7 Ways to Use Cliffhangers & Entanglements in Dungeons & Dragons

[@theDMLair]

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[@Ren-2212]

Excuse me of i am wrong but its, as far AS i know, Not 5/month its 5/map Pack and 10/animated map Pack. I would appreciate If you could Set this right If you promote them.

[@simonwhitworth2040]

This is one of the best DMLair videos, in my opinion. It's rules agnostic, useful for beginner and veteran Gamesmasters, and has many option to choose from. Well done.

[@grafgeo9194]

My favorite cliffhanger, back in maybe 2010: 4 players in a royal banquette, taken out one by one (poisoned dessert, competetive drinking, charming barde and 2 big guys grappling the halfling mage). When they woke up, they hanged in the cellars of the royal castle. Without their stuff. Cut. That barbarian orc (playing a halforc barbarian) was so raging and had to be calmed down by all other players 😆

[@welersoncarvalho2471]

Best way i did was end with them finding a sealed metal box with a riddle on it, they had a entire week to figure out on group chat, it was awesome lol

[@smippycis6285]

Lul I wish my party actually chatted in the group chat about the mysteries lol, they just jump in next session confused 😕.

[@PeacefulPorcupine]

I always end at the party planning what they will do next session, to save on wasted prep.

[@BobbyTHEDylaner]

My personal favorite, and most recent cliffhanger, my party's sorcerer has a Domain Expansion (stealing from JJK), and has been crushing enemies with it. They encountered a target that they'd been pursuing and found him bed-ridden and sick, so they decided to try to kill him, but he blasts them away and the party sorcerer activates his Domain Expansion. In response, the man says, "Hmm, you think you're special? No, you were a big fish in a small pond, Domain Expansion: Cosmic Vehemence." Ended the session, it was too good.

[@okuro729]

Should we take a shot everytime Luke says "End the game" ?

[@matthewhamlin392]

Well that's over 8 shots. I can't drive now.

[@minimoose7890]

I ran out of vodka... and I don't feel so well, Mr Stark

[@theonlymicrobe]

I ended 1 session with players entering a large mostly empty room so they could relax after traversing a maze. Then started the next session with a riddle and what turned into 2 encounters before finally exiting.

[@kalaolani]

You so expressive that you are one of the most fun you tubers to pause. You are one of my go to common sense DMs. Cheers for all of the great D&D content. Keep it up.

[@Copper9d6]

These are some very good tips for ending a sessions. Thanks for the video. I'll do my best to implement these in my game. Keep up the good work Luke...

[@immortalmonk2891]

I need to disagree in most instances of ending mid combat. In the case of a vary large or multi-staged combat I can see it working. But ending the session in the middle of a run-of-the-mill combat doesnt sit well with me. You likely have the option for some type of story bead right after which would have a more natural suspension or cliffhanger. As far as everything else, ill tend to agree that if you can end on a high note with something unresolved that causes excitement, dread, confusion, or anything else that would drive on a player to continue the story that would work. Like good chapter books, the end of the session or "chapter" should awnser two questions while posing three.

[@jasonhawkins6888]

End it with: "Next week, we are playing Shadowdark."

[@EilonwyG]

I used to try to end games with cliffhangers, until my player came to me and told me she hated cliffhanger hangers. It bothered her to keep her characters in unknown, precarious situations. (Also in video games, she always brings her characters back to safe zones, so I should have known.) So now I completely rely on method 3. So far, so good, lol. (Although I do keep checking in, just to see how I can improve and what seems to be working or not working. Obviously cliffhangers just aren't for this party.)

[@htenerf137]

The biggest thing I’ve found with cliffhanger endings is curating them for the party. In one of my games we love when ending mid-combat means the DM changes the rules of engagement (a portal opens and an old foe appears. The boss powers up and reveals a new form. The minion pulls the lever and the cave starts to crumble in potentially killing us all) It makes starting combat next session feel fresh. On the other hand my other group would rather stay an hour late than end without resolving combat. That or we end 45 mins early to let combat start next session.

[@tonyolsson3880]

This is definitely something i need to learn. We normally end after a fight because we dont plan so we end up playing to long. So these combat cliffhangers will definitely help us have more fun.

[@PoldaranOfDalaran]

This topic is why I follow Brewer's Guide to Gamemastering.

[@thehobbyist7275]

10:38 Can confirm this does work. I'm running a low-level adventure known as the Frozen Sick module from Critical Role and the way I've turned it into a triple threat mystery that is about 1) identifying the disease, how it spreads, and its cure 2) Building up and incorporating the BBEG into this narrative and 3) The mystery behind one of my player's family members died... or have they? Literally, my last session before our current hiatus due to schedules was a bombshell of information that I was scared of being an exposition dump, yet it surprised me how well they took it. We generally play for 3 hours, but by the time I dropped the information and puzzle pieces, we accidentally went overtime because my players spent the next two hours theory-crafting what the mystery meant and poking at contradictions. Not in a slog kind of way either, but they were referring to notes they had taken earlier from previous sessions, clues, and NPC conversations to try to find connections. When that harmony of player investment through backstory, drama, giving elements of what your players want to do, and engagement joins with your own DM desires to tell a specific story there's a magical euphoria that I got to where I couldn't stop smiling. When we hopefully get schedules cleared, they said for SURE we're coming back to my game and I can't wait

[@andylintott9339]

I ended my last session halfway through a two-phase combat, just as they were discussing rest. I took out my chonk D20, rolled in front of the screen, and luckily rolled Nat20. Bloody good luck aside, the Chonk is used for dramatic rolls, using it lets them know that something big is coming, without having to describe what, allowing me to tweak the encounter based on what happened last session. Plus it makes you look crafty and devious. The 20 just adds to it, especially if you just shrug and say "Oh okay, that way." and then pack away...

[@cermence3931]

3:14 1 - Ending the Game Session on a Cliffhanger (When something is ABOUT to happen) 4:27 - AFTER something happens (Minions are defeated, with the boss remain) 5:05 - When combat is about to begin, 5:35 or AFTER combat ends and BEFORE the players get to looting. 6:30 - Reveal something mysterious, like a potential clue/twist on something (SUBVERT 👏EXPECTATIONS 👏. But not all the time; let your players be smart sometimes) 7:15 - NPC says something OMINOUS, with immediate consequence. 8:46 - On implementing Cliffhangers 10:02 2 - Ending the Game Session in an Entanglement - Drop a mystery that would poke at the PCs' curiosity 11:17 - Ominous Foreshadowing 12:15 - End on a high note, a VICTORY 12:44 3 - Run a good game. Ask your players what they're interested in, let them influence the world, give their characters' backstories a role somewhere in the world, let their decisions matter, and ask them for feedback on how gameplay has been (through survey or otherwise)

[@jack4socal]

Since watching this video, I have been ending every possible session on a cliffhanger. My players are enjoying it almost as much as I am!

[@GameMasterDude230]

This was a great video. And I need to keep it in mind more than I sometimes do. It’s a great technique to make the game more interesting and fun. I have done the cliff hanger thing, I just need to be more consistent lol. Thanks for this Luke!

[@zenhikerjoe844]

Loved the “END THE GAME” theme. Reminds me of your “let’s play D&D” outro in days past. You should totally make this a schtick in your videos of cutting to your face close up and repeating some thematic phrase relevant to the video. Some ideas: “talk to you players”, “talk to your GM”, “don’t take away player agency”, “be yourself(don’t try to be Matt Mercer, etc)”, “take notes” Also, great video! Very helpful, Luke!

[@zing_zippers]

❤ This is very timely. When I ended the game on a cliffhanger last session, one of the players called it out. Lol, good overall advice, not just cliffhangers

[@scoots291]

End the session on a cliffhanger amwhen loot is about to give out. Players: oh boy i wonder what we got. Gm: using this opportunity to prep because they forgot their notes/table

[@bukharagunboat8466]

One DM I knew tried this; he barely survived.

[@sokpupetthebarbarian]

I think ending mid combat is a bad idea, but everything else made sense. Like, before a boss or at some big reveal could work i suppose but ending at an attack roll or when players go down just breaks the flow. Like yeah, I can't wait to come in next week to being down and not having my turn.

[@Thenarratorofsecrets]

perfect timing for endings i just try to do what comics tend to do. which happens to be a lot of cliffhangers and entanglements.

[@wyrmbane6771]

Another great video. Thank you!

[@shannonparkhill5557]

Could also make these moments for your half time snack/toilet break

[@jierdareisa4313]

I love ALL the DM Lair videos!!!! ❤

[@travisbaggett2813]

I love all the DM Lair videos!

[@wanderdragon1075]

I would end after that final death save actually. Because if they fail, you kinda just doomed them to a session of nothing to. But just because a character is stable doesn’t mean that they’re safe, and if that character fell, the player getting to come in as the cavalry with their new character will make for an exciting first turn back. Or post battle discovery of them imprisoned. Or however else you handle it.

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

Last game I wasn't 100% sure how I should adjudicate whether dispel magic would work on a big effect from the boss. In hindsight with it being close to ending, I should have stated that the wizard cast dispel magic and then ended the game. Cliffhanger plus giving me time to look it up. As it was, I just went ahead and made a snap ruling and let the dice decide. In hindsight if I had looked it up in between games, I definitely would have ruled the opposite way and it would have given me the dramatic outcome that I thought should happen anyway.

[@MarkoSeldo]

Ended my last session on a cliffhanger - the party has arrived at their destination after much frustrating travel... only to find their enemies have already arrived! The session ended as enemy soldiers charged at them. Needless to say, they're all keen for this Thursday's session.

[@TheTerrainWizard]

Perfect cliffhanger!

[@genearmstrong9974]

Great advice!

[@mdpenny42]

How about something similar to the opening scenes from "Back to the Future 3" - at the end of an adventure, have a courier deliver a letter or package to the PC's, and then end the session. At the beginning of the next session, reveal the contents of the letter or package - this will be the link to the next adventure; however, the twist is that the delivery was paid for months, years or even decades previously, leaving the PC's with the additional mystery of "who, how and why".

[@mdpenny42]

(And, between sessions, keep tabs on what the players *think* the letter or parcel contains - this can be used as inspiration, especially if you're at a bit of a loose end yourself.)

[@leuexcedo9854]

I try to involve a twist in my more memorable fights, and tend to end a session with the reveal, allowing them to really stew in it for the next week's session. For example, my party most recently was trying to extract a charmed man and stolen cat from the blacksmith's daughter. The Blacksmith saw the man as a bum whom his daughter, a 'miracle child' who overcame a mysterious and deadly illness unexpectedly, was madly in love with. The party had made a deal with the blacksmith to take the man, a fugitive that one party member has been tracking since his backstory. The Blacksmith agreed, but couldn't be party to hurting his daughter, and made it clear that she was not to be harmed. The party had tried sending the faces to distract her at the front door like fantasy Mormons while the rest of the party was going to sneak through a side window to take the man and the stolen cat. I had played up how the girl was infatuated with the clearly charmed man, and how she seemed to believe that her perfect life was just getting started. The first problem they noticed was that she was immune to the psionic charm effect, causing the faces to rely more on being distracting than her compelled attention. The second problem was the rest of the party found the man chained to the wall, clearly drained and emaciated, Still very much under the charm effect. But what really tipped her hand was when one party member made too much noise in freeing the man, causing the 5'2" young woman to rush back and knock the door off its hinges with one hand. A party member tried casting hold person on her, only for the spell to fizzle. This party just discovered that the "miracle child" didn't simply overcome her illness, and now are trying to use clues (like that she never leaves her house, some dialogue she had said after the one party member shouted that she wasn't human, etc) to puzzle out what happened to this sickly little girl to turn her into the monster they've enraged. And that's where I left them, with the party just starting to react to how far they've misread the situation. I'm still getting players trying to get hints as to what it is, while I'm hoping the players choose to run away and let this become a new re-occurring nemesis (they killed the first one I tee-ed up).

[@DietIceWater]

Maybe I should just end the campaign. The best cliffhanger!

[@israelmorales4249]

Thx for the video!

[@markfay9649]

Also what is a good duration for a game session? Should I include time for the group to chatter afterwards?

[@unfortunate_error]

Session before last: PC blew up ALL the barrels of gunpowder in the mine, ended game there (so I could figure out da-heck happens next). Last session: they fought a mummy, then made it back to town with a PC cursed

[@Apeiron242]

When I can't do a cliffhanger, I throw in some foreshadowing. Sometimes it's something the characters can't see, but I reveal it to the players. Little bit of dramatic irony.

[@theguardsmen412]

Love this idea 😈

[@Gaming4ever-pd7jv]

In 4 years of being a DM, I pulled this off once.

[@LouisParke]

Hi so I played AD&D in the 70s-90s and picked up some of the new materials when I ran it as an activity for my kids with cognitive challenges. The past few years I have had some hospitalizations and found your channel and others. I am on a tight budget, both time and $ wise. I have revisited my characters and been continuing to developed "my" world. Furthermore, I was wondering how many magic items and weapons do people give out to say a 4-person party per level? I do enjoy relaxing making characters and working on my world even if its just for me. We did hack and slash, get magic stuff and gold. Then go fight dragons, demons, even gods. Ghostbusters, are you a god?

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Players that choose to be a rogue but refuse to look for traps and the cleric ends up doing that

[@abrahamarciga3334]

I would sign up for checkpeku, but i run a mad max post-apocalyptic campaign

[@chadmclennan5644]

SO i have been looking everywhere but cant find good resources on how to make Books as information for your dnd campaigns. example adventures finding a book or a scroll with the informaiton in it.

[@markfay9649]

Where do you get your shirts?

[@EitherProductions]

While none of these are surprising to me, it's certainly very difficult to employ it, and it's definitely something I'm actively trying to work on. It doesn't help that I'd have to look for the "end" point cliffhanger at about a half-hour into the session, because our games generally only have 1.5 to 2 hours of active play. The first half hour before we start is catching up and waiting for everyone to arrive, and then another half hour is lost due to cross-chatter and neurodivergent idiosyncrasies that we have to manage in our 3 hours of available time for a session. I've had some great sessions that employed these methods, but most of the time, we have to cut a session simply because we've run out of time and nothing particularly interesting managed to happen during the brief time we had that night.

[@MattSchieler]

Little disappointed this video didnt end on a cliffhanger

[@Darkwintre]

One cliffhangar in a game I played in ended with my character managing to surprise an attacking dragon with a wall of water for the start of the next week the DM "forgot" I surprised the dragon and basically ignored that as one of the other players claimed he could drive his car through a wall and be fine afterwards despite the point that they wasn't expecting that wall. Yes that was an idiotic exchange!

[@Fantasyscaping]

Will try leaving my game cliffhanging on a critical role. Have a feeling I might get a coffee mug thrown at me but hey... hesitation kills the soul and chicks dig scars!

[@commandershepard9920]

Not sure why, but this video makes me feel a bit inspired to be an obnoxious DM. "Jeez, this encounter feels over tuned... it's round 2 and everyone is down but the druid and even she has only 2 hp left. I think maybe she needs to-" "I'm ENDING the game!" --- "Finally! It's my turn! I've been waiting for this moment. All four wights are grouped together over there, yeah? I'm gonna cast fireb-" "I'm ENDING the game!" --- "The dragon is about to use it's breath weapon? Thankfully I have evasi-" "I'm ENDING the game!" --- "I'm gonna go open that chest over th-" "I'm ENDING the game!" --- *Looks at the DM anxiously in silence.* *DM looks back intensely.* *Begins to spea*- "I'm ENDING the game!"

[@kriskronkle5203]

The Gm just sharted his pants... END THE GAME

[@Iansco1]

End the game before the barbarian before grog rages, smashes his guantlets, rolls 2 nat 20s and kills the bb.

[@Datatrike]

Off-topic, but what is the creature at 11:46-11:49, or, if not an actual creature, where is the artwork from or who made it?

[@Darkwintre]

Tried to do that got little response if any usually only to questions I asked them save for one detail where I introoduced someone resembling a character's father. He asked so I answered and he promptly ignored the npc and even ran away from them rather than ask the obvious question who is that!

[@SamuelDancingGallew]

I don't think ending the session when a Player either dies or is about to die is a good idea, unless you know they aren't going to be there next session anyway. Otherwise, you risk a Player sitting with nothing to do because your other players keep avoiding your hooks to bring the other character in, or keep saying they'll resurrect the other player this session, and put it off until the very end because they're too busy looting and shopping.

[@karsonkammerzell6955]

Down to the last strip of bacon?! END. THE. GAME. 😮

[@peatmoss4946]

awesome wisdom to end the game

[@sleepinggiant4062]

I dislike stopping at the beginning of combat. Players are temped to look up the creature between sessions. Yes, smart trolls are quite unique!

[@tabletopgamingwithwolfphototec]

I literally don't try to do this ( topic of video ). My games naturally land on cliffhangers.

[@scoots291]

Last time i was this early tgere was a scare

[@aidanguernsey9524]

Aside from the official D&D Discord, where should I go to find player to join a new adventure. I am DM'ing for the first time, and I don't know where to start?

[@MarkoSeldo]

Facebook groups. There are often local or state-based FB groups you can join and hit with a LFP message

[@borbiboy1556]

Most ideas are very good. Nice video! But i would suggest to never end the session in the middle of an exciting combat. The players might be totally in the zone and the same action filled feeling might be gone at the beginning of the next session while the players take their time to let lose of the real world and find their way back into the situation they last left of. Im in general not a big fan of cliff hangers. Its like jump scares in horror movies. Most of the time its just a cheep trick which takes away the tension of the moment and then it becomes harder to build up this tension again.

[@tombratcher6938]

"Think about the horrible dnd games you've been in. What did they all have in common?". Um, me?

[@Maria_______Jose]

I lost The Game too many times in cause this video

[@tombratcher6938]

...so you did

[@danielrhouck]

You keep saying you will outrage your players, or that this is devious. This is because people often *don’t like* cliffhangers.

[@bastionsea2829]

I feel like ending this game in the middle of combat is a bad idea, if you're not catering to all the players, someone might not come back, and the combat stalls

[@kadmii]

END THE GAME

[@Frederic_S]

I drop big mysteries like 🍬 candy 😁 maybe too many.

[@tombratcher6938]

As a player (and I'm probably that player) I'd find ending the game on a death save really annoying. Fucks sake Luke, I know you live on your player tears, but seriously. Do need to be thinking about my next character or not.

[@belzebubukas]

Start the game! END the game!

[@feththeexorcist]

I LOST THE GAME

[@Dlnqntt]

So, question. Why is it that a year after making a video about leaving 5e to go to PF2, you are back to just 5e content? We Pathfinder players need more representation, but all the KZbinrs that claimed they were leaving for Pathfinder did not seem to stick to that claim.

[@thenannymoh]

Unsubscribing. Your vids have become click-baity, with less and less helpful content. The worst though are your "DMs should never!" and "DMs should always!" content...you might have 5 seconds of useful wisdom buried in a 20 minute vid somewhere, but other youtubers give us much more and don't yell at us while doing it. (I'd last 3 minutes at your table with that kind of yelling).

[@CountAdolfo]

Gotta get on your editor... some silly spelling errors, here. Your ideas, here, are GREAT advice for a DM NOT running a West Marches campaign, where virtually nothing here is usable. There, you need to get really creative...

[@petermuller926]

Tl, dw: end the game

[@Apeiron242]

Boycott WotC.

[@goingleft3863]

If a DM intentionally fucked me around by ending the game mid-combat or mid-save, I probably wouldn't return. That's just awful. If the game isn't compelling on its own, shitty cliffhangers aren't going to save it.

[@robinmohamedally7587]

lol, good riddance.