Tag: DM Resources

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Adventure Hooks DM Resources

9 Adventure Hooks

The best adventures begin with a simple idea. And if you’ve been DMing as long as I have then you know that sometimes coming up with that idea is tougher than you might think. Whether you’re looking to begin a long-term campaign or a one encounter adventure, the right adventure hook makes all the difference. If the PCs aren’t interested right off the bat everything becomes more difficult.

To help new and experienced DMs alike, Dungeon’s Master again shares 9 adventure hooks. They’re generic enough to be suitable for almost any camping, yet provide enough intrigue and mystery to get even the most skeptical PC asking questions and biting the hook.

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Book Reviews DM Resources Player Resources

Playing Yourself as a D&D Character

Last week fantasy author Joel Rosenberg died. Rosenberg’s Guardians of the Flame series was my introduction to fantasy fiction. In book one, real world college students become the characters they created when they are transported into their fantasy role playing game. Once inside the game world they realize that in addition to possessing all of the powers and skills of their characters, they still also know everything they did in real life. These characters apply their modern beliefs and values along with rudimentary technology into the game world and become a powerful force striving to make an imperfect world better. As an avid gamer I thought this was the most brilliant premise I’d ever heard the first time I read these books.

The series capped at 10 books, but for many fans the essence of what made this series great ended with book five. Books six through 10 saw the real world character retire (or die) and their children become the focus of the adventures. I’ve read those first five books many times. And even though I’ve read hundreds of other fantasy novels since then I still think that the initial premise of the series holds up. I mean, really, who among us hasn’t imagined themselves as their character at one time or another?

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Month in Review

Month in Review: May 2011

May was another great month for us here at Dungeon’s Master. We continued our exploration of racial powers, shared our weekly experiences with D&D Encounters and took a detailed look at divine classes. We also covered monster variety, DM rehearsals, controller powers and a look back at fantasy movies from the 80s. If you missed any of the great articles from May this is your opportunity to get caught up.

And of course the Dungeon’s Master team would like to take this opportunity, as we always do in the Month in Review, to thank everyone who visited our site and commented in May.

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DM Resources

Accepting a Suicide Mission

How often do you know the outcome of your adventure before you even begin playing? Almost never. But, what if you did know the way the adventure was going to end? More importantly, what if you knew – before you ever sat down to play – that the PCs could only achieve victory by sacrificing themselves in the process?

I’m not talking about a typical TPK. This isn’t just a really difficult encounter where the PCs, through bad luck, poor rolls and dismal tactics end up dead. I’m talking about an adventure that’s specifically designed as a no way out scenario. The PCs, and more importantly the players, know at the beginning of the campaign that they won’t be coming back.

This kind of set up makes for a very different D&D adventure. Normally the players assume (and rightly so) that their characters will survive everything that’s thrown at them. No one plays D&D and expects for their character to die. Where’s the fun in that? Well, I’m going to tell you.

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Adventure Hooks Class Discussions DM Resources

Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters (Part 2)

Last week we gave you 10 Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters. Today we add to that list by providing 10 more. As we mentioned in last week’s article, adventure hooks featuring divine characters can be a lot more complex than typical hooks.

The faith of the divine PCs will often dictate which side of the conflict presented in the adventure hooks they land on. It’s up to the DM to decide which side of the conflict will make for the most interesting encounter. Just remember that divine PCs may choose to act in the best interest of their faith even if it’s not in the best interest of their party.

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DM Resources

Mandatory DM Rehearsal

All performers rehearse. You’d never expect an actor to perform Shakespeare after a single reading of the script. Nor would you expect a musician to get up on stage and perform flawlessly just because you know that they can read the music that’s in front of them. If you’re trying to get the best performance from an artist then you need to ensure that they’ve had ample time to rehearse.

DMs may not be artists in the same sense or category as actors or musicians (and I’m not going to insult anyone who falls into one of those two categories by suggesting otherwise) but we can look to these disciplines and borrow their best practices. DMs certainly do their fare share of prep work when they build encounters. They choose monsters, draw maps and compose skill challenges, as well as develop the entire campaign arc. But prep isn’t the same as rehearsal.

Over the past couple of months I’ve been the DM for two different groups playing D&D Encounters. Every week I run the exact same encounter twice. None of the players or characters are the same, but everything else is identical. What I’ve found is that I’m a lot more comfortable when I run that second group and I’ve come to realize that’s it because of the familiarity I gained by running it twice. The first group provides me, as the DM, with a chance to rehearse the encounter.

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Adventure Hooks Class Discussions DM Resources

Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters (Part 1)

Adventure hooks are usually pretty simple. One or two sentences serve as inspiration, helping the DM create his next encounter or even a whole arc of the camping. However, adventure hooks designed to include divine characters have the potential to be a lot more complicated.

Right from level 1, divine characters have the support and resources of their church behind them. The PC may not be important or powerful enough within the hierarchy to request a magic item or demand an audience with the high priest, but this relationship exists. Even in circumstances where a divine character has left or been expelled from his order, he still has his faith. Should this character require aid he only needs to find others with similar beliefs and he’ll likely get it.

In most cases, PCs are in good standing with their church. They will often aid followers of the same faith and other members of the church if they need it. Likewise there is a good chance that these same people will assist the PC if the situation is reversed. This makes adventure hooks that feature divine characters a lot more complicated.

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DM Resources

More Monster Variety – Put Undead to Rest

When the heroes finish clearing away the rubble they find the entrance to a long forgotten dungeon. As they enter, the stale musty smell clearly indicates that nothing has come in or out of this labyrinth for a very long time.

“Divine characters up front, everyone else get your radiant powers and glow stones ready. It won’t be long before we encounter our fist undead opponents.”

More often then not, when an adventure involves exploitation into a sealed environment, like a dungeon or tomb, the PCs expect to fight undead. And you know what; in almost every example of this scenario they’re right.

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DM Resources

Building Better Monsters Part 4: Monster Themes and Implementing Your Designs

If you’ve read this far you’ve got the goods to design a monster, so now it’s time to think of your creation as part of the bigger picture, as a denizen of a universe. You’ll need to consider how your monster relates to the world around it as well as other monsters so that you can determine how to role-play them and how they will act in combat.

There are loose themes that the most monsters will fit in if your campaign fits into any of the better-known genres. The themes for monsters are based on creature type, location and its association with other creatures.

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DM Resources

Building Better Monsters Part 3: Making the Monster Fit the Bill

One thing that keeps coming up is the idea that monster design should be elegant, graceful, smooth and all these other flowery and juicy sounding words. What I mean to say in more direct terms is that your monster needs to realize its design goal with as little effort from you while DMing as possible. When your monster hits the grid and it’s time to throw initiative, the party is going to immediately do its best to murder your new creation. As a result your monster is going to have very little time to make a good impression.

In music one of the mistakes young musicians make all the time is not playing expressively. They practice a piece for ages before they perform it and come to know its subtleties and complexities very well, but their audience doesn’t. In order for people to understand the piece of music on first hearing the way that the musician has come to understand it over a period of weeks, the musician has to accentuate its good qualities so that they are readily apparent.

As the DM you have the very same problem with your monster. Any trimmings that don’t further your goal for the monster should be removed. Strip the monster down to what abilities it really need because it’s only going to get a few rounds of combat to use them.

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

So you’ve got your idea for your monster and you know what you want it to do and how you want it to function in your game. It’s time to put those plans into action. There are a lot of considerations to be made and it can be daunting to figure out where to begin. My outlook is that the best place to start is anywhere. The following considerations are not placed in any special sequence. As you read each heading remember that you can never be too creative.

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