I love this game. Here are some tables …

Stuff you find might find in someone’s pocket

1. Hot water bottle filled with an alien liquor (£50 to right buyer)
2. Butter knife with a pearlescent handle, blade is etched with ‘cloud district rifle club’  (£2)
3. Vial of green sand from a distant shore
4. Sapphire earring (cheap costume jewellery)
5. Scarf of fine blue silk with some minor scorch marks (£10)
6. Gold button (£70) in shape of an acorn
7. Blue candle stub, smells of berries when lit
8. Ebony comb, missing some of the combs and carved with skeletal patterns (mortuary £2)
9. Copper bracelet with numbers stamped into it ‘344678’
10. Narrow pewter hip flask ‘iris’ engraved and a large circular dent (from bullet £3)
11. Book of matches, 2 remaining, ‘Monkey Mikes Music Hall’
12. Miss Emma’s ‘Dance token’
13. Brass doorknob in shape of lion head (£1)
14. Tiny silver hammer (nutcracker £15)
15. Mouse Pistol (easy conceal d6 two shots only – hard to get ammo £20)
16. Oilskin cap that has seen much use, name tag reads ‘Olivus’
17. Handkerchief monogrammed ‘M & F’
18. Tiny metal vial of scent, smells of musk (will attract dragonflys)
19. Brass whistle in shape of a bird, when blown makes the meow of a cat (£2)
20. Rolled up sheet music – Ballad of Bad Beatrix
21. Wire rimmed glasses made for three eyes
22. Hawkins Handbook of Hairpieces (£1)
23. Experimental flashlight that needs cracked for 1hr per min of light (£50 to right buyer)
24. Small paint brush, smells of turpentine ‘Paget’s Paints’ in cold on handle
25. Pocket watch that is full of water, silt and some rust
26. Book ‘Squid Songs’ with hollow cut into pages glass vial with finger bone of a Saint
27. Pair of leather driving gloves with ‘left and right ‘ written on each (wrong) 
28. Pouch of 6 toy soldiers on bikes
29. Key with a fountain embossed and ‘Creasy Park’ written on it
30. Foldable eye mask butterfly colourful
31. Small hand mirror, steel with inscription on back ‘this too shall pass’
32. Small jar of incredibly hot spice paste, can protect from cold with STR save
33. Paper bag filled with bird seed
34. Purse made from rubber containing £6
35. Rubber gloves for electric work
36. Electric Screwdriver very slow (£45 to right buyer) 

Party hideouts

1. Old empty water tower accessed from rooftop, great views but problems with blue bats
2. Canal boat stuck in mud accessed by planks difficult to traverse but well hidden
3. Clock tower, required to maintain clock or council will send engineers
4. Old underground toilet block in a park, faint smell and dangerous at night but secure
5. Tram carriage off the rails in old yard surrounded by weeds, vagrant machines need to be managed/avoided
6. Cellar below dance hall, noisy all night but quiet during the day, accessed through old vent behind some bins
7. Attic space well hidden but has multiple holes in roof, as a result is very cold in winter, shared with urchins
8. Boiler room in basement of public building, warm but noisy and hazards of hot pipes and a warmth loving alien
9. Old Garage smells of oil and damp but spacious and has old parts large rats that are too smart
10. Abandoned theatre small and was boarded up after fire, still smells and may be haunted by mockeries
11. Train station storage vault below the railway, stonework and damp, well hidden but not cozy, retired engineers sleep here, harmless but also pretty useless
12. Electric billboard confined space that buzzes and glows all night, accessed by treacherous ladder

Medicine checks have always seemed a little problematic to me. The act of stabilising a fallen comrade has always felt too simple and easy in the RAW (DC 10 medicine check). Anyone with any real-world experience (yes I understand D&D is a fantasy game) would be able to tell you how tricky it is to treat someone who has been rendered unconscious by a traumatic event; especially with limited equipment/medical knowledge & understanding. Before you get your heckles up, I understand that we play the game for escapist fun and as a game system D&D is more concerned with heroic action than realism, I get that.  I’m just wondering if a little more verisimilitude might be applied with some extra mechanics and varied outcomes rather than just defaulting to being reduced to zero HP. Here are some tweaks you might consider including in your D&D game:

1. Give it to me straight Doc. – In some situations it might be appropriate to allow a character to maintain consciousness while at zero HP (whilst going through death saves and their life hangs in the balance ‘I’m so cold …’ ) and continue to hold discourse (but not be able to act / cast spells etc.). This would allow cinematic RP when a character/NPC/Monster is reduced to zero and no longer a threat but can pass on some last words. e.g. Boromir in LOTR. This could allow a villain to drop a final insult, exposition bomb etc. It could also provide a player with some closure for the character that is about to expire. If this tweak is used, do so very sparingly (I suggest DM fiat only) as it could get trite really fast !
2. We’re losing him! – a flat DC of 10 to stabilise a PC/NPC (or monster?) when reduced to 0HP always felt a little too simple and easy (nothing wrong with that I guess). This tweak would add some additional complication to this process. If a character is reduced below 0HP e.g. a character with 7HP takes 9HP in damage (reducing them to -2HP) this would mean the DC check to stabilise them would be 12 (instead of the base of 10). This could mean that a character who is taken far below zero the DC check could be over 20. I think this is acceptable as someone attempting a medicine check might apply proficiency / attribute bonus and using a healing kit (more on that below). See also the previous Tweak in ‘Down but not out – How to save a life’ I think these combined could make for a dramatic mini-game around treating downed characters ..
3. Tools for the job – Healers kit in RAW grant an auto success on medicine rolls to stabilise a downed character. I would suggest they work by giving and advantage on medicine checks instead. I don’t think they should have charges, I think we can assume that the character would replenish them when possible (unless in a hostile environment where they had no access to clean material for bandaging/plants/ herbs etc.).

Combat, the core of most D&D games, can get repetitive and dull if the players and games master don’t make a concerted effort to keep it varied and interesting. There are many ways of ‘spicing up’ combat, critical hit tables, dynamic initiative (‘Greyhawk Initiative’) etc. I believe one of the big pitfalls is the sensation of fighting in a vacuum, without a sense of environment and realism (verisimilitude). Commonly the mode of play is for a player to use their most effective attack repeatedly until an enemy is downed, then repeat. These tweaks are all about adding a little extra flavour to some combat engagements making them more dynamic, rooted in the environment and varied. Like spices they should be used sparingly:

1. Scope to improvise –  Rather than straight hit/miss exchanges, encourage the players to describe how they might use their weapons in a variety of ways e.g. use their quarterstaff to restraint a combatant (invoking the ‘grappled’ condition or allowing another attacker to gain advantage) Lean hard towards the ‘assist action’ (detailed in the PHB) giving other characters advantage on their actions more frequently. e.g. a dwarven character might crouch down behind an enemy combatant in a bar fight to give advantage to an ally knocking the combatant prone. This is especially good for friendly NPC’s / Henchmen rather than getting bogged down in their attack roles that are often pretty inconsequential.
2. Environment as combatant – Lots has been written on this already but it’s worth repeating; use the environment in the engagement. Rigging on a ship, slippery stepping stones, driving rain (mud), confined spaces necessitating secondary weapons (e.g. weapons such as swords require a lot of space to use effectively; consider reducing damage type or mandate a smaller weapon be used in tight spaces – there’s a reason daggers are popular!)
3. Weaponise the props – encourage your players (and monsters) to utilise the props in the environment. Some examples of this might be ; blinding a combatant in melee e.g. grabbing a handful of sand to throw in an enemies face, kicking a a load of embers from a campfire, using a cloak to cover and enemys’ face (dex save for target using DC = dex of attacker ? fail indicates ‘blinded’ condition for 1 round). Knock an enemy prone or stun them with an unexpected table flip etc.

The main takeaway for D&D players here (including DM) is don’t be afraid to ‘riff’ a little in combat to really create a cinematic and dramatic scenes. If we adhere to RAW only we do run the risk of things getting stale. The biggest USP for TTRPS is the freedom they bring, exercise your freedom!

We are gonna talk DnD 5e for a second here. More specifically lets talk about what happens when a PC hits zero HP. Rules as written (RAW) means the character is unconscious and begins the death saving throw cycle. This can mean the beginning of the ‘death spiral’ for a party, a term I’m sure you’ve heard before, where the action economy of the players is reduced by the loss of the party member (and whoever tries to stabilise them) and all of the characters become vulnerable as they are out numbered by enemy actions.

The result; Total party killed (TPK). This is what it looks like and this is how it starts. I’m not suggesting that this is bad or broken in any way. I’m here to offer some tweaks that could be made to make TPK less likely, to increase the drama, to potentially simulate ‘medical’ intervention more accurately and to allow a player to add to their characters story:

1. Lasting injury – When a character is reduced to zero HP rather than saying they are unconscious allow the player to take on a ‘lasting injury’ and continue to remain able to act until they take damage again. There is such a table at the back of the DMs guide but it is limited and not damage-type specific. There are many to choose from that are free online or you can purchase in the DMs Guild. They vary wildly in quality and you might have to search for a good one. These lingering injuries should be lasting (as the name suggests) and not be easily healed. If done well it could add to a characters’ individuality and assist in richer role playing.
2. How to save a life – Successful use of medicine skill (with or without an aid kit) stabilises a downed character in the RAW. Why not allow the successful use of medicine skill to only negate failed death saves. This would mean that a the player would still need to succeed to stay alive and the first-aider would only be able to assist by removing failed saves. This could create a more dramatic sequence where the aid-giver is fighting back death as the downed character struggles to survive. This also would more accurately simulate the loss to the action economy of the party as the character giving aid would be dedicated to the act of saving the life of the character.
3. Fog of death – Roll death saves in private (the DM may be included or not depending on your group and the level of trust you have in your players) and only reveal when another character intervenes or can examine the downed character. This will build tension by the party not knowing how long they have to revive a character and not know if they have died or stabilised.

Yes, that part of the session where you introduce your character to the rest of the group. This might be when all the character meet in a tavern or it could be when a new character joins the party. It can be a tricky thing to do well, what information should you try to convey? What information is relevant? What information is dramatic? 

For this example I’m going to make the assumption that the scenario is that you are introducing your character to a group that you have only recently become involved with; perhaps meeting them for the first time. If the setting is one where your characters have been adventuring for a while there may be more detail to add to introductions but fundamentally you are trying to communicate the ‘headlines’ to the other players so they can establish a reasonably accurate mental model of you character. 

Here are three things to remember that might come in handy and enhance the story telling aspect of introducing your character ; remember the pneumonic FIB (First impressions, Interaction, and Behaviour) 

1 – First impressions – What’s the first thing someone would notice when first meeting your character?  Pretty self explanatory but what is the most immediate thing that will strike the viewer upon meeting your character?Perhaps it’s their fine attire, a striking facial tattoo, the fact they have horns protruding from their head (draw attention to the fantastic and unusual even though you may feel it’s common), or maybe it’s the giant, blood spattered axe. This first part is about establishing in the other players (and I include the DM as a player) minds what your character’s ‘Essence’ or ‘theme’ is. That theme might be brooding, menacing, whimsical, bookish, martial, striking beauty. (Example – Kai-Juk is a lizardman (lizardfolk), he stands at near 7 feet tall, is covered in black scaly skin and bristles with primitive weapons such as stone hand axes and carries a long spear.

2 – Interaction – How do they respond to the others?  (Example – He watches others intently but rarely speaks unless directly spoken to, when he does respond it is in stilted common punctuated with his tongue flicking in and out of his mouth (much like a snake). Perhaps your character believes he is far superior to others and this is evident in the way he interacts with others. 

3 – Behaviour – How to they carry themselves?  What holds their interest? Is there anything unusual they do? (Example – His movements are animalistic and he fixates on any item he considers food). This last point is a good opportunity to give a little glimpse into what motivates your character, or what their priorities might be. Perhaps it’s their reluctance to part with money, perhaps their hand constantly flexes on the grip of a weapon, or are constantly looking around them for some unknown threat, are they charming, scathing, do they go out of their way to help everyone they meet?