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Greatest Hits 2013: Zombies: Breathing Life into an Overused Undead

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2013. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

This article was the final entry of our A to Z Blogger Challenge in April and it’s the final entry of our 2013 Greatest Hits. Nothing says “The End” like Zombies.

Zombies are still some of the most popular creatures in pop culture and mass media entertainment. The Walking Dead – both the TV show on AMC and the comic book – are still going strong and generating huge dollars. The Zombie obsession phenomenon seems to be as difficult to kill as actual Zombies.

In D&D Zombies are good monsters to throw at unsuspecting PCs regardless of their level. Zombies can be level 1 minions or epic level marauders. The beauty of Zombies is that they’re such a straight forward archetype. The problem is that they get repetitive and boring, hence the purpose of the original article.

Since writing this article I’ve tried to come up with new ways to make Zombies fresh and original and I’ve struggled. There seems to be only so much you can do with them before they stop being Zombies and start being something else. So if you find that you’ve hit that rut in your game my advice is to focus on making them scary. Don’t worry so much about the mechanics; try to make an impression on the players.

In a recent 4e game I used a bunch of Zombie minions. They fell easily enough with a single hit. However, on the Zombie’s next turn a roll of 16-20 on a d20 meant the Zombie got back up. This is a standard 4e mechanic. My tweak was to forego the first roll and have ALL the Zombies get back up the first time. They then rolled the 16-20 to see if they’d get up a second time.

The players, most of whom had faced Zombies before, were not expecting this and it made the encounter a lot scarier. Where they’d originally been content to fight, they were now seriously contemplating if they should run. A simple adjustment made a huge impact on the encounter. So if you want to use Zombies in your game and you feel they’ve become tiresome, try making small adjustments to increase the fear factor.

From April 30, 2013, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Zombies: Breathing Life into an Overused Undead.

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Greatest Hits 2013: Should the DM Use a Screen?

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2013. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

It could be argued that the question “Should the DM use a screen?” is becoming less relevant in today’s digital world. At my home game the last two DMs kept all of their notes – including maps, monsters, and the module itself – exclusively on their digital devices. DMs don’t have to decide if they’ll use a screen or not, they now have to decide if they’re using a digital device or not. And if the answer is yes the original question is moot.

Using a digital device gives the DM all the secrecy of a screen without erecting a physical barrier between him and the players. The notes and references on the DM’s side of the screen are unnecessary as the DM can search for anything he doesn’t know off the top of his head with a few keystrokes.

Players who were once inspired by the fantastic artwork on the players’ side of the screen may now see dozens of images of monsters, NPCs, and locations in one session as the DM calls them up on his tablet. And with each new game the images will keep changing, unlike a static screen that eventually gets tiresome to look at.

If a DM with a digital device decides to use a digital dice roller he’ll eliminate any need for a screen at all. None of the DMs I play with use a digital dice roller; we all still roll the polyhedral dice on the table. Since we’re all roll in the open DMs this isn’t an issue.

As more DMs and players embrace emerging technologies and use them as part of their table top gaming experiences some of the gaming traditions and conventions will disappear, like the debate on whether or not to use a screen. But as long as people still play RPGs at the table there will be some who keep it old school. Use the screen or not, it’s up to you. Just be sure your decision makes sense for you and your group.

From June 19, 2013, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Should the DM Use a Screen?

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Greatest Hits 2013: 6 Tips for Making Potions Fun Again

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2013. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

All of the points I included in the original article deal with unidentified potions and the random things that may happen when a PC drinks one.

In tip 3. Mundane Identification I commented that I try to keep certain aspects of potions consistent so that players can learn what details will help them indentify new potions. This doesn’t mean that every healing potion should be blue and bubbly, but if that’s how you choose to describe them in your campaign world, try to keep it consistent. Regrettably I couldn’t find my master list from back in the day, but it’s easy enough to create your own. When PCs find potions be sure to describe the concoction by color, consistency, smell, and even taste.

Some generous DMs may allow a PC to take a very small sip to try and identify a potion. It won’t instill the potions effects upon the PC but it may reveal a familiar taste that will help them identify it. Of course if it’s poison then the PC will be subjected to the harmful effects. I used to do this but I found that I ended up including way more poison in the loot than seemed appropriate.

I’m going to take this opportunity to add one more tip for making potions fun again: 7. Mixing Potions. Sometimes PC will acquire potions that they can’t identify or just don’t feel are very useful. In 4e potions scale by tier so a paragon level party may find they have little use for some of the heroic tier potions. Clever players may decide to mix multiple potions together hoping that it will either create a new, better potions or just cause something fun and interesting to happen. I like this idea a lot and on the few occasions when this has happened I’ve rewarded the player’s ingenuity and imagination. Let the rule of cool guide your hand.

From July 2, 2013, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: 6 Tips for Making Potions Fun Again.

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Greatest Hits 2013: Making Healing Easier in D&D Next

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2013. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

Obviously there have been some changes to D&D Next since I wrote this article back in July. As was pointed out in the comments of the original article, there are healing powers at higher levels that do allow the Cleric to provide healing from a distance. But this article is more than a critique on a few powers in a beta version of D&D Next.

The reason I chose to include this article in the Greatest Hits this year was because I think players going from older editions of D&D (including 4e) to D&D Next need to realize that healing magic is special. In D&D Next it’s not as plentiful or commonplace as it was in 4e. Fewer classes can heal wounded PCs and there’s no Second Wind or other mechanic that allows everyone to just heal them self. The lesson here is that tactics must change as the rules change.

Too many players believe that they should run headlong into combat and throw consequences to the wind. They’ve played other version of D&D where the healer will swoop in, heal them, and keep them on their feet. Since that’s less likely to happen in D&D Next while the battle’s still raging on, using smart tactics is more important than ever before.

Players need to be more keenly aware of how many hit points their character has and how likely they are to lose them given each round the circumstances. In D&D Next there are fewer hit points per character per level (than 4e, anyway) which makes every fight life threatening. So as long as healing require an up close and personal interaction with a Cleric PCs should stay near the healer or make sure he can get to them easily.

From July 24, 2013, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Making Healing Easier in D&D Next.

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Greatest Hits 2013: Cat Lord

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2013. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

The Cat Lord remains one of my all time favourite creatures in D&D lore. Sure Dragons have their appeal but there are so many of them that it’s tough to pick just one instance of one type and say this it is my favourite. The Cat Lord is one unique being filled with mystery and awe, not a template or race that you can throw at PCs over and over again. I always felt that he should have originally been presented in Deities & Demigods rather than the Monster Manual II. And perhaps it’s that idea that he’s unique that heightened his appeal for me.

It’s rare in D&D to have one of anything in the monster department. The Monster Manual is a cyclopedia of monsters designed to be dropped into your game for the PCs to battle, and in most cases kill. But just because they killed a bunch of Orcs this game doesn’t mean that they can’t or won’t face Orcs again. Same with Beholders, Illithids, Dragons, Giants, you name it. It doesn’t matter how tough or weak a monsters is, there’s bound to be another one somewhere in the world your PCs inhabit. These creatures might be rare, but at the end of the day very few are unique.

Unique creatures are tough – and I don’t just mean in the stats department. If you choose to use a unique creature in your game you have to decide how interactions with PCs will carry forward into any future interactions this creature may have. This is important to the adventures that face him now and may face him again later, but it’s also important for completely different adventurers that may face him later.

If your group rotates DMs but keeps playing in the same continuity, how will other DMs choose to play the unique creature if they bring him into their games? How will their choices react and interact with any plans you might have had for that creature down the road. Does the new DM simply decide to create a new incarnation of the unique creature (thereby making him no longer unique) or does he follow the “lore” you’ve created for this creature?

As a DM I prefer to stay away from unique beings like deities or named monsters for exactly this reason. As cool as these creatures generally are, there’s just too much work keeping the history straight. What’s even more difficult is using a unique creature in a memorable way and then expecting the other DMs to keep their hands off. In the end it’s easier to just admire from afar and have everyone keep their hands off. This is the only sure way to ensure the creature’s awe remains in place for everyone.

From April 3, 2013, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Cat Lord.

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Greatest Hits 2013: DMs Are the Worst Players

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2013. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

This article talks about the difficulties some DMs have going from being a DM to being a player. We provide 11 guidelines that, if followed, should make the transition easier. Today I’d like to share a tale about how I handled a difficult former DM turned player at my table.

Earlier this year I had a player at my table during a public play game who was a regular DM in his home game. He’s a good player, and I’m sure he’s a great DM, but he’s obsessed with optimizing. On the plus side, you really have to know the rules backwards and forwards to get the most out of character optimization. On the negative side, his characters are often so much more powerful than the rest of the PCs in the party it makes it difficult for me as the DM to challenge him and not kill everyone else. On top of that, he’s an Alpha personality and likes to be the party leader (in and out of character).

Looking at the list of tips for DMs turned players presented in the original article below; I’d say he rides the list right down the middle. He does about half of the good things but is guilty of committing the other half of the grievances. The trait that I think he finds hardest to shake is giving up control – which is why he usually tries to take on party leadership. The challenge is that he often tells (rather than suggests) other, newer players what action to take on their turn.

Now I’ll admit that I’m guilty of this from time-to-time. The fountain of experience bubbles up and I want to make sure that other players take the best action on their turn. So I understand where the need to pipe up and say something comes from in DMs turned players. But I’ve had it happen to me as a player and I see it a lot as the DM so I know how annoying it can be.

Here’s how I handled the situation. First and foremost I talked to the offending player. On numerous occasions I reminded him that his turn was over and he needed to let the other players take their turn without interference. I’ve also explained to the whole table that from time to time I may skirt the rules as written if it will make the play experience better.

When the DM turned player wasn’t at the table one week I challenged the rest of the players to take on the role of party leader and not to defer to just one PC. I reminded them that they can do whatever they want with their character and although other players may offer suggestions they should never feel pressured to follow that advice.

The final step I took was insisting that players could only talk to each other if their PCs were close enough to hear one and other. As the DM turned player liked to play characters that often broke party ranks to do his own thing, this forced him to be more of a team player or keep quiet.

By combining all of these steps the player finally settled into a happy balance. He still offered suggestions (which in all fairness were usually great suggestions), but only when situations allowed it. The other players started challenging his automatic status as leader and the responsibility became a shared one. He’s still a tough player to pin down, but he’s certainly come a long way since transitioning from DM to player.

From January 11, 2013, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: DMs Are the Worst Players.

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Greatest Hits 2013: 9 Ways to Improve 4e D&D

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2013. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

D&D is in a strange place right now. As we move towards the official release of D&D Next there is less and less support for 4e. This isn’t a surprise; in fact it was an inevitable reality. That’s just the way things work when the game transitions to a new edition. But until D&D Next officially becomes the edition some people are still playing 4e, including me and my home group.

I think that a lot of players want to get behind D&D Next but are waiting for the rules to go beyond the play testing stage. Until the official rules are released what’s a gamer to do? If you’re planning to stick with 4e then the tips we preset in this article might be just what you need.

About a year ago my home group decided to take a break from 4e. At first we tried D&D Next. Some liked it; some did not so we moved on. For the next few months we tried a few other RPGs before finally returning to 4e. It was nice to return to something familiar. However, if didn’t take long before we remembered why we’d stopped playing a year earlier. That’s when we decided to tweak things a little bit.

By making a few adjustments to the rules, we breathed new life and new excitement into our game. It was still 4e at heart, but we had a lot of fun trying new things. Our experience playing other RPGs actually helped a lot in this regard. Sometimes distance provides perspective and we found that to be the case this past year with our RPGs.

We didn’t end up using too many of the “improvements” for very long (except #2, #8, and #9), but just having the courage to try them in game said a lot about our desire to stick with 4e for a little bit longer. My advice to gamers stuck between 4e & D&D Next is to keep playing 4e and try tweaking the rules to keep your experiences fresh. And if you find something that really works be sure to share it.

From January 8, 2013, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: 9 Ways to Improve 4e D&D.

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Greatest Hits 2013: The United Nations… of Monsters

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2013. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

The idea is really quite simple; introduce a governing body to your game world that has representation from all races in your fantasy campaign. In the article we suggest a few ways to make this work. At the end of the article we provided some possible adventure hooks. Today we’ve got a few more.

These hooks will certainly work better if the DM knows he’s going to include the UN of Monsters in his campaign when the PCs are developing characters. The DM can provide direction without revealing too much. Enjoy.

  • Every party member is a different race (not that uncommon). They are approached by a mentor early in their adventuring career. The mentor explains that they are being considered for membership in a very exclusive club. Every time the PCs take on a quest they are scored and judged. Eventually some or all of the PCs are offered seats on the UN of Monsters’ council.
  • Every party member is the same race. They are brought together as special enforcers in order to protect and promote the culture and history of their people. They are fully aware of the UN of Monsters as they take orders directly from their race’s representative. Do they do so unconditionally? What would happen if their contact on the UN was killed or replaced? Is their loyalty to the UN of Monsters, their race, or the person who happens to hold office right now?
  • One of the PCs represents his race at the UN of Monsters. His race is expelled from the UN. Any protection his race had from being included in the UN of Monsters is gone. What does the PC do? Is he personally held responsible for any problems that spin out of the expulsion? Is it within his power to get his people back in to the UN? What are the consequences to other races that help?
  • The PCs witness monsters coming together after a natural disaster to provide aid. Creatures like Dragons and Giants (many of them evil) literally move mountains, redirect the flow of rivers, and rebuild infrastructure like roads and bridges. During this unexpected cooperation hunters attack and kill the creatures. What do the PCs do? What side does the party sympathize with?

The idea of a United Nations of Monsters is one I’ve kicked around for a long time. It certainly has a lot of potential for any fantasy game world. I hope that some DMs who read the original article and who read this rerun borrow it and use it in their campaign. If you’ve used a UN of Monsters or something similar, please share your experiences in the comments below.

From April 24, 2013, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: The United Nations… of Monsters.

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Greatest Hits 2013: Passing Notes at the Gaming Table

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2013. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

One use for notes at the gaming table that I hadn’t really considered when I wrote this article was to use them as a storytelling aids. This was raised by a reader in the comments of the original article. The idea is quite simple; the DM passes a note to a player that briefly explains what that PC sees, hears, smells, etc. Then it’s up to that player to flesh out the details and describe it to the rest of the party.

I love this idea. Too often we forget that D&D is a shared storytelling experience. But in most games the DM does the majority of the descriptions and exposition. Passing a note to a player that has only the essential points and then getting that player to use their imagination to fill in the blanks is genius. It allows the players really feel like they’re part of the story. It also gives them a chance to develop their character by putting that character’s interpretation and opinion on things.

For example, the PCs meet a new NPC for the first time and the DM has a note that says something like: Male Elf, dark hair, well dressed, well spoken, no weapons visible. Depending on who gets this note we’ll get a different take on this NPC.

  • The Half-Elf Paladin might say “The Elf before us is dressed in his Sunday best. He speaks with a tone that reveals his education and privileged upbringing. He seems harmless enough and I believe we can trust him.”
  • The Eladrin Wizard might say “The Elf before us is likely a spellcaster. His fine clothing, lack of weapons, and confident swagger betray his power. Tread lightly and don’t say anything that will anger him.”
  • The Dwarven Fighter might say “The Elf is soft and dim witted. He flaunts his wealth and doesn’t even have the good sense to carry a weapon so he can defend himself if he gets into trouble. That tells me he’s used to having body guards and servants. I already don’t like this lazy, privileged Fey.”

All of these examples have validity but are coloured by each player and the character he’s running. I encourage DMs to try this note passing exercise a few times and see what happens. The players setting the stage may add a detail that you can then use to make the story more interesting. Just be sure to act like that was the plan all along.

From January 21, 2013, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Passing Notes at the Gaming Table.

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Friday Favourite: What’s In Your Backpack? A Healthy Dose of Reality

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From August 27, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: What’s In Your Backpack? A Healthy Dose of Reality.

When it comes to fantasy role-playing there are a lot of things you have to just accept in order for the game to function. Magic exists. Dragons exist. Elves exist. I have no problems with any of these things. They may be fantastic but they’re familiar and acceptable. But when it comes to the amount of gear a typical adventurer can carry in his backpack many players believe that anything goes. This is not a fantasy that I’m willing to accept. There needs to be some common sense applied some of the time to D&D and for me the buck stops with your backpack.

The way I see it there are two real issues when it comes to the reality of your backpack: 1) How much can it hold, and 2) How easily you can grab something out of that backpack in the heat of combat. I have had way too many players push the boundaries of what is actually possible in both cases that I’ve had to introduce a house rule when it comes to equipment the first thing that goes into any character’s backpack is a healthy does of reality.

This month Game Knight Reviews wants to know “What’s in *your* backpack?” as part of the August RPG Blog Carnival. I expect we’ll see a lot of posts where people list off their favourite must-have items. Here at Dungeon’s Master we’ve decided to approach the discussion from a slightly different angle.

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