A few months ago we provided you with a Living Forgotten Realms (LFR) magic item treasure bundle list. The original list included a complete inventory of magic items available from 78 different LFR adventures. As promised, we’ve updated the list and added loot from 23 more LFR adventures. This includes 8 paragon adventures for PCs level 11-14 and the first paragon adventure for PCs level 14-17.
Category: DM Resources
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Traps & Hazards: The Open Portal
During the coming weeks we’ll be looking at traps and hazards in 4e D&D. I’m not going to waste time taking about pit traps or exploding doors, there’s plenty of that stuff in the DMG. What I’m going to focus on are traps and hazards that are much more elaborate and interesting.
These are things that make up a significant part of an encounter that is not the monsters. It’s usually going to take the form of a skill challenge or at the very least some skill checks. My intention is to provide examples of traps and hazards I’ve used in my campaign, describe how and why they were created, and give suggestions for using them in your campaign.
In order to make skill challenges a little bit more interesting I like to try and build in a skill challenge backdoor. This is a very specific set of conditions which, if met, provide a significant advantage not normally available.
Does this sound familiar? The PCs begin a skill challenge. A couple of PCs have creative ideas and they go at it. They explain what they want to do, use a bit of role-playing and then make their rolls. Right off the bat you’ve got a couple of successes. But as you look around the table at the rest of the players you get blank stares. They either don’t know what to do or don’t want to risk getting a failure since their skill numbers are so awful. So they essentially repeat what the last PCs did.
One aspect of skill challenges that doesn’t get a lot of mention is the reward that comes from achieving the objective. Since skill challenges are supposed to be as difficult and rewarding as fighting monsters, the expectation is to be rewarded with XP just like you would for a combat encounter. But in many cases the amount of XP awarded for a successful skill challenge shouldn’t be that cut and dry. There are situations when two parties might earn a different amount of XP for successfully completing the same skill challenge. I’ve reviewed the skill challenge reward system and have some suggestions for improvement.
More secrets of Eberron are revealed as we discover political plotting within The Twelve and we reveal the Mournland Express. Changes are coming for House Cannith. The ongoing internal family power struggle within House Cannith scares members of other Dragonmakred Houses. Other house scions plot to unify House Cannith by whatever means necessary. Take a trip on the mysterious Mournland Express, a secret subterranean lightning rail that travels safely beneath the Mournland.
Discover more Secrets of Eberron Revealed in our previous installments in this ongoing series.
Admit it. As a DM there have been times when you’ve been stumped, regretted decisions, made a mistake or just wanted to quit. We’ve all been there and we’ve all looked for a way out of the situation. The following eight guidelines follow the KISS formula. Keep It Simple, Stupid. While they don’t cover every situation, they should provide a reliable fallback for DMs.
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CSI: D&D
Adventurers are used to being approached by local townsfolk and asked to help resolve problems. After all, the PCs have skills and abilities far superior to those of average citizens. When unusual events occur, the locals are often grateful for the assistance of experts like the PCs. Typical request include asking the PCs to kill a monster that has wandered too close to the village or rescue the magistrate’s daughter who’s been kidnapped by goblins.
But every once and a while a situation arises where the solution isn’t as simple as swinging a blade or casting a spell. Sometimes the PCs need to be detectives. Their considerable experience allows them to size up a situation differently then regular folk. The PCs are more likely to notice a clue or detail that the locals missed or took for granted.
Is it better to fight a few really tough monsters or a whole bunch of weaker monsters? There’s probably not a right or wrong answer to this question, but I’m going to continue searching for one. Over the past two weeks my gaming group has tried both extremes and there were many lessons learned by the players and the DM.
This ain’t Twilight! Michael and Peter Spierig’s recent release Daybreakers takes traditional vampires and reminds us just how bloody, violent and cool vampires actually are. The visual style and the futuristic setting feel like a combination of Gattaca, The Matrix and Minority Report, and the vampires are reminiscent of Blade, 28 Days Later and 30 Days of Night. None of these vampires are cute, cuddly, pretty-boys. They’re monsters pure and simple.
I originally saw this movie at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September 2009, and ever since then I’ve been thinking of how this idea can be applied to a D&D adventure. You have a complete society that is made up of monsters, and in this case they still try to act and behave like humans. This is the part that really intrigued me as a DM.