Tag: 4e

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: War of Everlasting Darkness (Week 2)

Last week the adventure began when the PCs arrived in the logging community of Quaervarr on the edge of the Glimmerwood. The recent appearance of a wandering phantom had the locals worried and the PCs were encouraged to investigate. The heroes discovered the ruins of Methergrist, a long-abandoned Temple to Helm that lay in ruins. The PCs battled an Imp in the dungeon beneath the rubble eventually defeating it and banishing the wandering ghost. Their victory coincided with the emergence of The Darkening, dark filaments that shot up from a hole in the earth to spin a web of blackness across the sky blocking the starlight at night and masking the sun during the day.

Over the past few seasons at my FLGS the players have divided into two parties and then stuck to those parties throughout the entire season. This season we’re trying something a little bit different. Each week we’re randomly assigning players to one of the two tables. This lets the players and DMs meet and play with new people every week. Since each week is a complete mini-adventure and the PCs get to level up and take an extended rest between sessions this approach shouldn’t have a detrimental impact on anyone.

This week we had eight players again; the same number as last week. Two of our regulars were absent but two other familiar faces joined us again. My table included a Human Fighter (Slayer), Revenant (Pixie) Vampire, Shade Ranger (Hunter), and Shade Warlock (Binder).

The biggest negative criticism that I got from players after last week’s session was the lack of meaningful combat. They liked the quick, map-less battle and the fight against the Imp, but they didn’t feel that either battle really challenged the party or posed any real danger. Looking at what this week had to offer I didn’t see anything that addressed this concern so I decided to make a big change (keep reading).

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Week 2) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Actual Play Podcast at Silver Snail (Week 2) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Book Reviews

7 Great Post-Apocalypse Books

What does a nuclear war, a plague, zombies, and robots all have in common? They could all lead to the apocalypse and bring about the end of the world. In fact some of the best works of fiction are part of the sub-genre the deals with the aftermath of a disaster that nearly wipes out the human population. In each of these tales the apocalypse serves as the back-drop for a survival story. The best stories don’t spend too much time focusing on the cause of the disaster and instead explain who survived and how they survived. In each story unlikely heroes emerge and try to put back the pieces of the shattered world that they once knew. I always find it fascinating to discover that it’s usually a combination of luck and preparation that keep people alive when the world comes to an end.

With the recent success of NBC’s new show Revolution (Wikipedia | NBC.com), the post-apocalyptic survival genre is reaching a wider and more main stream audience. So for everyone who enjoy Revolution and is looking for more of the same we’ve got plenty of good recommendations for you. At first glance it may not seem like these books could all possibly share anything in common, but in each case the world ends and a select few are left to pick up the pieces.

Post-apocalyptic survival stories are defiantly one of my favourite genres. Any time I hear about a new story in this vein I immediately check it out. More and more of these stories are becoming movies, but in some cases the transition is an apocalypse in and of itself (The Postman, we’re looking at you!). So do yourself a favour and pick up some (or all) of these books before they’re stripped down and streamlined for the big screen.

These are definitely (in my opinion) the best examples of the post-apocalyptic survival genre. This is certainly not an exhaustive list but these are the ones that are most likely to get new readers hooked on the genre. If you’ve got any recommendations of your own please leave them in the comments below.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: War of Everlasting Darkness (Week 1)

This week we began season 11 of D&D Encounters. This is the third and final part of the Rise of the Underdark campaign arc. It also marks a significant change in the D&D Encounters program as it allows the PCs to level up after every week bringing them from level 1 to level 8. It’s still a 4e adventure but it does incorporate some aspects that are being play-tested in D&D Next. I for one am anticipating great things this season.

We had eight players and two DMs for this first session but we think that the weather and Halloween kept some players. We’ll see if more people show up next week. At my table I had a Half-Orc Barbarian, Drow Assassin, Pixie Vampire and Revenant (Githzerai) Bard. I know that Gith are technically not allowed but the player explained his concept and back-story which I thought was pretty cool so I’m going to allow it. After two seasons of enforcing character class and race restrictions I’ve decided to open the floodgates again.

One of the big changes this season is that each week’s session is a mini-adventure rather than just one encounter. This allows for more dynamic story-telling and gives the players more choices (and less railroading). I like to think of each encounter within a session as a scene since most of them don’t really meet the criteria for a 4e encounter. That being said each adventure has multiple scenes, but your group may not get to all of them depending on what choices they made along the way (as we saw this week).

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Week 1) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Actual Play Podcast at Dueling Grounds (Week 1) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Month in Review

Month in Review: October 2012

Two articles we wrote in October made a big splash with our readers: one about treasure maps and one about a player who did something very unexpected. Thanks in large part to Twitter and Reddit these two articles generated a lot of traffic and a lot of discussion. Although these were our most read articles last month they weren’t the only things we talked about in October. Undead also featured prominently at Dungeon’s Master as we posted three new articles on the subject.

If you missed any of the great articles we ran in October than this is your chance to get caught up and join in the discussion. Below we provide links to everything we ran last month.

We’d like to thank everyone who visited our site in October. We’d also like to thank everyone who took the time to leave us a comment. Your feedback is the best gauge we’ve got to determining if we’re on the right track and if our articles are helping you and your D&D games.

If there’s something you’d like to see on Dungeon’s Master or there’s a topic you like us to cover, let us know in the comments or contact us by email or Twitter.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders – Report Card

I don’t think it’s fair to say that this was the worst season of D&D Encounters, but it’s the one I’m most happy to leave behind. There’s not any one reason that I can point to and say that’s what I didn’t like; rather it was a bunch of little things that all came together at once.

As I’ve done after most seasons of D&D Encounters, I’m going to share my thoughts on what I did and didn’t like about the season that was. This is not an exhaustive list, but it does cover the things that topped the list on both sides of the scales (in my opinion). After reading my take I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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DM Resources

5 Reasons Intelligent Undead Became Undead

Becoming undead isn’t something that many PCs aspire to; in fact I don’t think it’s an aspiration anybody aspires to. Death may be terrible and even unexpected, but why would anyone want to become undead? I guess it really depends on what kind of undead we’re talking about and why the individual wants to extend their natural lifespan.

In most cases the transformation isn’t by choice. An unsuspecting victim becomes undead because they were killed by some un-living creature. The most likely possibilities are that you were bitten or scratched by a Zombie, Ghoul, or Vampire before you died. If this happens to a PC it’s game over for that character and time for the player to roll up a new one. The character’s undeath is treated the same way as the character’s death.

For players who really want to play undead characters they have to make that decision during character creation. They can play the Revenant or Vryloka races or they can choose the Vampire class. But if these options don’t appeal to players, a willing DM might allow a few other options. After all there are intelligent creatures that deliberately and often willingly become undead, take the Lich and Mummy, for example.

It’s assumed that a lot of the intelligent undead creatures took deliberate steps while they were alive to ensure that they could live on in undead form. Although D&D usually depicts powerful, intelligent undead as evil monsters, there is a good chance that before this villain became the undead entity the party is desperately trying to defeat he was a mortal being with a solid plan and a good reason for becoming undead.

By identifying the reason behind the transformation DMs can make intelligent undead more than a stat block. After all, the being likely lived for decades or even centuries before the PCs came along. Knowing what drove the monster to become undead will give him a personality and make him a more interesting opponent. It’s even possible that the undead creature doesn’t see himself as evil at all, and if the PCs ever discover his back-story they too may come to that realization.

With that in mind I’ve come up with 5 reasons intelligent undead became undead. I see these examples serving two different proposes. The first is to enrich the undead villain’s background. The second is to act as adventure hooks. Are the PCs trying to help or stop the would-be Lich from becoming undead or willing to take steps to ensure it happens?

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DM Resources

5 Ways to Make Mindless Undead More Interesting

A lot of DMs have a love/hate relationship with undead; I know I do. Whenever I need a monster to round out an encounter I know that some kind of undead will always fill the gap. With so many different kinds of undead to choose from they can easily become the go-to monsters. However, as the party gets tougher I find that I’m less likely to use undead staples like skeletons and zombies. Sure I can adjust their scores to make them level-appropriate for tougher parties but these undead are really one-trick ponies. By the time the party reaches upper heroic tier they know the trick and they’re no longer impressed.

This is why I try to limit how often I use undead creatures in my campaign. Some of the most common undead, at least the ones you’re most likely to encounter in great numbers (skeletons and zombies) tend to be mindless. They rely on their overwhelming numbers rather than any advanced tactics. After all, how can a creature with no brain, or a rotten decaying brain, think at all? This lack of reason makes them boring and predictable.

But undead have their place in D&D and we shouldn’t just cast any of them aside, regardless of the PCs’ level. So in order to make mindless undead more interesting I’ve come up with 5 tips that the players won’t see coming and the PCs will never forget.

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DM Resources Editorial

What a Dick Move Taught Us About Party Goals

I’ve said it many times before: I want the players at my table to play the character they want to play. Unless the campaign revolves around a specific theme (like the last season of D&D Encounters where everyone had to be Drow) or some other facet that the characters need to share, I welcome whatever race/class combo you can imagine – without restriction.

We don’t usually pay a lot of attention to the EXTREME diversity in a party’s composition. Heroes of six different races each of whom represents a different class all come together and go adventuring together. It’s just a part of the way D&D works. Unless you want to make this an important part of your campaign we have learned to just accept it and move on. But for players with considerable experience they’ll often ask questions and dig deeper. What brought theses characters together? Why do they continue to stay together? As a DM and player I’m completely open to this additional character development.

Yet even when the players ask these kinds of questions and look for the deeper motivation or party goals, they know that at the end of the day the party will go adventuring. It’s certainly nice to have a common motivation that will rally the troops into action, but for most of us, most of the time, we just agree that the PCs will form a party and take on the adventure the DM places in front of them. Six strangers will work together, trust each other, and risk their lives for one another along the way because that’s what we do in D&D.

This is the norm. This is what we all expect from the other players at the table. But it makes sense that some players will eventually feel that their character really needs a stronger motivation to keep going. A time when the character will finally look around and realize that he’s got no good reason to stay on the team. The question is what does the player do when he feels his character has reached this unusual predicament?

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 8.)

The end is near; at least the end of this season of D&D Encounters. This week marked the finale of the Council of Spiders. The party was looking for Valan Jaelre, the instigator of the recent unrest in Menzoberranzan and possibly one of the leaders of the Council of Spiders. Valan’s defeat (and death) could quash many fires, especially if he revealed who else he was working with. The PCs were in the right place at the right time, but the task ahead was going to be difficult.

Last week the PCs ventured through the slums of Menzoberranzan to find Valan’s hideout. They had an unexpected encounter with a Priestess of House Melarn who was apparently one of Valan’s partners. The PCs defeated the rogue Priestess and her entourage before heading down a staircase and into Valan’s lair.

Unfortunately we had a very poor turnout for our grand finale. The level 3 table had a DM and three players, and my level 6 table had a DM and three players. Yet another example of why everyone in the FLGS should play the same level characters and not let some group play up. Rather than combine for a table of six or seven, we had to run two tables of three. My group had a Drow Rogue/Blackguard (f), Drow Druid (m), and Drow Wizard Bladesinger (f) all of whom were affiliated with Bregan D’aerthe.

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Week 8) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Actual Play Podcast at Dueling Grounds (Week 8) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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DM Resources

Undead of Different Races

When the DM describes zombies, skeletons or any other undead that attacks the party, how often does he mention what race the creature was in life? How often do you even think to ask?

As a player when I hear “skeleton” I always assume it’s a Human skeleton. I never ask if it was originally any other race. The same goes for zombies, mummies, and ghouls. I always just assume that it was human and now it’s undead. Even the description in the Monster Manual and online compendium just classifies these monsters as medium undead. But in a fantasy setting there’s no reason to assume that every undead you face was once Human. With so many other races represented in the world why wouldn’t some undead creatures have once been a race other than Human?

This might seem like a really small detail, but it can really change the way an encounter plays out. Not to mention it can drastically change the mood of the encounter. Think about it, how much more terrifying would a skeletal army be if they were once Minotaurs? What about a zombie horde full of animated Dragonborn corpses? What about Halfling mummies? Or Pixie ghouls? It only takes the DM a few minutes to identify what race the creature was before it became undead yet it can drastically alter how the players perceive the encounter. Where they might rush haphazardly into a group of “normal” skeletons, they may now rethink their tactic once they realize that these undead are special.

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