Author: Ameron (Derek Myers)

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Friday Favourites Humour

Friday Favourite: Embracing the Silly Aspects of Fantasy Gaming

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From October 25, 2011, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Embracing the Silly Aspects of Fantasy Gaming.

Sometimes we focus so much on the serious aspects of D&D that we forget the importance of the humorous and ludicrous. This is a fantasy game in which magic is commonplace. So with that kind of framework doesn’t it seem right that there should be some outrageously silly things that are just accepted as a part of the fantastic world?

That’s not to say that things shouldn’t make sense. There needs to be some explanation for the unbelievable and the unexpected within the established framework, but the players don’t always have to take it so seriously. By throwing in a few humorous things every once and a while the players come to realize that just because they think something seems bizarre and out of place doesn’t mean that their characters feel the same way.

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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Dead in Thay (Week 5)

dead-in-thay-coverWe left the party in the Far Realms Cysts sector of the Doomvault. They’d just cleared out the Caverns of Chaos zone. The Gnome Druid’s soul had been trapped in a potion which she drank… and then shrank since it was a Potion of Diminution.

This week we saw a noticeable drop in the numbers at Hairy T North in Toronto. We expected to lose a few regulars week in and week out over the summer, but not so many in one week. Table 1 (DM: Craig) had four players, table 2 (DM: Hillel) had five players, and table 3 (substitute DM: Derek) had five players.

That’s right, I got to DM again this week as our regular DM was out sick. So our party was down a Barbarian, but the five remaining party members at my table were a Warforged Monk, Halfling (Kender) Rogue, Gnome Druid (1/10 her normal size), Human Cleric, and Gnome Wizard (currently an undead PC thanks to the Walking Dead option).

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 18 Week 5) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Friday Favourites Player Resources

Friday Favourite: Taking a TPK Like a Man

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From June 8, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Taking a TPK Like a Man.

It doesn’t happen often, but when it happens it really sucks – a Total Party Kill or TPK. In 4e it’s incredibly hard for DMs to kill just one character in a party. I’ve seen plenty of PCs fall unconscious but usually the leader has them back in action before they even need to make a death save or an adjacent ally makes a Heal check and triggers their second wind. Worse case scenario they stay down until the encounter is over and then they get the benefits of a short rest. Before you know it they’re on their feet and ready to face more monsters. The only way to guarantee that characters die is for the DM to wipe out everyone with a TPK. After all, if no one’s left to face the remaining monsters once the last guy falls unconscious it stands to reason that those same monsters will take necessary steps to ensure you don’t get back up… ever.

Because the TPK is (or should be) a rarity in D&D it’s understandable that many players are not really sure what do to when they see the writing on the wall. I realized this when we were face-to-face with an inevitable TPK just this week during D&D Encounters. Players can react very different to this situation so I felt it was a good idea to document so ground rules and suggested behaviours that all players should be mindful of when their PC falls unconscious, or worse yet, is just one of the dominos falling in the impending TPK.

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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Dead in Thay (Week 4)

dead-in-thay-coverLast week the party faced a Red Wizard Lich whom they destroyed, an ooze the size of a room which they managed to talk their way past, and a Red Wizard alchemist from whom they stole a Glyph Key and managed to escape unscathed. Let’s see if they’ll be as fortunate this week.

At Hairy T North in Toronto we ran three tables: table 1 (DM: Craig) had five players, table 2 (DM: Hillel) had seven players including one person brand new to D&D, and table 3 (DM: Tim) had eight players including me.

Our party had the following members this week: Tiefling Wizard, Human Cleric, Elf Cleric, Warforged Monk, Halfling (Kender) Rogue, Gnome Druid, Gnome Mage (currently Walking Dead) and Dwarf Barbarian (my character).

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 18 Week 4) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Dead in Thay (Week 3)

dead-in-thay-coverDuring week 2, our first session in the Doomvault, we discovered just how deadly this killer dungeon really is. Our party of seven spent most of the time running form monsters only to be forced into a fight with two Gorgons. The creatures’ breath weapons petrified two PCs leaving us with 5 PCs and two statues.

On the plus side one of the other parties exploring the dungeon found a master Glyph Key that was attuned to all gates (except the Temples of Extraction). They came to us, since the Gorgon fight happened within sight of a Black Gate, and copied their key’s magic into ours giving us complete access to the Doomvault. Now we have to figure out how to proceed.

This week at Hairy T North in Toronto we ran three tables: table 1 (DM: Craig) had four players, table 2 (DM: Hillel) had six players, and table 3 (DM: Tim) had seven players including me.

My party consisted of the following PCs: Tiefling Wizard, Human Cleric, Warforged Monk, and Halfling (Kender) Rogue, and Dwarf Barbarian (my character). The Gnome Wizard and Elf Ranger began the session stoned.

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 18 Week 3) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: Retreat Is Always An Option, At Least It Should Be

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From January 5, 2011, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Retreat Is Always An Option, At Least It Should Be.

A common belief among many D&D players is that if the party is balanced and the DM is doing his job properly, every encounter is beatable. This kind of thinking among players instills within them with a sense of invulnerability – an invulnerability that they do not in fact possess. However, with the way that the 4e D&D mechanics work, more often than not players should have a pretty reasonable chance of overcoming a balanced encounter. Thus players continue believing that they’re capable of defeating everything they face. It never even occurs to them that in some instances they’ll face an opponent they can’t beat.

Sometime, however, you’re fortunate enough to play with a group that doesn’t mistakenly believe that they can overcome every encounter put before them. When this kind of party senses that they’re in over their head they will consider retreat as a viable option. It’s not something that will come up very often, but when it does it can have a really dramatic effect on the game.

Twice in the past week I’ve had parties toy with the idea of retreat; once during a level 1 game and the other during a level 16 game. I have to admit that I was very surprised at how differently the two groups rationalized the situation and made their choices.

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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Dead in Thay (Week 2)

dead-in-thay-coverLast week’s session finished with a bang – literally. One of the PCs removed the broken blade from Baazka’s heart and the Pit Fiend rewarded the adventurers by destroying the Bloodgate. The PCs heard shrieking filling their minds as the Bloodgate was about to explode. The mental assault caused the PCs to lose consciousness, but those wearing the telepathic circlets heard a woman’s voice. “The nexus is collapsing in a cascade, but we can control it! Hold on!” The heroes were teleported to safety and blacked out.

This week we had a great turnout at Hairy T North in Toronto. We ran three tables: table 1 (DM: Craig) had five players, table 2 (DM: Hillel) had seven players including one player new to our store but not new to D&D, and table 3 (DM: Tim) had seven players including me. I also acted as the coordinator.

The table I joined played all of last season together under this DM. They have a shared history and their characters really know each other well. Although one of the other tables only had five players, I really wanted a chance to play with this group. The party consisted of the following PCs: Tiefling Wizard, Elf Ranger, Human Cleric, Human Wizard, Warforged Monk, and Halfling (Kender) Rogue. I played a Dwarf Barbarian, a character I’d brought from level 1-6 during the first three parts of Ghost of Dragonspear Castle.

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 18 Week 2) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Dead in Thay (Week 1)

dead-in-thay-coverThis week we kicked off the start of D&D Encounters season 18 at Hairy T North in Toronto. Dead in Thay is the sequel to Scourge of the Sword coast and picks things up a few weeks after the events from last season finish. The PCs are at the Floshin Estate. Sir Isteval, Sir Darfin Floshin, and Jekk are all there too and they’re ready to strike back at the Red Wizards of Thay.

A renegade Red Wizard named Mennek who opposes the Thayan lich lord Szass Tam has agreed to help the PCs strike a powerful blow against him. Szass Tam plans to use the portal beneath Bloodgate Keep to move his army of undead troops across the realms and ravage the Sword Coast. The heroes were gathered together so that they could make a preemptive strike and close the Bloodgate permanently.

The first encounter of this adventure is designed to be run as the Launch Weekend event. Unfortunately we were unable to run it on the weekend so we ran it as the first session of the season for our regular group. Despite a lot of regular players being away for this first session, we still had 17 players divided between three tables, all of which are using D&D Next rules this season. I acted at the coordinator and DM. At my table we had the following PCs: Half-Orc Paladin, Half-Orc Cleric, Dwarf Fighter, Elf Ranger, Elf Mage, Human Bard.

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 18 Week 1) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Scourge of the Sword Coast (Week 12)

scourge-of-the-sword-coast-coverOrder was restored at Firehammer Hold as the Duergar were defeated and the fortress put back under the control of the Dwarven Clerics of Haela Brightaxe. The PCs agreed to escort the captives taken from Julkoun back to Daggerford. We picked things up this week as the party arrived in Daggerford.

This week at Hairy T North in Toronto we finished up the season with four tables. The 4e table and the other D&D Next table each had six players. Craig and I had our hands full this week as the grand finale drew in a full group of 10 players for our super table. The party consisted of the following members: Half-Orc Paladin, Half-Orc Cleric, Half-Orc Mage/Barbarian, Elf Cleric/Rogue, Elf Ranger, Human Monk/Barbarian, Dwarf Fighter, Drow Paladin, Drow Rogue, and Gnome Druid.

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Adventure Hooks

The Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2014: Round-Up

a-to-z-2014-survivorThroughout April Dungeon’s Master participated in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. This was our second year participating so you’d think we’d have known what to expect. We were wrong. The Blogging From A to Z Challenge was a lot of fun, but man, it was a lot of work. Certainly more than I remember from a year ago.

This time around we thought we’d pick a theme in order to make things easier for ourselves. Every article we ran in April was filled with brand new adventure hooks, something all DMs find useful. In retrospect focusing on just one theme tied my hands more that I thought it would, but we still managed to get through the full run of A to Z by month’s end.

I’d like to give a huge shout out to Joe Lastowski (The Average Joe). He volunteered to write a few adventure hooks articles for us and I don’t think I would have made it through the full month of 26 articles without his help. Thanks, Joe!

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