Congratulations on 500!

The one and only Chatty DM hit the 500 posts milestones recently.  If you don’t know Chatty, be careful.  You’ll be sucked in by his entertaining epic articles - he bears his name well and writes great and lengthy posts.

If you haven’t done so yet go over to his site and congratulate him on the milestone: the long journey, 500th post.

If you’re nice to him maybe you can become one of Chatty’s minions!

New writers on Dungeon Mastering

You might haver noticed by now.  For the last few weeks the quality of the articles on Dungeon Mastering has increased (at least in my opinion).

It’s because I’m not writing as much!  We now have two very talented writers on board, Janna and Nicholas.  Welcome to the team!

The new crew

Janna discovered D&D at the age of 16, and she’s been rolling the dice for 16 years. (You do the math.) Notorious for her love of intelligent villains, drow society, and campaigns that explore the Dark Side, she has embraced 4e and plays it regularly. Some of her favorite game settings include Eberron, Forgotten Realms, and White Wolf’s World of Darkness. You can contact Janna at janna@dungeonmastering.com.

Nicholas in charge of cleaning up after Expy. Outside of that, he is a political science student riding out his senior year. His favorite RPGs are Dungeons & Dragons and Burning Wheel. You can contact Nicholas at nicholas@dungeonmastering.com.

The old crew

Yax. I’m the founder of the website and the rumors that I am only a human puppet so Expy could launch a website are false.  Really.  Stop emailing me about this. Thanks. You can contact me at yax@dungeonmastering.com

Expy is DungeonMastering’s resident red dragon.  He doesn’t write much.  He doesn’t work much.  And even though he has a treasure hoard at home he never lends me gold. You can contact Expy at expy@dungeonmastering.com

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I’m a goblin.  Now what?

There’s a little known fact about Dungeon Mastering. In the early days of the site Expy was given full authority over hiring. His first and last act in this position was to retain the services of a troupe of polymorphed goblins, who he allowed to write their own contract. Due to the terms of their contract they are employed by Dungeon Mastering for “infinity years” and are to be paid in a “new roasted beast each day, delivered on the back of a new non-roasted beast and accompanied by honey mustard dipping sauce of equal weight to the heaviest goblin”. In return for their substantial and bizarre compensation their sole duty is to respond to any letters we get from those who have been polymorphed into goblins and need advice to deal with the change. This has never come up, until now! I was making the daily delivery, roast celestial dire badger with 87,986.42 grams of honey mustard ferried by chimera, when I spotted the following letter:

Dear Goblin Polymorph team,

I was recently on an adventure to a region east of castle Greyhawk when I had the experience of being polymorphed into a goblin. (Or some kind of goblinoid anway- I still haven’t figured out the difference. These people all look the same to me.) Anyway, the thing is, I sort of enjoy being a goblin. I feel like I finally have a home. I get to loot, pillage, and listen to Enrique Inglesias all day and nobody in the tribe condemns such evil acts.

I don’t know how to break it to the rest of my adventuring party that I want to stay with the greenskins. I expect my group will mount a rescue attempt soon, probably killing dozens of my newfound brothers in the process and forever sullying the allure of latin music.

Will my party understand my decision to remain with the goblins? Please help.

-Gerard Duskhammer, dwarf-cleric-turned-goblin

So without further ado, here is the input of our crack team of polymorphed goblinoids.

Lenwë Ciryatan, former elven botanist, current hobgoblin archer writes:

“It is never easy to expose your inner self to your friends and family. The first step is to accept yourself, when you can look in the mirror and love who you are, you will be ready for others to love you. If you can dance to Enrique you are halfway there. The next most important thing is timing. You don’t want to burst it out in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner and then get into a shouting match with your father until Aunt Sally cries into the cranberry sauce. Hypothetically, that would be the most humiliating moment of your life. The sad fact is that even in the best circumstances some people just aren’t going to accept your lifestyle, some might even try to “rescue” or change you. Don’t let them control you, show your pride and crank up the Enrique”

Oswald Foxgar, halfling rogue turned goblin blackblade writes:

“Ah, yes, you can never get away from troublesome party members trying to stop your pillaging fun. Even once you become a goblin it’s tough to get away from. Here’s a simple trick I learned when I became a goblin. You way over to your tribe leader and you squeal like a toy in the mouth of a hyperactive puppy. You tell the boss man that your party is coming, fill him in on all their powers and weaknesses and you have the whole tribe set up a little ambush. When your former buddies walk right into the trap and the whole tribe leaps out, make it the whole tribe minus you. They fight each other in the usual way, you just watch. If your green-skinned pals live you just tell them that nature called right before the ambush and all will be well. If your old “heroic” friends win the day than you just run out and sing their praises for the rescue. Once they have divide up the loot of your former tribe you’ll be on your way. First time they stick you on night watch you just stab up your saviors while they sleep. Next head off to the next goblin tribe with a tale of you single-handedly killed the men who killed your tribe. As an added bonus you can expect to get a lot of fangy makeout sessions, goblin chicks love avengers of a tribe.”

Bonesplitter “Steve” Facebreaker, bugbear warrior cursed to live as a goblin skullcleaver grunted:

“Club break party skulls, make meat tender, taste good with honey mustard.”

So there you have it, Gerard. Our goblin polymorph team has really earned their roasted slaad carried by treant tomorrow. If you have a question for any of our polymorph team or you have been turned into a goblin and don’t know what to do contact imagoblinnowwhat@dungeonmastering.com or leave a comment.

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How good is the D&D Character Builder?

When I tried the D&D character builder at GenCon I was impressed.  The first major software release by WOTC is now available for beta testing.

Note that you have to subscribe to D&D Insder to download the software.  Dungeon magazine and Dragon magazine are worth the subscription price so the extra tools and software coming up are big bonuses.  That’s how I see it anyway.

Beta version limitations

You can only level up to lvl 3 on the beta character builder.  I had some printing issues as well while testing the software and I’d be curious to know if it’s my printer or the software - probably the printer.  Anyone had printing issues?

Many books, one character builder

There are many great features on the character builder.  All the powers from all the published books and online articles are available in one place.

Houserules rule

You can also change pretty much anything and everything on your character.  Rules tweaks will only mark your character as houseruled.

Power cards

The software lets you print your character sheet complete with power cards - which is very neat.

Horizontal character sheets

The character builder gives you a few options for your character sheet layout.  I like horizontal/landscape layout for character because they take a little less room on the gaming table.

The best review is at Critical-Hits.com

I’m an entertainer, but the guys at Critical Hits are journalists and they came up with the best D&D character builder review.

What do you think?

Do you think you’ll be using the character builder?  What do you think of the beta product?

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I’ve got a friend who likes to grumble about the implausible nature of dungeons, especially dungeons from the early days of D&D. “They don’t make sense,” he insists. “Why would a dragon live in the same place as a bunch of orcs and goblins? Why would ogres set up shop in a cave full of deadly fungi, slimes, and piercers? And why would anyone permit gelatinous cubes to roll around in their dungeon? They might absorb you while you sleep!”

Well, obviously the dragon enjoys having its own buffet; the ogres use the environmental hazards to soften up intruders; and gelatinous cubes make a handy, if squishy, janitorial staff. But that’s just me coming up with justifications for seemingly nonsensical dungeon arrangements.

To be honest, I see my friend’s point. There’s something a little too random about kicking in Door #1 and finding a colony of kobolds, then kicking in Door #2 and finding a pack of werewolves. Would those guys actually have cordial relations? Not to mention, Door #3 might be hiding a drow raiding party – far from home, and living in apparent harmony with all the other creatures inhabiting the place.

Making Dungeons Make Sense

Your dungeons don’t have to be made up of random monster pairings, unless your players are happy with that arrangement. To make your dungeons make sense, think about the types of monsters that might actually form an alliance. Then populate the dungeon with these monsters. Incorporate a variety of monsters of various levels. You could give your PCs a few easy targets, quite a lot of targets on par with the party, a few hard ones, and one uber-boss.

For example, you could go with the “master and minions” theme. Say there’s a dungeon filled with kobolds and their minions. Easy pickings for almost any PC. But those kobolds have laid traps and set up ambushes to wear down the PC party. They’ve also got some spell-casting dragon cultists among their number. Young dragons and dragon spawn make an appearance as the PCs near the end. Once the party has cleared out the smaller monsters, they could stumble upon a bona fide dragon.

To make an ecologically sound dungeon, come up with a theme and then fit monsters into that theme. You could have an elemental dungeon, an undead dungeon, or even a dungeon filled with constructs.

The Monster Manual Can Help

The 4th Edition Monster Manual makes it easier than ever to come up with dungeons that make sense. Most of the creatures in the book have different classes among their number, representing a range of difficulties. For example, a yuan-ti sharp-eye is a level 13 creature, but a yuan-ti anathema is level 21. And there are lots of other yuan-ti classes that fall between those levels.

Also, the book suggests likely encounter groups for each monster. Those suggestions alone tell you which sorts of creatures might cooperate with each other.

Think Outside the Dungeon

Of course, your dungeon doesn’t have to actually be a dungeon. A dungeon can be any place where enemies lurk. A range of craggy hills might bring your party into conflict with a basilisk, a pair of wyverns, and an ettin marauder. Beef up those creatures’ numbers to populate your hills with an ecology that makes sense.

The Underdark is a prime example of the non-dungeon dungeon. You can always take your party down there to see a rich, if deadly, ecology in action.

Dungeons are great places to hack up enemies and find lots of treasure. I think an element of realism adds to the fun. Do you agree? Leave a comment to share your thoughts about the ecology of dungeons.

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So you’re wondering if it is worth your hard earned treasure to unlock the wonders of the Adventurer’s Vault? Let us break it down for you.

THE GOOD

Second Verse, Same as the First: All the item types make their return in the Adventurer’s Vault to expand your choices considerably for all slots and bring you a healthy selection of new wondrous items. Additionally there are a few new subcategories under the wondrous items heading, however these feel very tacked on. For instance the addition of battle standards is a very neat concept but there are only eight to choose from and they fall in two very narrow level ranges, levels 2-4 and levels 16-20. In short if you liked the way magic items were done in the PHB, you’ll find a lot more to love here. If you didn’t like the magic item system itself don’t expect to this book to change anything.

Chug, Chug, Chug!: If you’re anything like me you were very disappointed with the potions in the PHB. Who wants nothing but four different types of healing potions? The Adventurer’s Vault corrects this oversight, adding a robust selection of potions with a variety of purposes. In addition the vault includes several new types of consumables, including reagents and whetstones which characters can use to add one time bonus effects to their weapons and spells. The book also contains an alchemy system, which works similarly to rituals and enables characters to produce their own oils, explosives and miscellaneous concoctions.

Pimp Your Ride: The vault contains rules and stats for a variety of new mounts and vehicles. The vehicles section is primarily practical, containing rules for such common modes of travel as wagons and longships. There are a couple strange inclusions, like an ornithopter but they are exceptional. The mount section is quite the opposite and I love it! I have never found myself struggling because I didn’t have the rules to ride around on a rhino or a giant ant (if you have than I want to join your group), but now that I have them I want nothing more than to use them.

Mundane, But Not Forgotten: The magical side of things is much more heavily favored but the vault does contain a selection of mundane weapons and armors. The weapons focus on superior quality selections and the more exotic choices that were cut from the core rules. So if you happened to miss being able to wield the kukri or a trident than this book has you covered. The highlight of the mundane section is the aptly named new property “Brutal”. Brutal enables you to reroll your 1s (or 1s and 2s for the more powerful weapons) on all weapon damage dice until they come out to a higher number. It is a potent ability but available almost exclusively on superior quality weapons.

Great References: A minor point to players but as a DM I found it very useful that the book had a solid index. Each section begins with a table organizing the contents of that section by level. The back of the book has an overall table of magical items separated by level, alphabetized with a column of what slot it fills and another of what page it can be found on. It may be a nerdy thing to like but it is a valuable tool to a DM planning his rewards.

THE BAD

Power Creep: It seems that with every new book that comes out the abilities and items available to the players get just a bit more potent. This book is no exception, the items both mundane and magical have a slight edge over their PHB counterparts in my estimation. It is not a game breaking problem but if you are worried about monster encounters being too easy or power disparities in the party than it is something you should be aware of.

Infused with Vitamin M: The rules for enchanting your own magical items are not very rich in the PHB and the Adventurer’s Vault offers little aid. The book offers some common sense rulings about increasing the power of an existing magical item and gives players a new ritual to transfer the magic of one item to another eligible item. These are calls that most DMs who run enchanting characters have probably made for themselves and it offers little additional depth to magic item creation.

Good Stuff is Behind the Counter: Back in 3.5, my favorite book “Unearthed Arcana” offered a prestige class that is a scion of a legendary item. When I first read this class I was intrigued, followed by disappointed. The problem is that there were four types of scions and each one had only a single example item, highly restricted ones at that. In addition there were no rules for designing your own legendary items for scions. I share this story for two reasons. First, I still like the idea of item scions and hope that someone will read this and point me towards something cool like it. Second, I wanted to illustrate that I love artifacts and legendary items and Wizards love to burn me on it. I am excited about the new system for artifacts in 4 ed but the DMG comes with only four artifacts to cover characters of all types and levels. In the lead up to the Adventurer’s Vault I loudly wished to anyone who would listen that the book would have lots of delicious artifacts. As for the number that turned out to be in the book, some ancient cultures has no word to describe it. If you attempt to divide by it your calculator will give you an error and your head might explode. There are no artifacts and no rules for making them to be found in the vault. Wizards has seen fit to give us three versions of the bag of tricks but on the most game breaking items possible we are left to stumble in the dark.

The Verdict

The Adventurer’s Vault has an impressive collection of magical items, but does no drift far from the established formula or take any risks. The increased selection makes it worth owning one or two among the group but there’s no reason every player needs one.

Tell us if this review was useful to you - we’ll be doing more review over the next few weeks. Also, honk if you love artifacts!

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DNDSMQ November 16, 2008 : D&D Sunday Morning Quiz - Dragons

Dragons are famous for a reason. They totally kick butt, they breathe elemental death, and they have enough treasure to bail out the global economy. Want to see if you know as much as you think you know about our draconic betters? It’s time to test your dragon lore!

All of the following answers can be found in the vaults of your common sense, or in the Monster Manualk

NOTE: Some email clients and RSS readers can’t submit your answers to our website. You can go to Dungeon Mastering to take the quiz.

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Don’t we all love generators?

They’ll get your campaign going.  They’ll give you ideas.  They’ll make you wonder how come you didn’t get anything done today at work.

Yes, I’m talking about random generators!

1. Dragon description generator - oh, yeah!
2. Government generator - because we’re all boring of adventuring in “The Kingdom” or “The Empire” and would rather explore the “Legendary and Perfected Federation” or some place with a funky name.
3. Whacky class generator - don’t you wan’t to play a Crocodile Kicker?
4. Detailed character generator - a short description and quick roleplaying notes will make bring any anonymous NPC to life.
5. Goblin namer - even though goblins can kill you, most of the time they die. Having a unique name gives them personality, which in turn increases their chances to be spared.  “Ktozs scared.  Pleeease don’t kill Ktozs…”
6. Fractal world generator - interesting and maybe even useful.
7. Dungeon generator - try the “labyrinth” setting to mees with your players’ mind.
8. Snake generator - what the hell?  Do we really need a snake generator? Well, it’s there just in case…
9. Pirate name generator - I could click that button all day!
10. NaNoWriMo motivator - maybe you’ve tried to write a book during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and maybe you failed (like me!) and maybe you could have used some motivation!
11. Martial arts move generator - ninja time!
12. Wrestler name generator - trust me, you’ll find a way to squeeze these names in your campaign.
13. Namator - probably the best looking random gen website
14. The Forge - you don’t know it yet but you like flash-based generators.
15. Lorem Ipsum - it’s made for print and web filler text, but you can use it to impress your players with scrolls filled with gibberish (I think it’s latin)
16. Candy generator - every inn cooks up something sweet, unique, and delicious.
17. Magic invocation generator - this one is especially fun!
18. Drink recipe generator - don’t try this at home…
19. Darth maker - it has nothing to do with D&D but I enjoyed it a lot!
20. Humorous fantasy class generator - a butler sorceress and footpad nanny walk into a bar…

And there’s so much more out there!  Seventh Sanctum has the most fun generators.  So have fun and click aways.

Now if only someone could come up with a random random-generator generator…

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Ancient tricks to polish your martial heroes

Hercules, King Arthur, Achilles, Aladdin, Sinbad, Beowulf, Robin Hood. I’d be willing to bet that most of you recognize the deeds of most of that list. That might not sound very impressive but think hard about it, some of these stories are thousands of years old and from all over the globe but we still talk about robbing from the rich to give to the poor and the Achilles heel. There is a commonality to all these heroes beyond their enduring legend, they all survive by strength, skill with a weapon or wits. In other words, they are all martial heroes.

I am no expert on the subject, so take my proclamations with a grain of salt, but as a mythology enthusiast it seems to me like up until modern fiction the martial hero was the focus of most stories. Granted, the mystically imbued characters were still present but they were relegated to supporting roles as advisors and oracles to aid the hero. Often their magic was unnatural or suspect, sometimes they even served as the villains of the story. I’d love to spend paragraphs discussing the deep meaning behind why we historically enjoy brute strength defeating magic or why the flash of magic is now more popular, but this article has a more important purpose. I want to take all the tricks of ancient storytellers to polish up your martial characters.

Dressed for Success

I am going to commit some DM blasphemy here and tell you flat out, give your martial characters the coolest magic items. Note that I said the coolest, not the most powerful. Classic mythology is loaded with figures defined by their gear, from Arthur’s Excalibur to Aladdin’s ring and lamp. You can bring this same concept to your game with a few simple tricks. There’s plenty of cool items to be found in the Adventurer’s Vault, the battle standards are particularly nice flavor items for warlords and of course powerful arms and armor is always appreciated by any martial hero. You can ramp up the coolness factor of an item by making it more personal to the character. An item attuned to the character, by inheritance, circumstance or some accident grows in power alongside the character rather than continually replacing that piece with new items. There is also a classical precedent for the martial hero to make his own items out of his kills, as Hercules did to the Nemean lion and Perseus did to Medusa. A rogue could have a dagger carved from a dragon’s tooth, a ranger might enchant his arrows by feathering them with the remains of a Roc and a warlord may have a cloak made from the standard he carried at a bloody victory. For those not afraid to tinker you can always make your own unique items to provide some extra flash to the fighters. There’s one more trick to add a wow factor to a magic item, make it intelligent. All you have to do is add a voice, a quirky personality and some little touches for flavor and your martial hero has an item that’s the envy of the group and the whole group has a fun opportunity for roleplaying. This trick loses some potency every time, so use it sparingly.

A Grim Assessment

They tend to get watered down by time and retelling but in many of the classics you can find a very brutal streak. Greeks and Romans were fond of gruesome blindings and Germanic stories are full of lost limbs. The impressiveness of your martial fighters can be amplified by you embracing your dark side in your descriptions. With a caster everyone has an idea what “Ray of Cold” looks like how it is different from “Acid Arrow”, they can form that picture easily in their head. The difference between a “Twin Strike” and a “Two-Fanged Strike” takes more imagination from your players. You can really help the visualization along with powerful descriptions. Switching from “your twin strike drops him to 0” to “with a thrust and a twist you jam your first blade into his kidney, his mouth opens to let out a tortured scream but it is immediately silenced by your second blade driving into his exposed throat” will likely get a reaction from your players. As a rule of thumb I try to give a detailed description when the creature is brought to bloodied and again when it is killed. Of course, some players revel in describing their own victory so if they prefer you might just say “You bloodied the orc, tell us all how you did it”. Either way descriptions make a difference, martial heroes are breaking bones and flesh with a piece of steel, that should be appreciated!

Honorary Doctrine

Victorious figures in classic mythology are often showered with honors. The same way a wizard accumulates knowledge from his time adventuring the martial hero gathers titles and awards. Some heroes are given lands, sometimes entire kingdoms to rule over. They often gain titles of nobility such as lord or duke or a title of renown like “Protector of the Realm” or “Champion of Scarlet Wood”. A very successful martial character may find an adoring crowd around him when he enters the city, might have a festival devoted to his name or might find himself in a humble tavern overhearing a, perhaps slightly exaggerated, tale of his deeds.

As always, I want to hear from you. How do you martial characters stack up to their magic counterparts? Do you have your own ideas on how to polish up martial combatants? I want to hear them all!

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Odds are good that you have never heard of Grumar the Scraps Eater. There’s a good reason for that, it is very hard to build a reputation when all you have on your resume is serving as the Goblin King’s footrest. Even if you have somehow heard of Grumar you are highly unlikely to fear him, his defenses are poor, his attacks are weak and stiff wind is likely to knock him out.

So you may be asking yourself why do I waste words on a little goblin who is clearly no threat to even the most inexperienced adventurer? Is it so we can have a nice laugh at Grumar’s expense while we devastate him using only at-will powers? No, the reason is bring up Grumar is that while he might be only a joke to your party, when you put him next to eleven of his friends he is suddenly not so funny. In fact, Grumar and his peers just might have the tools to bring your party down.

Means of Destruction #1: Probability

A level 1 goblin cutter is worth only a quarter of any other level 1 monster, meaning that for every slot in a battle that gets filled with minions you get four of the little buggers. These cutters may do less damage than their non-minion counterparts but they have a similar attack bonus and among them they get four times as many attacks rolls than a regular enemy would. More rolls means more high rolls and more chance of hitting.

Means of Destruction #2: Flanking

Goblin cutters might not be tough but they are awake and holding a weapon, which is good enough to flank. Flanking provides the cutters with an extra damage when they hit and the standard +2 to their attack, making their probability advantage that much more deadly. Additionally having a battlefield littered with minions makes it very convenient for their stronger allies to flank, giving some of them, such as the blackblade, extra abilities.

Means of Destruction #3: Opportunity Attacks

Lots of goblins standing around means lots of threatened squares and lots of occupied areas. A big pack of goblins can really shut down movement or at least make it impractical with their opportunity attacks. This goblin wall very effectively blocks melee access to sharpshooters and other ranged attackers. In addition those minions directly in the way also provide cover bonuses against the party’s own ranged fighters.

Means of Destruction #4: Attrition

Maybe the mass of minions who guard the front entrance of the cave aren’t going to kill your party but they might sap your strength a little bit. A fight with cutters can cost you some healing surges, actions points and maybe even the daily power of a panicked wizard. You might think nothing of it at the time but you’re going to miss those resources when you are staring down the ugly mug of the Goblin King.

Means of Destruction #5: Orcus

Uh-oh, Grumar and Orcus go bowling together every Sunday and he is not too happy with you stabbing his little buddy. As you might have heard, Orcus has some tricks of his own.

Have you faced a Goblin Cutter and lived to tell the tale? Are you bothered by the logical problem that Grumar would have to bowl over 100 feet away from Orcus or drop dead? Do you just wonder what size shoes the demon prince would need to wear? Whatever your comment we want to hear from you!

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Who remembers the old PC game ‘Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall’? It caused me to spend way too much time glued to my computer screen when I should have been doing my homework. For me, the allure was the non-linear nature of the game. There was a core plotline and related quests, but you could spend hundreds of hours happily ignoring that part of the game while exploring the countless dungeons, towns, and ruins across the continent of Tamriel.

You can take a non-linear approach to DMing, too. Rather than running your party through a pre-planned sequence of encounters, non-linear campaigns involve drawing up a rich and vibrant world, and then setting the PCs loose to explore it.

If this sounds daunting, well… it can be. Some DMs get nervous when they imagine their PCs running amok through the world. But non-linear campaigns don’t have to be exercises in chaos. With a little management and a lot of creativity, they can be loads of fun.

Non-Linear Campaigns are Fun – for Some Players

If your players enjoy adventure and exploration, they might enjoy a non-linear campaign. This is especially true if they’re seasoned gamers. After twenty years of being forced down linear quest paths, some players enjoy the chance to explore a world on their own terms.

On the other hand, brand new players might need more guidance than a non-linear game provides. Some players really enjoy linear plotlines and the sense of accomplishment they get after each encounter. Your players’ preferences should dictate the type of game you run; after all, you’re running it for them.

So if your PC party is choosing where to go and when, how will you know what to plan for? That brings us to the next fact about non-linear games.

Non-Linear Campaigns are Easy – for Some DMs

There are two approaches you can take when running a non-linear campaign. Your first option is to create a fully fleshed-out world full of NPCs, towns, dungeons, factions, and encounters. Wherever your party decides to go, you’ll have an idea of who they’re going to interact with, which quests will be offered to them, and what sorts of hazards they’ll face. This sort of campaign runs a lot like a non-digital MMORPG. If you’re really into world-building and don’t mind all the prep work, you could try this approach.

But maybe you’re the type of DM who likes to wing it. If you’ve got a quick wit and a love for improvisation, you can dodge a lot of pre-game preparation. Armed with outlines of your world and your central plotline, you can fill in the other details on the fly. Just make sure to take note of all the places and personas your party encounters; players get frustrated when they plan their actions based on the details you gave them last session, only to find that those details have changed by the next session.

How to Keep the Party Together

So what happens when your paladin wants to charge into a dungeon, your cleric wants to visit a temple, and your fighter wants to engage in some drunken shenanigans at the local pub? Some DMs make a house rule that requires the party members to stay together no matter what. Others work out a compromise. For example, the PCs can split up in town to take care of their business, but only for a short time. The game won’t progress until they’re all together again.

There should be a rule (or at least an understanding) in place to keep the PCs from scattering to the four corners of the world. That type of situation isn’t fun for anyone, least of all the DM. When your attention is split between the party members, it’s a certainty that some players will be sitting around bored while you deal with the others. Assistant DMs could help in this situation, but D&D works best when a party sticks together.

Offer Plot Hooks, Not Plot Hammers

Some of the worst games I’ve ever played involved DMs who forced their plots on the PCs. I even came up with a sarcastic speech for the antagonists featured in these heavy-handed plots: “Hi! You don’t know me, but you have offended me greatly. No matter what you do, I will make your life a living hell until you figure out exactly how the DM wants you to deal with me. Have a nice day.”

Plot hammers are no fun for imaginative players. Plot hooks, on the other hand, can keep your non-linear game active without forcing the PCs to go down a specific path. When the party enters a new territory, throw them some plot hooks. But be prepared for them to ignore a few. If you want to push a specific plot hook, shower the PCs with consequences when they refuse to get involved.

Did an old woman beg the PCs for help, only to be ignored? Maybe she was warning them of stirrings in the local cemetery. Now the town is overrun by undead, and a necromancer has deposed the local lord. This problem could have been nipped in the bud if only the PCs had taken the bait.

Consequences offer you all kinds of opportunities to generate further plot hooks. They’re also a better choice than forcing PC involvement. Eventually the problem will inconvenience the party enough that they’ll decide on their own to do something about it. Once it’s dealt with, they’ll move on to another part of the world and another set of quests and plot hooks.

Do you run a non-linear campaign, or just have thoughts you’d like to share on the subject? I look forward to seeing your ideas in the comments section!

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DNDSMQ November 9, 2008 : D&D Sunday Morning Quiz - Elves vs. Eladrin

Elves used to be the beautiful, pointy-eared wild folk of the world — until the eladrin came along and stole their thunder. But the two races are just different enough to warrant separate entries in the 4e Player’s Handbook. (That’s where you’ll find all the answers to the questions below.) Good luck on the quiz!

All answers from the D&D 4th edition Player’s Handbook

NOTE: Some email clients and RSS readers can’t submit your answers to our website. You can go to Dungeon Mastering to take the quiz.

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Edit:  Adventurer’s Vault was won by reader K. Lynch.  More giveaways are coming so keep an eye on the website.  Good luck!

Tons of giveaways this Fall

Dungeon Mastering is giving away books and other RPG goodies this Fall.  The next drawing is for a brand new copy of Adventurer’s Vault on November 10th.

Here’s how the contests work:

1. Subscribe to Dungeon Mastering - it’s free!
2. You are then automatically entered in all our Fall giveaway drawings!

Subscribers receive all Dungeon Mastering articles by email. It’s easy.  It’s free. And you can get a free book out of it!

Good luck!

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In Kobold Quarterly’s Fall 2008 issue, John Baichtal explores the differences between how rogues live their lives in fantasy campaigns versus how rogues live their lives in reality. His opinion? Most fantasy rogues have it too easy, but a little realism could add to the fun and challenge of playing one.

In the Beginning…

Baichtal’s article paints a bleak picture of all the obstacles rogues have historically come up against. Many real-world thieves turn to a life of crime because they have no other choice; they steal, or they starve. This doesn’t have to be the case for every PC, though. Some might be thieving because of greed, ambition, or pressure to carry on the family tradition. I like the way Baichtal emphasizes the importance of a character history to flesh out a PC’s motivations for going rogue.

The Truth about Guilds

When a PC becomes a rogue, all they need to do is find the nearest thief guild, sign up, and watch the action and coins roll in. Right? Wrong! Baichtal points out that thief guilds are organized crime at its most elite; you have to prove your worth as a high earner if you want to join their ranks.

That can be difficult when you’re first starting out. You’ve got no guards on your payroll, and the guild seems to have all the fences and high-stakes operations tied up for itself. Lacking connections, access, and guild membership, new rogues are easy prey for law enforcement and rival criminals alike.

Living under Constant Attack

It’s sad but true: Nobody likes a thief. Lawful folks detest them. Other rogues view them as competition. Tax collectors hunt them down. Even their own party members might view them as little more than a necessary evil. But DMs don’t tend to play up this fact because it doesn’t add to the fun of the game.

Or does it? What could a rogue do to rise to this kind of challenge? I see an environment of distrust as an opportunity for rogues to become more than mere petty thieves. They could come into their own by honing their fighting skills to deadly efficiency; spying on and then blackmailing a local leader; or raising an army of mercenaries to shoulder out a local crime lord. Sure, any one of those strategies could start a war. But, as Baichtal states, an adventurous spirit is common to all rogues. No risk, no gain!

The Last Necktie You’ll Ever Wear

So what really happens when rogues get busted? Depending on the offense, PCs could catch a mighty beat-down from the guards, or they could find themselves in stocks. Flogging, branding and mutilation are other options. As Baichtal explains, jail wasn’t the punishment for thievery in days gone by; it was merely a layover on the way to the real punishment. For the most unlucky of thieves, there is always the hangman’s noose.

Now, nobody’s advocating killing off your rogue PCs. But imagine the drama and excitement that could be generated by having a rogue get caught. Could he bribe his way out of trouble? Would his friends plan a daring rescue to spring him from prison or whisk him from the gallows at the last minute? If it adds to the role-play experience, toss a dash of realistic crime and punishment into your campaign.

Interview with the Author

I caught up with John Baichtal, who took the time to answer a few questions about his roguish musings.

Janna: In your article, you explore the differences between the rogue life in reality and the rogue life as it’s found in fantasy games. What inspired you to write about the plight of rogues?

John: It seemed to me that there was a difference between the ne’er-do-well fantasy rogue and the life of medieval thieves, or at least my understanding of historical criminals. Seemingly, role-playing-game rogues have no reason for living the life they live, and no logical justification for getting away with all of their crimes. Real medieval thieves are always cold, hungry and desperate, and accustomed to being used and abused. They’re one lucky break from leaving the rogue’s life for something better. But at the same time, they do have a nobility about them. Why aren’t they serfs or peasants? Because they’re too proud to be subjugated that way.

Janna: Do you have a favorite fictional rogue?

John: Conan. He goes against type, because everyone associates him with being a hulking swordsman. However, Robert Howard depicted him as being a thief from the start, with one of his classic Conan stories, “The Tower of the Elephant” having him break into a wizard’s tower to steal a fabulous jewel. This great short story, actually the second Conan story ever published, was one of the influences of the original Conan movie. What I like about Conan is that he’s a thief by circumstance. As a barbarian, he doesn’t fit into civilization’s hierarchy, so he makes do as best he can by leveraging his natural talents.

Janna: Have you ever played in a campaign where a rogue actually did get taxed or harshly punished? (If so, what did those elements add to the game?)

John: Oh, heavens no. Anytime the authorities apprehend or punish a rogue, it seems that absolution is merely a quest away. Getting your character’s hand chopped off or having him get branded cannot be much fun for any player. I have GMed a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign where the PCs ended up in prison, with escape being the goal. However, as I mentioned in my article, unless you were a bishop or prince, imprisonment simply wasn’t the way you were punished in medieval days. Also, I find that ne’er-do-well PCs in roleplaying games tend to run from city to city. Inevitably, it seems, the campaign ends before they run out of cities.

Janna: If you were a rogue adventurer, how would *you* spend your retirement?

John: Taking as little risk as possible.

Janna: How do you feel about red dragons?

John: They have lots of treasure that can be purloined by the right thief!

Conclusion

John Baichtal has delivered a good article that exposes a rogue’s life for what it really is – rough. He also raises some good questions. For example, does a rogue stay a rogue forever, or does he invest in a legitimate business in his twilight years? Retirement planning takes on a whole new dimension when rogues are involved. Of course, one red dragon’s treasure pile can make up for years of bad financial planning. (Sorry, Expy!)

I’d love to hear what you readers think about this study in rogues. Do you think these aspects of realism would add to a campaign, or detract from the fun? Leave a comment and let me know!

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It’s a Monday evening and people trickle into your home, paper and dice in hand and gather around your table. Twenty minutes later they are laying their heads on the table, stacking dice and texting girlfriends. If this is happening to you than it means that your campaign needs an energy infusion.

Alternatively, if you don’t game on Mondays it means that you need to invest in some door locks!

Kicking up the energy

Some campaigns grow stale over long play, others fail to ever get off the ground but neither of these setbacks need to be the death of your campaign. There are measures you can take to bring some vigor back to your table.

Lead From the Front

Players get their cues on enthusiasm levels from the DM. If he is staring at the clock and wishing he was somewhere else the players can feel it and respond in kind. On the contrary if he hops out of his chair roaring and snarling when the great dragon makes his appearance his players are going to take that energy and feed it right to him. Of course you can’t be bouncing off the walls every session but there are some things you can do to maximize your energy output. Preparing for your game across the week can keep your anticipation up for game night. Having a special ritual or prop can get you in the gaming frame of mind, always eating a particular snack before a game or wearing a DMing hat may sound goofy but it can get your players smiling and you into gaming mode. Shorter sessions tend to help, almost anyone will drag at tail end of an eight hour session. Also if you know you are going to have a night where you will be thinking of everything but the game, cancel! Sometimes it only takes one night of a dragging DM to ruin a long running game.

The Way to a Gamer’s Heart

No game table should be complete without everyone’s favorite form of sustaining life, food! I’m not talking about the greasy delivery food you get in the middle of the night, I mean decently healthy food. Good food is easier than you might imagine, you can get pizza crust shells that only require toppings and a preheated oven. At any supermarket you can pick up a pre-made roasted chicken and some cookie dough, a ready made dinner and only fifteen minutes until a warm chocolate chippy dessert. Admittedly there are some pitfalls to providing food, it represents an investment of time and money and could end up being a distraction if you are trying to cook and play at the same time. For all the trouble of making it good food does work wonders on the mood of your group. If you’re really lucky one of them might like cooking or they agree to take turns feeding the group.

Taking Away the Shinnies

In an ideal world your gaming room of choice would have no television, no animals, no family members passing by the game to gawk and your table would emit a field that blocks cell phone signals. In a less ideal world you need to set some ground rules for your players to keep them from turning on the TV because they are not it in the scene. However being distracted by electronics is often a symptom of a low energy game, not the cause so if everything else is done right it will usually not be a problem.

Rehabilitating

Have you ever met a player who you suspect plays D&D as a penance for some unnamed sin? As soon as he shows up he turns on the TV or opens a laptop, wanders away in the middle of combat and just in general distracts and drains the energy out of the room. It may surprise you to learn that he actually wants to play, perhaps more so than anyone else. These players just have a short attention span, they enjoy their turn in the spotlight but get easily bored when things aren’t happening for them. Most players will just sit and wait for the situation to move their way, others will force it to but these players usually just let their mind wander and it is quickly followed by their body. There are many story ways to keep them engaged which we will discuss later but there are also some things you can do outside of actual play. These players are great for exporting some of your duties too, making them initiative tracker, map maker or mood music manager can ease your DMing burden and give them something to keep them occupied. If you are okay with giving up a little control you could even allow them to control some of the monsters in a combat or let them roleplay out an NPC in a scene their character is not involved with. Also these players can make fantastic DMs because there is always something for them to be doing.

I want to hear from you guys, what do you do outside of the plot to keep the energy blazing? Hold on to your suggestions of story hooks and new villains though, the next edition of “Kicking Up the Energy” is coming soon!

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If you approach any random person on the street, with no interest in fantasy or mythology, and you utter the words “full moon, silver bullets, wolfsbane” you are likely going to get a very strange look. The mind behind that look however will already be thinking about werewolves. The idea of a human who becomes a bestial animal is so ingrained in the human consciousness that you will find some form of it in nearly every culture.

To a psychologist a werewolf can be a fascinating study of the power of instinct and what it really means to be human, to a gamer a werewolf can be just like fighting an orc only they use shiner weapons to crack its skull. However there is more meat on those lycanthropic bones than a straight fight and the clever DM can milk this cultural classic for some roleplay fun.

Below are just a few of my ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Needle in a Haystack

The farm town the party is passing through turns out to have a few surprises of its own. Over the last few days livestock has been turning up partially eaten and mutilated. The townsfol