Enchanted Wood with statistics for two monsters. A handwritten tally showing reduced hit points appears in the margin.
Cover of the Enchanted Wood
Map of the Greyhawk setting
Movie poster for Boris Karloff in The Black Room (1935). Two women cower from a man brandishing a knife while a man glares though a opening in a stone wall. Caption: Kiss Him...and Die.
Stack of RPG rulebooks