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So, you want to run an in-personDungeons & Dragonscampaign.
Or how can you run an immersive game on a budget?
This list will give some ideas for what to use and how to use them.
8Minis And Maps
Okay, lets get this out of the way.
The most common, but also most helpful, to aid in your in-person sessions are minis and maps.
The reason these are included on this list is that you absolutely don’t need either.
it’s possible for you to do all of your combat and sessions using theater of the mind.
As a player, they can answer some of their own questions if they have access to these rulers.
If you’re tired of rewarding your players with gold or magic items, check out these alternatives.
Same thing with guides that show spell radius or areas of effect.
Letting your players use them between turns to plan things can help speed things up, too.
So, is it a “prop”?
Art by Helder Almeida
Maybe not, but it’s a helpful way to keep everyone engaged.
And, “which one is stunned again?
“Using condition markersis a way to double-check everyone knows what’s happening on the field at all times.
Remote Mountain Lake by Olly Lawson
This doesn’t have to be the kind that you buy to place around standard minis.
you could use what you have on hand or what is cheapest.
you’ve got the option to recreate this by making physical potions.
Remote Mountain Lake by Olly Lawson
And you might go about doing this in several ways.
There are many different playstyles in Dungeons & Dragons.
Which one best describes your way of playing?
Art by David Astruga
you could do this for as many or as few potions as you want.
you’re free to make drinkable potions.
4Dice Jails Or Character Jails
Look, we all roll badly from time to time.
So, players like to have dice jails to place these poorly behaved dice inside.
However, having a communal dice jail for everyone to use can be a fun way to engage players.
Plus, as a DM, you could always use it to one day challenge your players.
Art by Martin Mottet
Every dice in the jail is rolled as part of a bad guy’s attack.
Everyone must choose and place a die in jail they can’t use for the rest of the session.
Something along those lines.
Potion of Healing by Pauline Voss
Another way to utilize something like this is to have it double as a character jail.
Did a character fail their death saves?
Is a character missing?
Alora, Merry Thief by Aaron Miller
While your players search for them, keep them in the jail, waiting to be found and freed.
Do you have to roll a save to keep from being petrified?
Roll it in the group tray.
Three Dragons and a D20 by Joy Ang
Want to craft some goods during your downtime?
Whether you are a DM or a player unsure about crafting, this is the guide for you.
They can pass it around from turn to turn.
Art via Wizards of the Coast
1Gaming Sets
In D&D, characters can partake in many downtime activities.
This includes some good, old-fashioned gambling.
Is your character playing chess with someone?
The Dragonlance Inn by Scott Murphy
Have a chessboard that gets brought out and used.
Are they playing Black Jack?
Have a deck of playing cards.
And the same can stretch beyond just gambling.
Tarot cards when they want to visit a fortune-teller, paper prompts for a friendly game of charades.
Anything you play in-game, have them play it in person.
Pull an ace from the deck and let the player hide it in their sleeve.
Let them move the chess pieces when an NPC gets distracted.
So on and so forth.
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