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DM Resources Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: Traps – Challenge the Players and the Characters

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From September 27, 2011, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Traps – Challenge the Players and the Characters.

Sometimes it’s difficult to separate what the player knows from what the character knows. The reverse can also be true, in a manner of speaking. There are going to be times when the character would have certain knowledge or information that the player would never ever know themselves. This is just part of how the game works. You have to accept it if you’re going to play RPGs.

When it comes to combat there’s rarely any concern between the separation of player and character knowledge. Combat has clearly defined mechanics that involve a lot of dice. It doesn’t matter that I’m not proficient with a great sword, if my PC has the appropriate proficiency then the mechanics account for that and I keep on rolling my dice.

Where this becomes more troublesome is outside of combat. During the non-combat parts of role-playing games players have to be more mindful of separating what they can do from what their character can do. This situation can be troublesome when playing characters with exceptionally high ability scores or playing characters with exceptionally low ability scores.

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DM Resources Player Resources

Never Say Bloodied Again

wounded-pc-01As we transition from 4e D&D to 5e D&D we have seen significant changes to the way D&D works. The new edition has cherry picked some of the very best aspects of all previous editions to bring us into a D&D sweet spot called 5e. To make this work some things were left out, even things we felt made the game better. For example, the bloodied condition.

For those who may not have played 4e or who are so immersed in 5e they’ve completely forgotten what 4e was like, a creature is considered bloodied when it is reduced to half its maximum hit point. So a monsters with 40 hit points is considered bloodied when it’s down to 20 hit points or less.

I realize that conditions were streamlined and eliminated where possible for 5e so I understand the rationale for not including it as part of the initial base rules, but personally I liked knowing when monsters and PCs were bloodied.

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DM Resources Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: How To Introduce A New PC

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From April 28, 2010, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: How To Introduce A New PC.

It happens in almost every game, a PC dies and now you have to figure out how to introduce the new character. Or a new player joins your group and you struggle to explain why they should join the party? There are a many ways to go about answering these questions. From the serious role-playing that this type of event triggers, to the inane and superficial. How you approach this aspect of death and dying in Dungeons & Dragons will come down to the play style of your own group. Different approaches to the game will result in different introductions for new PC.

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DM Resources Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: Design Encounters That Reward Cooperative Play

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From October 19, 2011, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Design Encounters That Reward Cooperative Play.

D&D has always been a game where players work together to accomplish a common goal rather than compete against each other for a prize. It is a game where the DM provides a backdrop for character conflict. Players are likewise not competing against the DM. Instead everyone should collaborate to create a great story and a fun experience.

In order to provide a backdrop where players can develop their characters, we need to let go of the tendency to design encounters to challenge the party’s damage output. The story should advance by developing such themes as characters actively helping others, conquering foes, and overcoming afflictions or wounds. If we use valid rewards for contributing to a team effort this will inspire others to reciprocate.

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DM Resources Player Resources

The D&D 5e Disclaimers

dnd-logoToday marks the official start of 5e D&D (formerly called D&D Next). The D&D Starter Set is available at some FLGS today and will be available everywhere on July 15. The Basic Rules for Dungeons & Dragons are now available online at the Wizards of the Coast website where you can download the 110-page PDF for free.

Wizards of the Coast made the following disclaimer on page 1 of the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules PDF.

Disclaimer: Wizards of the Coast is not responsible for the consequences of splitting up the party, sticking appendages in the mouth of a leering green devil face, accepting a dinner invitation from bugbears, storming the feast hall of a hill giant steading, angering a dragon of any variety, or saying yes when the DM asks, “Are you really sure?”

As I started looking through the D&D Starter Set I found another disclaimer on page 31 of the D&D Starter Set Rulebook.

Disclaimer: Wizards of the Coast is not responsible for the consequences of any failed saving throws, including but not limited to petrification, poison, death magic, dragon breath, spells, or vorpal sword-related decapitations.

This clearly sets the tone of 5e. I think I’m going to like this edition.

Watch for our review of the new D&D Starter Set tomorrow on Dungeon’s Master.


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Adventure Hooks DM Resources

Adventure Hooks: This Place is a Zoo!

a-to-z-2014-zZoology is the scientific study of all things related to animals including their classification, physical characteristics and behaviour. In a fantasy gaming world this would naturally extend to monsters and other fantastic beasts. Those interested in zoological studies will often collect animals in a zoo, sometimes for the protection and wellbeing of these creatures, sometimes just to make them easier to observe and study by bringing them all together.

Throughout April Dungeon’s Master is participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge is to write a new article ever day in April, excluding Sundays. That’s 26 articles over the course of the month. To make things even more interesting the title of each article will begin with a different letter of the alphabet. This year we’ve decided that every article will provide our readers with new adventure hooks. Today “Z” is for zoo, and you’d better believe that a zoo in a fantasy game setting will be more wild and exotic than anything in the real world.

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Adventure Hooks DM Resources

Adventure Hooks: Yuan-Ti

a-to-z-2014-ySome of my favorite cult-related foes in the D&D world are the Yuan-Ti. Servants of a snake god, they often kidnap regular folks so that they can infect them with snakey parts. The more pious the servants, the more snake-like they become. This can create an interesting dichotomy between the Yuan-Ti who became so by choice, and those who were kidnapped into the cult and now have no other option.

Throughout April Dungeon’s Master is participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge is to write a new article ever day in April, excluding Sundays. That’s 26 articles over the course of the month. To make things even more interesting the title of each article will begin with a different letter of the alphabet. This year we’ve decided that every article will provide our readers with new adventure hooks. Today “Y” is for Yuan-Ti, the serpentine race of snake folk. Thanks to Joe Lastowski for another great contribution.

Growing up watching Conan the Barbarian, where James Earl Jones portrays the snake-like foe Thulsa Doom, the Yuan-Ti are exactly what I wanted to fight in my younger gaming days. And somehow, that desire has never changed. Ever since their debut in the 1981 AD&D adventure “Dwellers of the Forbidden City”, something about the Yuan-Ti just cried out to me. Also, there are a wide variety of D&D, Pathfinder, and generic RPG minis out there of snake people, so chances are you can populate a map fairly easily, too. Here, for your perusal, are some snakey plot hooks related to the Yuan-Ti.

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Adventure Hooks DM Resources

Adventure Hooks: The Xanathar – Crime Lord of Waterdeep

a-to-z-2014-xWaterdeep is to the Forgotten Realms what New York City is to the real world. If you can buy it, sell it, eat it, or experience it then you can find it in Waterdeep. It’s the centre of commerce, which naturally attracts thieves and villains. Between the City Watch and the Secret Lords of Waterdeep crime is kept to a minimum, or at least that’s what those in charge want visitors and residents of Waterdeep to believe. In truth there is a criminal master mind that secretly runs all of the criminal activities in Waterdeep, a man known only as The Xanathar.

Throughout April Dungeon’s Master is participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge is to write a new article ever day in April, excluding Sundays. That’s 26 articles over the course of the month. To make things even more interesting the title of each article will begin with a different letter of the alphabet. This year we’ve decided that every article will provide our readers with new adventure hooks. Today “X” is for Xanathar, the infamous Crime Lord of Waterdeep.

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Adventure Hooks DM Resources

Adventure Hooks: If Only Wishing Made It So

a-to-z-2014-w

Wishes will change your game. A wish is the most powerful magic in D&D, so powerful and so broken that it doesn’t even exist in the mechanics for 4e. But as the DM you have the power and the choice to introduce wishes into your campaign as you see fit. It’s not something that you should consider lightly, but it is something you should be willing to consider.

Throughout April Dungeon’s Master is participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge is to write a new article ever day in April, excluding Sundays. That’s 26 articles over the course of the month. To make things even more interesting the title of each article will begin with a different letter of the alphabet. This year we’ve decided that every article will provide our readers with new adventure hooks. Today “W” is for wish as we look at some epic level adventure hooks for truly powerful characters.

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Adventure Hooks DM Resources

Adventure Hooks: Volcanos

a-to-z-2014-vThe intense power of a volcano is something that, I feel, is often underutilized in fantasy settings. That’s not to say it’s been ignored, though. Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series (which is awesome, by the way) uses volcanic eruptions to great (and horrible) effect a few books into the series. A volcano was the only power strong enough to destroy the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings series. Before the release of their Neverwinter Campaign setting, Wizards of the Coast even held an open submission contest for writers to send them adventures related to the eruption of Mt. Hotenow, which had a drastic effect on the Neverwinter region. Sure, a Red Dragon can breathe fire, but a volcano can turn the land for miles around into a mass of fire and smoke and ash and melted rock while blotting out the sun and turning the oceans black with ash. That’s something you can definitely use in your games.

Throughout April Dungeon’s Master is participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge is to write a new article ever day in April, excluding Sundays. That’s 26 articles over the course of the month. To make things even more interesting the title of each article will begin with a different letter of the alphabet. This year we’ve decided that every article will be provide our readers with new adventure hooks. Today “V” is for volcano, one of the most awesome and powerful forces in the natural world.

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