9 Places for Game Masters to Find Inspiration

I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons for the better part of a decade; I quickly stepped into being a Dungeon Master.

As a Game Master, it is hard to keep coming up with good ideas on a regular basis and to keep the game running. Here, however, are the best places I can suggest going for content to use in your own game. These could be helpful as a GM, or even as a player, if the GM of your game allows. Before I go any further: if you don’t own copies of the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual, go and get them. They are required reading to run a D&D game and your best tool for inspiration.

Dungeons and Dragons Official (Unearthed Arcana): Chances are you’ve gone to the main Wizards of the Coast website if you’re here and play Dungeons and Dragons. You might have missed, however, the Unearthed Arcana articles. These articles have everything from new ideas for subclasses to new rules for downtime. While they say this is all playtest material, they are written by the experts of DnD and I have not ever had to tweak them for my games. One you won’t have to alter is the Revised Ranger, which is not playtest material and is meant to be an option to improve the ranger class in the PHB.
DonJon (a random generator): This is the best generator I have found. It can generate just about anything for your game (even if you’re playing a different RPG). Need a map for your world? Heck, need entire planets for your sci-if game? You can generate them here. Need NPCs? Generate them here. Need random encounters? Need treasure drops? All the possible spells for a class at a specific level? All are here!
DnD-Spells (a spell book): an easy and free way to keep all your character spell books! (This is especially important when a player is trying to fudge the rules on you…) Highly recommend “buying him a drink” (making a small donation) so he can keep up the work.
Tumbler’s DnD Homebrew page: This is a page filled with homebrew content. I almost always have to alter things here a lot for my purposes, but there are some really great works to use as a basis for your own. While I would use some of this stuff as a DM, I would never let players use stuff found here.
Pinterest: In the same vain as DnD Homebrew, Pinterest in general has a TON of ideas for rules, characters (particularly appearances), and other ideas– including from DnD Homebrew. Besides some of the charts, the biggest reason to use Pinterest is for inspiration for how a character or location uses. If you’re interested in seeing some of what is offered, check out my board.
Dungeon Master Guild: Digital content from across the world, created by dungeon masters for a price. Always look at the preview before you buy, but there is a lot of content here worth buying. I have now started to create my own content which you can find here.
Drive Thru RPG: Same idea as from the Guild, but with a lot of content from outside DnD. It’s a great place to go and find content you can repurpose for DnD (as well as content for DnD).
Dungeons and Dragons Beyond: The latest tool from Dungeons and Dragons and Wizards of the Coast directly. Right now, it is still mainly a compendium of rules and spells, but they now have character creation kits for players and DMs and homebrew content. One of the best things they have been working on is the Player’s App which allows you to play a character right from your phone (and create one in minutes). One of the biggest things I’m still waiting for is the ability to run a game from online akin to Fantasy Grounds or Roll20.

There are so many places to look for additional inspiration. Think about what video games, books, and movies you love and can pull into your game.

Thank you for reading! I really hope this helps you come up with ideas easier and have more fun next time you sit down to play. You’re welcome to find more of my writing on orcs in Dungeons and Dragons or on the alignment system.

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