Whether as a player or as a Dungeon Master (DM), I’m sure you may have favorite monsters that you love to include or encounter in your Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), or other game system adventures, yes?! Perhaps you love to hate said monsters. Perhaps you love to encounter them as a player or throw them at your players if you’re a DM in order to provide them with encounters that challenge them.

Here are some of my favorite D&D monsters. Please note that I’m pulling this list of monsters from first and second editions of D&D in terms of their powers and abilities even though they’re probably in later editions of D&D as well, because I prefer to stay on the player facing side of fifth edition D&D so as to keep from spoiling the mystery . . . and the fun!

First off, the majestic, the iconic, dragons. Even the red dragons are enough to send icy shivers of fear through your veins and running down your spine!

Faerie Dragons are fun. They provide nice, local color, pun intended, to a world, and they can provide a more lighthearted encounter for your players.

Beholders are nice too! Although they aren’t nice per se, as monsters go, they are a nice, terrible monster to throw at your players as a DM.

And then we have the classic Orcs and Goblins, meanies and baddies of the worst sort.

Gelatinous Cubes are fun, as are molds, puddings, and oozes. Any monster or encounter that presents a challenge to the players, gives them pause and makes them think Do I really want to do this? And if so, how do I want to do this? Or worse, or better, depending upon your point of view, How am I going to get out of this situation!? If an encounter makes players get creative and puts more on the line than just character hit points, such as their equipment, is good in my book.

Want to throw some confusion into the ranks of your party? Introduce a Doppelganger and watch the chaos begin!

Does every encounter with a monster have to end in combat and bloodshed? No. Any well designed encounter with thought put into it by the DM will present a challenge the players. When I DM, I like to challenge my players with monsters that make them think and poses a challenge to them, rather than just monsters thrown in for the purpose of mindless hack and slash. (Although, for variety, a straightforward pure combat encounter is good at times too and also serves to keep the players on their toes in other encounters with monsters so they’re never sure what type of encounter it will be.) And monsters should have morale and play smart, and never just fight endlessly to the death, except for some mindless undead, that is, which presents a terror all its own.

I know that many wonderful new monsters, monster combinations, and iterations of these monsters have, in all probability, occurred over the years. Search online if you want creative ideas to build challenging encounters for your players. If you’re players are ho-hum about your encounters with monsters they encounter because they’ve encountered them before or they are already well established in the cultural lexicon, pull in monsters from other game systems and convert them to D&D.

Other fun monster options are to run a horror adventure or role-playing game, change up the stats and abilities of monsters, put a twist on the monsters—maybe that tribe of Goblins is benevolent or is on a pilgrimage to a sacred shrine of their peaceful deity—do a monster mash-up with unusual and different combinations of monsters paired up in the same encounter. (This might require some thought on the part of the DM to come up with reasons why the monsters are working together.) Another option is to get in there and flesh out those monsters, maybe the one-eyed Orc tribe is so deadly and fearsome because they follow a Cyclops, and a clever one at that if it leads a tribe of Orcs, or have a Beholder as their leader, all of which is unbeknownst to the player characters, of course.

If all else fails, let your imagination run wild and make your own D&D monster! That ought to scare the living daylights out of your players, or yourself if your DM pulls this on you! Now that I’ve shared some of my favorite monsters with you, I’d like to hear what some of your favorite monsters are and why.

Now that the party of adventurers has formed, how do you begin the adventure or campaign? Here are a couple of ways (aka adventure hooks) to start the adventure or campaign:

You all meet in a tavern. I can here the groans from the players already . . . “We’re starting the adventure in a tavern . . . again!?” Ah, the classics. There’s nothing like them. This is a standard, tried and true method, trope if you will, of fantasy role-playing games as a way to start an adventure or campaign. (And some may say cliché.) What happens from here, after the characters get to know each other, if they’re lucky enough to do so before the adventure begins, is up to the Dungeon Master (DM) and the players. This scenario is rife with role-playing opportunities and character interaction, along with some possible pitfalls and perils.

A peril I’ve encountered in the you all meet in a tavern scenario, or any other scenario where characters meet each other for the first time, is that I’ve had some players that I’ve met for the first time or have known for a while, have their character do what I consider to be tantamount to an interrogation of my character, which is a less than ideal circumstance, and less than fun. You mean to tell me that my character just entered the tavern to have a flagon of their favorite beverage, meet some other fine folks and adventurers in the realm, and is already imperiled!?

That’s a way to get a relationship, whether between people in real life or between characters in Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), off on the wrong foot. D&D is a game, the purpose of which is to have fun! Let’s keep it that way! One way around this particular potential peril (character introductions) is to have the characters already know each other.

Adventures or campaigns can also be started by the local ruler, or some other local personage of importance, who summons the party for an audience with them as they seek a party of adventurers to go on a quest for them. A variation of this is a scroll posted in the town square requesting adventurers to go on a quest or perform some service for them. Now that Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything has introduced Group Patrons (83), that is yet another way to get this party (of adventurers) started! (As are any class specific ideas found in the character class descriptions that can be used to generate adventure hooks!)

Yet another way is to have the characters smack dab in the middle of a situation, called in medias res, usually an action filled one, right from the start. Mysteries are also a great way to start the adventure or campaign.

An online search will reveal more ways than the ways I mentioned above to start an adventure or campaign. Here are some unique ways to start an adventure or campaign of your own!

If you’re doing a one-shot, rather than any of the above adventure starters, I suggest using pre-generated characters and have the party already know each other or keep the character introductions brief as time is short. You’ll lose some of the role-play aspect; however, if you want to finish the adventure in one-session, though, sacrifices may have to be made.

What about you? What are your favorite ways to start an adventure, either as a DM, or Game Master (GM) if you’re playing a different game system, or as a player?

Brave adventurers, hardy souls who thirst to see and experience the unknown and test themselves against challenges heretofore undreamed of, how many players are in your Dungeons & Dragons, or other role-playing game system, party of adventurers? What’s the ideal number of players in said party of adventurers?

I play in a group of three players, myself included in that trio of players, and the Dungeon Master (DM) too, of course. For awhile there, when the party of adventurers formed, there were six players. Play was consistent from week to week, as it was easy to continue the adventure if one or more players missed a game session. As a result of the pandemic, life events, and other obligations and responsibilities that have occurred in the lives of my fellow players, the group is now down to three players.

As I’m sure you can guess, the group’s play schedule is now inconsistent and a lot of playtime is missed due to said life events, obligations, and responsibilities. The opportunities for the group to play whenever possible are better than being unable to play at all! Thus, while the four of us have grown to be a tight knit group and have a blast when we do play, the fulfillment—and fun!—factors would increase if the group had three more players which would make it possible to play on a more consistent basis.

While opinions vary due to taste, the level of skill that the DM and players possess, and the number of players available and interested in playing in any one game session, my opinion is that six players is the ideal number of players to make up a party of adventurers. I want to go with five players as the optimum number of players. However, I’ve bumped it up to six players and I’ll tell you why. A party of adventurers composed of six players means that the adventure can continue, even if one, two, or even three players are absent from any given game session.

The benefit of having six players instead of five players is that it gives that extra little cushion that increases the likelihood that the adventure can continue when real life inevitably intervenes in the lives of your fellow players. (Or yourself!) The interruptions caused by the unavoidable realities of everyday life can disrupt the fantastical adventures that the party of adventurers is on if there are less than six players; adventures which can consist of the thrill of exploration and adventures in space, the horror of facing down undead hordes, crawls through creepy dungeons, encounters with majestic (and frightful?!) dragons, or anywhere and everywhere in-between. While six players is the maximum number of players I suggest in any one group, three is the minimum. I know there can be less than three players and a fun time can still be had, even with one player and the DM or even solo.

If you want a fun group of adventurers, the more the merrier. (Parties of greater than six can be fun too!) Six players is optimal to make sure that everyone has their time in the spotlight. With each successive player that is added beyond the sixth, this time in the spotlight erodes a little bit for each player. If the DM and players manage their time at the table well, this can be overcome. (Hint: Players know what you’re going to do before it’s your turn!)

Which again begs the questions I asked at the beginning of this quest (blog), how many players are in your Dungeons & Dragons, or other role-playing game system, party of adventurers? What’s the ideal number of players in said party of adventurers?

Now, where should the party of adventurers meet and start the adventure? Tomorrow’s quest will answer those questions!

What level Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) 5e characters do you prefer to play? I prefer low-level characters. If I can get away with it, and my Dungeon Master allows it, I prefer to start at level zero! Why, you ask!? Simple. The game is more fun that way for me and is rife with character development, opportunities to role-play, and more of the focus is on these aspects of the game than on game mechanics, which can be the case at higher levels as characters start to gain more abilities.

And at these lower character levels is when the fun begins! I know some player’s favorite levels are levels two and three because that is when they get to pick their subclass(es). That’s fun, I must admit, and opens up whole new worlds of game play, character development, and opportunities to role-play, and I like those levels too. I like it best when I start the game and my character has limited supplies and abilities, with nothing but my wits to rely on for my character’s survival.

The majority of characters are in the level one to six range, according to D&D Beyond through the Bell of Lost Souls. Since that is the case, as around level seven is when characters start to leave the realm of mortals and ascend to having god-like powers and abilities, that’s just one more reason for me to extend out the low-level play by one more level and start at level zero. (Which, as D&D Beyond notes in their study, only a small fraction of players are playing level zero characters.)

I’d rather MacGyver myself out of situations through creative thinking, having my wits about me, and be accompanied by trusty, stalwart companions at the lower levels than play at the higher levels where it seems that anything is possible. That’s just me. What are your favorite D&D 5e character levels to play and why?

P.S. If you want to dig into this topic a little more, go here.

Can a game, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in this case, provide more than just a night’s entertainment with friends? While I’ve never thought of D&D as anything more than a game, evidence suggests that it can be more than a game and that “. . . (role-playing) is what allows Dungeons & Dragons to be an effective therapeutic tool because it gets our brain in a state where it is primed to learn and grow and evolve in ways that we can’t do normally (2:52-3:02),” states Cade Heaton. Does D&D help us learn in uncharacteristic and unusual ways, and maybe even better ourselves in the process?

Maybe through the act of role-playing characters in these make believe fantasy worlds and adventures, we imagine and practice being our best selves, as supported by Cade Heaton who says, “While Dungeons & Dragons may simply be a game, it’s tool [SIC] as a therapeutic tool lies in its ability to simulate worlds for us to practice ourselves and practice who we want to be . . . (4:07-4:17).” I know I dream of being more heroic in my daily life and maybe playing D&D is an extension of that, more than just wish fulfillment, and a way to tap into the highest part of myself, do something good and noble, and be my best self.

Perhaps D&D is a fun game that helps me, and others, self-actualize through the experiences in the game, with its trials and tribulations, as we embark upon the hero’s journey. Cade Heaton further goes on to say that “Dungeons & Dragons is proof of the true power of storytelling, the power of our imagination, and it’s a tool that we can use to shape our minds and the world that they inhabit going forward, making D&D as therapy a powerful idea for the future (7:34-7:50).” Tap into your imagination and use it to (re)create your life for the better. If you can imagine rich, robust fantasy words, such as those provided by D&D, you can tap into the power of your imagination to make positive changes in your real life.

Works Cited:

Heaton, Cade. “Saving Your Brain with Dungeons & Dragons TedxBallStateUniversity.” YouTube, uploaded by Tedx, 23 July 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv0okhnpffo. Accessed 25 January 2022.

Equipped for Life’s Adventure: Life Skills and Lessons Learned from Playing Dungeons & Dragons

Imagine a world that teems with dungeons to explore and elves, dragons, dwarves, and other fantastical creatures to interact with. Now imagine if adventures in this fantasy realm could help you in real life. Ethan Gilsdorf in his Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life) TedxPiscataquaRiver talk says “I want to tell you a story about why our journey into a world of fantasy can help you navigate the real world (1:26-1:34).”

At its heart, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a collaborative storytelling game where the outcome of players’ actions may be determined by the roll of the dice. If you undertook an adventure in a fantasy game in a positive, supportive, friendly atmosphere with stalwart, trusted companions where you learned about life, and stretched your creative and problem solving muscles, all the while having fun, would you? In all likelihood, you would.

Although it has been said that there’s no wrong way to play D&D, generally, players work together to solve problems, overcome challenges, and complete quests, through the utilization of their creativity, ingenuity, and imagination, as Mr. Gilsdorf informs us, “This game is played in the imagination (3:39-3:41).” Using the power of their imaginations and the willingness to experiment and take risks in order to overcome obstacles and challenges, players’ grow as people through these experiences, which translate over into real life.

The skills and experiences acquired by playing D&D cut across many cross sections of life, a few examples of which include—teamwork, collaboration, the aforementioned problem solving, and storytelling, because after all, who doesn’t love a good story? And the game can open doorways to new worlds, and equip you with the skills necessary and empower you to face, and overcome, your own challenges in real life, as “Life is like that dangerous dungeon — you need to be prepared, and you shouldn’t wander through it without the tools to MacGyver yourself out of trouble”, states Mr. Gilsdorf. Through the role playing of characters, oftentimes different than ourselves, we grow in character as people.

In D&D where your character earns levels through the completion of quests and oftentimes, role playing, experiences in the game can lead to your own personal growth and development and a deeper understanding of others. According to Mr. Gilsdorf, “Another step in building character is developing empathy and tolerance. You and me, we’re separate beings — I’m the “self”; you’re the “other.” So, how do we bridge that gap? Role-playing creates that intersection.” In addition, the game may equip you to see the world in different ways and help you overcome your own internal challenges as Mr. Gilsdorf states, “Deep inside each of us is a dungeon with a powerful dragon. You won’t know whether you can defeat it — or even befriend it — unless you try.”

Works Cited:

Gilsdorf, Ethan. “Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life). TedxPiscataquaRiver.” YouTube, uploaded by Tedx, 21 May 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PaHJqpQnyw. Accessed 24 January 2022.

Gilsdorf, Ethan. “How playing Dungeons & Dragons has helped me be more connected, creative, and compassionate.” Ted Talks, Ideas.Ted.Com, 9 January 2018, https://ideas.ted.com/how-playing-dungeons-dragons-has-helped-me-be-more-connected-creative-and-compassionate/. Accessed 24 January 2022.

Dungeons & Toast members take the lead in the latest member- and club-incentive program, 26 weeks of success! Congratulations to the following members for successfully completing miles:

• Patrick Verebely, 8 miles
• Hovey Yu, 7 miles
• Yannika Chansrichawla, 2 miles

Members, look forward to exciting opportunities to log your own mileage soon!

Please enjoy this story, inspired by the table topics session of January 21, 2022.

A broken old man stepped out from his ramshackle home. It was by no means the oldest home in the neighborhood, a lovely collection of victorians, but it had become a shadow of its former self. The bushes had grown mangled and unmanageable, the grass patchy and turning a decaying color of yellow. The shutters seemed hanging on by fragments of life, waiting for the next strong wind to dislodge them completely. As the man pulled the door shut, a wrought-iron “W” came loose and swung down to look like an M. The Wiffelmeister Manor, once a proud standard in the town of Dejeun, had lost its luster.

Some children rode by on bikes. “Hi, WAFFLE-meister.”

The man turned and if you look closely, you can see scars in a crisscross pattern across his face. He sneered at the children as they rode away, laughing. “It was not always like this,” he muttered, under his breath. “One day… they won’t laugh anymore.” He turned his back to the street and locked his door. An inopportune time for him to take his gaze away from the street below as a young lady strolled confidently into his yard and tossed a small, white object at him.

*SPLAT*

Wiffelmeister felt the egg crack and splatter against the back of his head. As the slimy, cold ooze slid beneath his collar and trickled down his spine, he heard the familiar taunts of his neighbor’s on again, off again, friend and “special friend,” Madame Bacon. 

“You’re so lame, waffle man! Why don’t you just leave. No one wants you here.”

*SPLAT* *SPLAT* *SPLAT*

Three more eggs smacked against the side of the Wiffelmeister manner and with each “splat,” the man’s tired shoulders flinched, ever so slightly. His eyes watered as a lump of shame filled his throat. Swallowing it, he turned violently around and made his way angrily down his cracked, cobblestone walkway.

“Now you see here-”

“What’s that you were gonna say?”

Wiffelmeister paused. Next to Bacon, his neighbor and archnemesis, Sir Pancakeslot, stood on the sidewalk, casually leaning over his fence. 

“Be careful, buddy. That wood looks rotted enough to give way,” said another voice, joining the group. It was Breadman – the whole gang of his nightmares was here.

“Would you all please, leave me alone.”

“Sure, mate. Just taking out the trash.” And with that, Pancakesalot kicked over the trash cans at the end of the driveway and the three of them walked off laughing.

Wiffelmeister sighed. As he cleaned up the trash and replaced the cans, he started to cry a little bit. No one was around to abuse him anymore for just a moment. He thought bitterly about the day all this came to pass. The day his life was ruined…

Wiffelmeister Manor was bustling with activity as the master of the house, Sir Wiffelmeister himself, was preparing to unveil his latest invention. It was the talk of the town. 

“Could it be, has he done it?”

“If he has, the rivalry between him and Pancakeslot will be less rivalry and more… king and jester. Pancakes, what a joke!”

Conversations like this did not go unnoticed by Pancakeslot. He snuck through the shadows of the Wiffelmeister home, hoping to catch a glimpse at the machine he once helped build. 

“That’s it, it’s complete! I think it’s time I take Butters out to poop on young Pancakes’ lawn again. I wonder if he can hear the party from his sad little home next door? Oh, Chief!”

The chief of police stepped into the room, “Yes, sir?”

“Please make sure that if our filthy little neighbor complains about our party, it’s ignored.”

“Of course, sir.”

Pancakesalot heard all this. He watched as Wiffelmeister took his dog to crap on his lawn yet again. He stepped out of the shadows and looked at the machine that would ruin him. It was different than he remembered. He couldn’t believe it. For as much as he hated him, Wiffelmeister was a genius. There it sat churning out waffles every fifteen seconds. Giant containers of eggs, milk, flour, baking powder, and a secret mix of additional ingredients, passed down for generations in the Wiffelmeister family, fed into the machine. He took a deep breath – just smelling the sweet smell of the waffles he knew they would be perfect, down to the very last one. He smiled bitterly, thinking of how he had been thrown out for daring to suggest that a pancake griddle be added as an option.

“Pancakes. Are you mad? There’s no beauty in pancakes. Get out of my sight!”

As Pancakeslot pulled out his containers of vinegar and baking soda and threw them into the different containers of ingredients, he took no pleasure. That would come later. For now, this was self-preservation. He would never survive this invention. He had to break it.

WOOF! WOOF!

Wiffelmeister was coming back up the stairs and in his rush, Pancakeslot dropped a bag of baking soda and a bottle of vinegar as he fled the room. When the master of the home reentered his lab, he saw his machine bubbling over, ready to burst at the seams. Sprinting forward he didn’t notice the paste on the ground and slipped, face first into the-

“Oh no! It’s the WAFFLEMONSTER!”

Shaken from his reverie he saw a small group of preschoolers quickly cross the street to avoid his burnt face. He scowled and limped away. As he walked a subtle, almost imperceptible clang emanated from the sidewalk in front of his house with each step he took.

The next day, Wiffelmeister was exiting his home once again and heard a familiar “splat.” He turned and saw the three banes of his existence, each one worse than the last. They were clearly toasted.

“Ooops, sorry WAFFLEMONSTER.”

“Yeah! Her hand slipped.”

“It was an eggsellent throw, though. You must admit!”

“Seriously, no yolk.”

The three of them fell on the ground laughing.

Wiffelmeister grinned and flipped the switch by his door. He whistled as he walked – hardly limping at all today – down his driveway. He barely noticed the screams or the sound of his sizzling enemies as he stepped around his recently installed, newly invented, griddle sidewalk.

When he returned home, the chief and the rest of the police were there. The three breakfast buffoons were still stuck on the sidewalk but they had figured out how to turn off his griddlewalk. 

“I’m sorry, old friend. But we’re going to have to arrest you.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

Wiffelmeister knew anything he did at this point would force the chief’s hand. He sighed and looked at his old, disheveled, and once-proud manor. He gave a little wave. He strode forward, bringing his fists out of his pockets.

“No, DON’T DO IT!”

—

When the scene cleared, Wiffelmeister lay in the middle of the street, drowned in maple syrup and butter. The chief stood by a fire truck, desperately trying to rinse the remnants of the sticky concoction out of his hair.

“Chief, what are we going to do about her?”

“Who are you talking about,” and looking up, the chief saw a young girl of about 8 years old looking at him with puffy eyes and a stuffed waffle toy in her arms.

“What’s going to happen to me?”

The chief looked at the little girl. He looked down at a man who was better once. Before the arrogance, long before the tragedy of today, and remembered what could have been.

“I’ll take care of you honey. I can tell you all about your daddy.”

The little girl sniffled and nodded. 

—

“This is where your family used to live.”

Maple Wiffelmeister walked her daughter up the old walkway to the once esteemed Wiffelmeister Manor. She took a deep breath and she unlocked the front door. Flashing the okay sign to her Uncle Chief, she led her daughter into a home she had almost forgotten. Roaming the halls, bittersweet memories came rushing back to her in a flood. Lost in her thoughts, and lost in her old house, her daughter scampered off on her own. 

The young girl tripped over a small, raised tile in one of the rooms. Angrily she stomped on it and when she did, the wall behind her slid slowly aside to reveal a large machine. A bright red button blinked dully as she cautiously approached the forgotten waffle maker.

“MOMMY! MOMMY! You have to come try this!”

Maple looked up, startled and heard the dull, familiar rumbling of her father’s machine. A delicate, sweet smell wafted down from the floor above, tickling her with fond memories when breakfast was just breakfast.