It ain’t easy DMing, and solo monsters heap some responsibility on your shoulders. You might think that one monster on the field is an easier management task. Sometimes you’re right. But good management starts well before and proceeds throughout an engagement.
The Plot Kill
In the ongoing debate of killing of PCs and total party kills, one aspect of PC death is often left out: The Plot Kill. Having turned Plot Kills into defining campaign moments and having received some memorable Plot Kills myself, I think the concept warrants discussion.
Mailbag 1 – Character Contortion
Here’s the first question from the mailbag. Jon Hixson asks: “How do you deal with players new to 4e who want to run characters that the system doesn’t support?”
What Does Not Kill You
When I was sitting in my room, working out the battles, it all seemed so easy, so clean, so antiseptic. The party needed so many thousand experience points, so I divided that amount by the number of encounters remaining, spent my budget to buy the monsters, and then we’ll all roll initiative. Somewhere in all that preparation, I forgot about evaluating for fun.
The Short Epic Tale
ne of the things that still bewilders me after nearly 30 years of RPGs is how many of us insist on following specific conceits that were rarely, if ever, hardwired in the rules. For instance, what’s with having such long campaign lengths and the necessity to stick with the same PC as long as it remains alive? I’ve talked to so many people online and during cons bemoan that they can’t try a new class or a new RPG because ‘we’re playing this one epic campaign, maybe after…’ Say What? Why must so many campaigns be these epic tales lasting x amount of actual real life years? Why is it so important to ‘get to the end of the game’?
Crafting Your Adventure
How about that for a title? It’s pretty audacious, acting like I’m about to deliver some sort of authoritative how-to guide. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that a better title would be, “Crafting MY Adventure,” and still better, “Crafting This One Adventure Once.”
What? You want to Sleep here?
I don’t like random monsters. On the other hand, the idea of having players sweat for their extended rest could be worth exploring once or twice in a campaign. This is especially true if your group chronically blows their wad of dailies in the first encounter and then just assume they can take an extended rest wherever they please. So, what if you said ‘Yes’ to resting in a dangerous area (like in the middle of a freaking dungeon) but did it with a twist?
Keeping up with the PCs: Part 2, What Not to Do and Quick Fixes
In part 1, I discussed a common occurrence in D&D 4e where parties becomes much stronger than they should be through what I called the ‘Secret Synergy Bonus.’ This occurs when players figure how to play their PCs as a focused team based on good communication and smart use of power combos to increase combat efficiency […]
Keeping up with the PCs: Part 1, The Secret Synergy Bonus
Many D&D 4e DMs have experienced, over the last 18 months, a shift in their gaming group’s performance. PCs have become capable of taking absolutely everything thrown at them with more ease than the game rules assume. Encounters at the PCs’ levels barely make a dent in the their resources anymore: “Dude, I lost like, just one Healing Surge”. Higher level encounters are also often dealt with with relative ease.
Railroading in a Good Way
The term ‘railroading’ usually sends a shiver down the spine of any tabletop RPG player because of the negative implications that come along with it. To be honest, most DMs dislike the term as well and railroading is generally referred to as a problem with an RPG.
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