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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 11)

The PCs awoke in the rebel hideout of the Sons of Alagondar refreshed after their extended rest and ready to face the Lost Heir. Arlon, the rebel leader, explained that although the Sons of Alagondar were at first fully supportive of the Lost Heir, they realized that their hasty decision to support him was not the best course of action. The Lost Heir is instigating violence and full out rebellion against Lord Neverember when such a radical course of action is not necessary. Arlon wants what’s best for the people of Neverwinter and the Lost Heir’s plan will only cause pain and suffering to a lot of innocent people.

Arlon asked the PCs to help him by meeting with the Lost Heir and trying to talk him out of his plan to attack the Protector’s enclave. If the Lost Heir won’t listen to reason Arlon believes that fighting him will be the only way to stop him. The PCs understood and agreed to meet with the Lost Heir.

The Sons of Alagondar blindfold the PCs and then lead them to the surface to meet with the Lost Heir. The PCs didn’t have to wait long before the Lost Heir appeared.

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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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Hurry Up and Wait – A Look a Delaying and Readying Actions

Pay attention players, your spot in the initiative order is not set in stone. Players get so excited when it’s their turn all they want to do is attack. Many players forget, or don’t even know, that they can wait and hold their action whenever they want to. There’s nothing in the rules that says you must go when your turn in the initiative comes up. If more players took this to heart, combat encounters could be a lot more exciting and in some cases a lot faster.

Once combat is in full swing players should talk to each other in-character (assuming that PCs can actually hear one and other and don’t care if they’re overheard). As the battle unfolds situations will arise where some PCs will see an opportunity to shine. It might be a chance to inflict a lot of damage, it might be a chance to push an opponent off a cliff or it might be a chance for the defender to mark everyone with a close burst attack. As soon as you see this golden opportunity let everyone know. By announcing what you want to do the other players can act accordingly and delay as necessary. Remember that the party is a team, not a bunch of individuals all trying to steal the spotlight. By defeating the monsters quickly and efficiently the battle ends faster which is a win for everyone.

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7 Tips For Running an All-Zombie Campaign

With the season two premier of AMC’s Walking Dead airing yesterday, zombies are again the flavour of the month, especially with fantasy gamers. If you’re like me then every time you watch Walking Dead, or any other zombie move, you start thinking about running a zombie apocalypse campaign in D&D.

I’ve given considerable thought over the years on the best way to run a game where all the monsters were zombies. It’s tough if you’re as deeply engrained in D&D as I am. After all, one of the great things about D&D is that there are a wide variety of monsters. One week you might fight trolls, the next week a beholder, and the week after that zombies and the next week a dragon. Between the wide variety of creatures available in the Monster Manuals and the relative easy of creating your own creatures with Monster Builder, it seems kind of ridiculous to even want to create a camping where you battle the same creatures again and again.

But if there’s one thing the zombie genre has taught me it’s that a campaign with only one monster type can be very exciting if you play your cards right. Today I’m going to share 7 tips for how to pull off a successful zombie campaign in the world of 4e D&D.

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Let the Players Roll More Dice

Players love to roll dice. This is one of the reasons that strikers are so popular in 4e D&D. Strikers attack more often and always seem to roll more damage dice than classes in the other roles. I must admit that I fall squarely in the “love to roll dice” camp. It’s part of what I find appealing about D&D or any board game for that matter. Quite simply, it’s fun. But for some players rolling dice is where their interest stops.

I’ve had a lot of issues lately with players who don’t pay attention to what’s going on when it’s not their turn. I’ve tried a lot of different things to keep them engaged from rewards to punishment but many simply zone out. I see this a lot during public play like D&D Encounters and LFR. I’d pretty much given up and come to accept that some players are simply there to roll dice and don’t care about what else is going on if it doesn’t directly affect their character. And then I finally came up with a way to solve this problem and the solution involved rolling more dice.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 10)

The PCs began this week’s encounter wet, dirty and in a very foul mood. Last week they faced off against members of the Dead Rats and the fight ended when the only surviving member of the gang managed to open a floodgate which flushed everyone through a series of underground sewer pipes.

The PCs finally got spit out in an underground cavern alongside the unconscious Dead Rat and the loot from the hideout. They tied up their unconscious prisoner and prepared to interrogate him. After all, they needed his help to navigate back to the surface because as it stood they were completely lost in the depths beneath Neverwinter.

Because encounters 9 and 10 were so short we ran them back to back last week. This meant that the party was unchanged between the two encounters. Our table consisted of a Human Wizard, Eladrin Cleric (Valenae pre-gen), Tiefling Bard, Tiefling Battlemind and Tiefling Warlock.

When the Dead Rat awoke he showed genuine fear of the party. He was outnumbered and out matched. He immediately agreed to cooperate in exchange for his life.

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Use Teamwork, Aid Another

Most players assume, incorrectly, that the only way to aid another is when they’re trying to make a skill check, most often during a skill challenge. They don’t know or don’t remember that there are other options when it comes to aiding another PC. In Monte Cook’s October 11th Legends & Lore article, Live Together, Die Alone, he talks about the importance of teamwork in D&D. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to highlight some of the benefits of using aid another for players and DMs.

For some readers this article will serve as a refresher. Although I’ll provide some creative ideas and situations in which aiding another can be useful, for the most part I’ll be highlighting a lot of the rules that are already out there. However, for many others I know that a lot of what I’m about to cover will be new to them.

Aid another is one of the most underused and under appreciated elements of 4e D&D. Few players are willing to give up a standard action to do anything that isn’t an attack or a second move. But in many cases there are better options and if you’re willing to work together as a team and not feel the absolute need to be the star of the show then aiding another can sometimes be the action that makes the biggest difference during combat.

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Playing Someone Else’s Character

In my experience there are two things that gamers like to talk about more than anything else: their own character and ways to improve everyone else’s character. Everyone always thinks that they have the very best character and most gamers want to tell you all about it. Yet no matter how awesome someone else believes their character is, someone always thinks they have a way to improve it.

As a DM I often ask the players to provide me with copies of their character sheets before I start a new campaign. By looking over their defenses, feats, powers, and items I can get a better idea of their power level relative to the other PCs and relative to my monsters. It also gives me a chance to suggest improvements and changes to their characters. In some cases the players will be grateful for pointing out better options (especially when they have two feats that don’t stack), but most times the player gracefully accepts the feedback and does nothing. After all they know that their character is already awesome so what business do I have telling them to make changes?

I realized that people become very attached to their characters. They see the PC as an extension of themselves and take great pride knowing that they’ve built this PC exactly the way they want to. Unfortunately this often blinds some players to the fact that their PC really isn’t as awesome as they think. If only there was a way to show those players just how much better their PC would be if they tweaked a few little details? And then it hit me – there is a way.

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Make Magical Item Identification Harder

In its attempt to simplify things and keep the game and the players focused on the important details, identifying magical items in 4e is something any PC can do during a short rest. I think it’s time for this to change. This is something that they had right in previous editions of D&D.

In this week’s Legends & Lore column Magic and Mystery, Monte Cook talked about the wonder of magical items. He focused mainly on the idea of magic being too commonplace in most campaigns, but he also brushed on the idea that some magical items should have hidden properties that are only revealed when certain conditions are met. This really got me thinking about the whole mechanic of magic item identification.

Based on the current rules all a PC has to do to identity an item is spend time handling and examine it during a short rest. After the five minutes are up they know that the sword is a +2 Frost Weapon or that the boots are Goblin Stompers. They know the exact nature and properties of the item. I realize that this makes things simpler but it also makes things boring.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 9)

The party rested briefly after their battle with the crocodile and the rats from last week. They spotted foot prints and realized that the Dead Rats hideout must be close. The foot prints led deeper into the sewer, and as they rounded the next bend they saw light. As they crept up to the next turn they saw a lowered portcullis and header the sound of voices. They’d found the Dead Rats hideout.

We had a good turn out this week, 12 people in total. That gave us enough for two solid tables. The party at my table consisted of a Human Wizard, Eladrin Cleric (Valenae pre-gen), and three Tieflings, a Bard, Battlemind and Warlock.

Taking a few steps back from the portcullis the party quietly decided on how to proceed. The Battlemind noticed that the portcullis, although rusted and old, had a brand new lock securing it. Any attempt to open the gate would be a lot more difficult if the lock wasn’t dealt with first. And even if the lock was bypassed opening the gate would surely create a lot of noise.

With some not so subtle hints, I reminded the party why they were here in the first place: they sought information. Killing everything would make it harder to question them about the Lost Heir or the Sons of Alagondar. Realizing that diplomacy might be their best approach, the Bard and Warlock decided to approach the gate and see if the Dead Rats were willing to talk.

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