Sometimes inDungeons & Dragons, you want to give your playersa punishment they weren’t expecting. Maybe your party can rush in without thinking or perhaps make a bad decision, resulting in dire consequences. If that sounds familiar andyou’re looking to spice things up at your table, then a clever punishment could be just the right thing to build that tension.
Of course, you shouldn’t punish your players often or force them to take on too much of a burden. These are just a few consequences to throw their way if they’re feeling clever.
Updated Jul 02, 2025, by Jon Eakin:Players are always coming up with new ways to make their Dungeon Master sigh and rub their temples in good-natured frustration, which means DM’s need to be just as crafty in coming up with ways to bite back in a way that establishes consequences without feeling unearned. To help you keep your players on their toes, we’ve updated this list with new entries and fresh features.
10Seize Their Stronghold
There’s No Place Like Home
Players often like to establish a home base, and it can make a fantastic reward for a DM to hand out at the end of a particularly important storyline. Whether it’s a farmstead, tavern, castle keep, or entire town is up to you and your players, but they’ll be thrilled to have a place in the world that is theirs.
The great thing about this for you, the DM, is that it gives you another way to scheme against your player’s characters and punish them for poor choices. A rowdy group might make their tavern unwelcoming to other patrons, the King may reclaim their castle, or the town under their care could come under attack.
9Make A Beloved NPC Disappointed In Them
Not Angry, Just Disappointed
Players typically have a few NPCs they develop a special soft spot for. The bartender at their regular tavern, the owner of the magic shop they frequent, or the patron of their adventures are a few common examples.
When your players make choices you want them to reconsider, going big isn’t always the way to go. Having their beloved NPC express sadness at the path they’ve taken is often the most effective tool at your disposal, not to mention the most emotionally devastating.
8An Embarrassing Spell
Power Word Shame
This is for a situation when your party is facing a spellcaster. If your party can just slaughter their way through most encounters easily, why not use a spell that slows them down? Taking them down a notch can result in a pretty funny scenario, especially during combat.
Make a homebrew spell that will force them to hallucinate an embarrassing scenario as if they’re in a nightmare, or do something like force them to dance every time they try to attack.
7Poisoned With The Truth
Spill Their Secrets
Another social situation punishment could involve the truth. We all know the spell Zone of Truth, but what if we could go one step further? During some banquet or occasion where the party is offered food or drink, you’re able to say that their food was laced with some magical truth serum.
The same rules as Zone of Truth apply where one can equivocate, but the difference is that this serum is a lot more potent, and it compels the party to answer any questions given for a certain amount of time if they don’t make a saving throw, which could lead to some embarrassing but fun moments. It can also be a neat trick from a villain that the party wasn’t prepared for.
6The Annoying Fan
Endless Fan Mail
What better way to annoy the party than with a purposefully annoying NPC? If you’re dealing with a party up there in levels and with some renown, then you can have them encounter an annoying fan who wants to be an adventurer just like them. This fan will, of course, pester them with questions, and the party may have trouble deciding what to do with them.
It can be a fun situation, especially if circumstances force the fan to be stuck with the party throughout a certain adventure or quest. Not to mention it offers some heartwarming roleplay if the party ends up endearing and adopting their fan.
5The Cursed Weapon
Blessing In Disguise
It’s a classic for a reason. Giving your party a cursed weapon is just the perfect little punishment because it doesn’t seem like a punishment. There are plenty of cursed weapons that Dungeons & Dragons provides, and it won’t be hard to search up and find some good homebrew ones.
A benefit is that a cursed weapon, depending on what it is and how dangerous it can be, can also open up some fascinating roleplay opportunities for your players, especially if the weapon is conscious and tries to tap into a certain character’s dark desires or fears.
4Sentient Gear Unionise
Quippy Equipment
For this scenario, one piece of gear from each party member suddenly achieves some level of sentience and communicates together in order to unionize. Of course, this is a very small punishment since magical items can’t really be paid. Instead, they just ask the party to treat them a bit more fairly and not toss them around and such.
This is a short and simple punishment to perhaps help your party appreciate the things they have and treat their items a little better. Plus they may end up bonding with the party even more which is always fun for your players.
3Time Is An Illusion
Tick Tock
Maybe you’re seeking something more punishing when it comes to combat. During a fight, suddenly ask your players to get into pairs if possible, or you can do this randomly. During an enemy’s turn, whether they’re a spellcaster or have some magical item, have the enemy use an item that can only be used once and temporarily manipulates time.
The pairs will switch places in the initiative order, or you may use any other method if there’s an odd number of players. Either way, this initiative swap may occur every two rounds or so, changing the order of things. This is a great way to switch up combat and make your party have to think more strategically.
2Tax Fraud
Time To Pay Up
Does your party have a little too much gold? Perhaps you want to set them back temporarily. Well, have an agent of local government, like people representing a monarch or a democratic government, confront the party.
Since they’ve been getting tons of gold, they probably haven’t been paying their fair share as tax and so must cough up a hefty sum or face possible arrest. Whatever your party does will have its consequences, either losing out on gold or possibly becoming temporary fugitives.
1Jealousy Spawns Rumours
People Love To Talk
Finally, we have something that a lot of parties could face. After adventuring for a while, a jealous adventurer or perhaps someone wronged by the party will begin to use whatever influence they have to spread rumours about the party.
It’ll be a surprise for the characters when they wander into the next town and find themselves getting stared at and people giggling and whispering about them. They will eventually find out just what rumour about each of them has been spreading around and with a little digging, who started it. This can also open up a nice investigative side quest while your party is in town and helps make the world seem more real.
