D&D 5e Player & DM Guides
Long-form editorial guides for D&D 5e players and Dungeon Masters. Each guide is original Doungim content — written from table experience, not lifted from the SRD. Doungim is a TTRPG gaming console for D&D and other tabletop role-playing games.
How to Play a Wizard in D&D 5e: The Complete Player Guide
Everything a new D&D 5e player needs to make and play a Wizard — ability scores, spells, schools of magic, level-by-level priorities, and ten DM-tested combat plays.
Read the full guide →How to Play a Cleric in D&D 5e: The Definitive Guide
A complete guide to playing a Cleric in D&D 5e — Domains, healing math, the Spiritual Weapon + Spirit Guardians loop, and ten level-by-level decisions every Cleric player faces.
Read the full guide →How to Play a Rogue in D&D 5e: From Sneak Attack to Assassin
A complete D&D 5e Rogue guide — Sneak Attack mechanics, Expertise picks, Cunning Action moves, the Assassin / Swashbuckler / Soulknife subclasses, and 12 plays that win combat.
Read the full guide →How to Play a Paladin in D&D 5e: Smites, Auras, and Oaths
The complete Paladin guide for D&D 5e — Divine Smite math, Oath subclass picks, auras that buff the whole party, and the smite-crit nova combo that ends bosses in a single round.
Read the full guide →Optimal Druid Multiclass Builds in D&D 5e
Six battle-tested Druid multiclass combinations: Druid 2 / Sorcerer X, Cleric Tempest / Druid, Moon Druid / Barbarian, and three others. When each one outperforms a pure Druid.
Read the full guide →Running Your First D&D Combat as DM
A step-by-step guide for first-time Dungeon Masters running their first D&D 5e combat — initiative, turn order, monster decisions, when to call it, and the five rules new DMs always forget.
Read the full guide →Building a Balanced D&D 5e Party: Roles, Synergies, and Anti-Patterns
How to assemble a four-player D&D 5e party that handles every encounter — the four roles, the strongest combinations, and the party comps that will get the group killed.
Read the full guide →The DM's Session-Zero Checklist: 20 Questions Before You Roll Dice
A complete session-zero checklist for D&D 5e DMs — the 20 questions to ask your players before campaign one to set tone, safety, character cohesion, and table expectations.
Read the full guide →How to Write Your First D&D Campaign (10 Sessions)
A practical guide to writing your first 10-session D&D campaign — the three-arc structure, where to plant clues, encounter pacing, and the failure modes new DMs hit at session 4.
Read the full guide →How to Use Random Encounter Tables Effectively in D&D 5e
When to roll on a random encounter table, when to skip, how to make rolled results matter — the DM technique behind games like Forgotten Realms exploration that feel alive.
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