Running Dungeons and Dragons combat encounters that are exciting, engaging, and fun can be a difficult task – believe me, I know! There’s so much to keep track of, from the DND combat rules to initiatives, hit points, and resources – plus, your players will inevitably throw a wrench in your plans and do something totally unexpected. I’ve learned from experience what works (and what doesn’t) when building and running a DND combat encounter. So here are some examples (pulled from my actual games!) to help you build your own DND combat encounters.

For players of all ages, there are a ton of benefits to Dungeons & Dragons (and games like it). But this is even more true for young players, who are in a prime stage to learn social emotional learning skills. Unfortunately, not all kids are ready to play D&D proper. They may be afraid of the dark or monsters. They may have a hard time sharing the spotlight, taking turns, and tolerating failure. They may not have the cognitive or mathematical skills to grasp the rules and make meaningful decisions in the game. My toddler, for one, doesn’t have the alphabet all the way down; there’s no way they could read a D&D character sheet! But, with some clever modifications, I was able to get them in a game. Here’s how I did it, with help from fellow Young Dragonslayers Dungeon Master and writer of TTRPGkids Steph Campbell.

Teachers, parents, and others are wondering how to teach biology in a fun way. The game of Dungeons & Dragons has already been used to teach social emotional learning, sign language, history, and more. Why not use D&D to teach biology and conservation? Mage Hand Press, creator of custom D&D content, teamed up with the Center for Biological Diversity, scientific advocate of endangered species, to create a totally unique monster manual. In this book, you won’t find orcs, goblins, or kobolds. Instead, each “monster” is inspired by a real-world extinct animal. The Book of Extinction has two versions for each entry. One is the actual creature from our world: its history, biology, and the circumstances leading to its extinction. The other is a creature with lore, magic, and abilities that are inspired by the real-world creature but more suited to the world of D&D. As a team of educators, parents, therapists, and youth workers bringing D&D to young players, we’re always looking out for awesome D&D resources for teachers, and we fell in love with this one immediately. We got to chat with Lucas Zellers, the lead writer for the Book of Extinction, about his journey from D&D player to honorary conservationist.

More and more, young people are drawn towards the game of Dungeons & Dragons, and they’re desperate for a place to play. Some find friends or library groups to play, but many wish for an after school D&D club where they can play with their friends and be guided by a trusted teacher. I know, I’ve met them! I run games of D&D for after school clubs online, at libraries, and in community centers. Though getting things started is intimidating, I’ve seen just how beneficial these kinds of groups can be, and I’m here to help share DND educator resources, tips, and tricks to help teachers, youth workers, and other educators get a D&D school club off the ground – even if you’ve never rolled a die in your life!

During a kind of lunar eclipse called a “blood moon,” the Earth gets right between the sun and moon, casting a shadow on the moon and turning it red! This got us thinking about different mythology, lore, and stories about the moon and its powers – which, of course, are plentiful in Dungeons & Dragons. From playing a D&D moon elf to wielding a D&D moon sickle to casting the moonbeam spell in D&D, there are plenty of cool options for moon-themed characters, stories, and abilities. We looked through the official lore and rules and picked our favorite lunar D&D campaign ideas and inspiration to share with you!

The most complicated part of Dungeons and Dragons by far is the combat. Learning how D&D combat works is a task all on its own, not to mention building an interesting D&D encounter, and how to run combat as a Dungeon Master. But making combat engaging, compelling, and, most of all, fun, is a great way to level up your DMing and run D&D 5e combat your players won’t soon forget! We’re professional Dungeon Masters here at Young Dragonslayers, so we’ve run our fair share of D&D combat encounters and have learned a few tips, tricks, and best practices to run D&D combat online and off. But these ideas aren’t limited to Dungeons and Dragons – they apply to other combat-oriented tabletop roleplaying games like Lancer, Mutants & Masterminds, Shadowrun, Starfinder, and more! So roll for initiative (or your turn-choosing system of choice) and get ready to run an awesome session of combat. 

With the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps in theaters, all of geek-dom is talking about this super-team, and we’re here for it. Like The Justice League and The Avengers, The Fantastic Four exemplify a truth that’s core to DND: when powerful individuals work together, they can accomplish so much more than they can alone. So why not make the Fantastic Four D&D characters? We’ve homebrewed some Fantastic Four D&D builds, tying in and explaining each of the Fantastic Four’s powers. So put on your super-suit and join us for an epic adventure!

We already shared some ideas for how to have an animal companion in Dungeons & Dragons using a character’s spells, magic items, and skills. But what if you knew you wanted your character to have an animal companion from the very beginning? Then you could create a whole D&D build around having a pet! Your character could specialize in communing with nature, creating arcane constructs, or summoning familiars…there are so many options. We’ve gone through all of them to create this list of the best D&D classes for having a pet!

Combat is a key component of Dungeons & Dragons. Of course there are other elements to the game – exploration, puzzles, and social interactions, for example – but the meat of gameplay (and most of the abilities on your character sheet) centers around the D&D combat rules. This can be intimidating; D&D combat actions are complex, with pages and pages 2024 Player’s Handbook devoted to D&D combat rules. This leaves players looking for a way to have D&D combat explained in a way that makes sense. We’ve been playing and running games of Dungeons & Dragons for years, and we’ve seen just about every question, rules clarification, and wild ideas in (and out of) the book. So we present to you our D&D combat guide for new players and old!

Teachers and parents alike are looking for ways to teach kids sign language. And while children’s sign language classes, sign language video tutorials, and family sign language lessons are all great ways to learn, it can be a challenge to get children invested. We’ve already seen how Dungeons & Dragons can be used to teach social emotional learning skills, and some teachers are even using D&D in the classroom – why not use D&D to teach sign language? We got the chance to speak to Rich Oxenham, who, after over a decade spent working with the Deaf community, tried to do just that, and co-created a family business along the way! Here’s what he had to say about his journey to teach sign language with Dungeons & Dragons.

Though dragons are definitely the most iconic creature in Dungeons & Dragons, there are plenty of other monsters to encounter. In fact, there are actually dinosaur D&D stats in the official books! There are detailed attacks, ability scores, and lore for tons of different dinosaurs, all inspired by their actual historical counterparts. Check out our D&D dinosaurs list to compare stats, learn a little paleontology, and maybe even craft your own D&D dinosaur build!

Kids have all kinds of different nerdy interests: one might watch anime and play video games, another might draw Pokemon and read sci-fi, and another might make steampunk jewelry and play Dungeons & Dragons. The geek scene is ever-expanding, and plenty of kids are flocking to what were previously fringe interests. With that interest can come a desire to participate IRL – to participate, oftentimes, by going to a geek convention. And parents, understandably, have questions. Can kids go to comic con? Where can I find family friendly conventions? Underneath all these questions is this: how do I let my child explore their interests while keeping them safe? I’ve been to conventions from anime to sci-fi, from 200 people in a hotel ballroom to tens of thousands in a sprawling convention center, and I’m here to be your guide to finding family friendly conventions!

Plenty of players have gone beyond the limits of the official books and created their own Dungeons & Dragons homebrew. With homebrewing, you can custom-build elements and craft exactly the kind of game you want to play in exactly the kind of world you want to play it in. Not only can players make a D&D homebrew class, wield homebrew items, and take homebrew feats, but Dungeon Masters can create D&D homebrew races for their world alongside homebrew monsters, NPCs, or even an entire universe! It’s a lot to think about, but we’re here to give you the basics for how to get started creating your very own Dungeons & Dragons homebrew creations.

If you’re on the internet, you’ve already seen plenty of Dungeons & Dragons alignment chart memes. Whether it’s how to squeeze toothpaste, mark a book, or arrange a room, there’s probably a 3x3 grid out there with spots filled in for lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, true neutral, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, and chaotic evil. We have to admit – these can be pretty hilarious. But did you know that the D&D character alignment chart is actually an important part of playing the game? Lest you ever leave that tiny little “Alignment” box empty (or miss out on being able to explain the origin of one of the best memes around), we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the 9 character alignments in Dungeons & Dragons. 

With the release of the live action How To Train Your Dragon on June 13th, we’ve been thinking a lot about the world of Berk and the dragons that live in it. And, naturally, that got us wondering about how to do a How To Train Your Dragon D&D Campaign . What kinds of homebrew dragons, character builds, and adventures have people come up with? And the internet did not disappoint. We poked around and found some clever How To Train Your Dragon 5e creations to share with you all! 

Players from all across the internet love a funny D&D story – we know, because we’re among them! There’s nothing that feels quite like getting to hear awesome silly moments from a D&D campaign, unless it’s sharing your own epic D&D stories of natural 20s, plans gone wrong, or times the players stumped the Dungeon Master! We’ve been running games at Young Dragonslayers for five years now, and we’ve got the zaniest, most creative players in the world: tweens and teens! So sit back, relax, and enjoy these absolutely hilarious but delightfully wholesome D&D stories from our campaigns.

Shows like Critical Role, Dimension 20, and The Adventure Zone are called “Actual Play” – shows where people tell a story by playing Dungeons & Dragons (and games like it). These shows, and plenty more like them, have become hugely popular, spinning off into live performances, production companies, and even animated TV shows. We already went over everything you need to know about actual-play shows in general, but today we wanted to address some questions about what shows like Dimension 20 are rated. Is it okay for a 12 year old to watch Critical Role? Should you let your child listen to The Adventure Zone? Are there actual play shows for kids specifically? We’ll provide you with everything you need to know to determine what D&D shows are good for kids in your family.

One of the greatest joys in Dungeons & Dragons is getting to live out wild imaginary adventures: going on quests, finding lost treasure, and of course…adopting D&D pets. There are a variety of ways to get pets in D&D; you can befriend a wild animal, summon a creature with a magic item, or even create a pet by casting magic spells! We’ll go through all of these options to let you know exactly how you can get a pet in Dungeons & Dragons. 

From the first origins of the game, people have been asking a lot of questions about the intersection of Christianity and Dungeons & Dragons. During the Satanic Panic, many Christians hated D&D and were told D&D was demonic and sinful. Though that turned out to be false, some Christians are still wary of the game, while other Christians love D&D and have their games influenced by their faith. We’re here to discuss ways that Christians can play D&D and use it to uphold Christian values like building community, telling truth, and and even sharing Jesus!

Since the introduction of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in 1974, there have been a lot of questions about the game. Is it safe to play D&D? Are there demons in D&D? Can Christians play D&D? The answer, especially throughout the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s seemed to be a resounding “no,” but the years since have given people a chance to reevaluate. I’m Jaclyn Lewis, former youth minister, current professional Dungeon Master and parent, and I had the chance to interview Pastor Derek W. White, a minister with the United Methodist Church, long-time Dungeon Master and the creator of the D&D satanic panic movie documentary. We’re here to explore what is controversial about D&D, what the Bible has to say about D&D and what Christians need to know about Dungeons & Dragons.