Tag: Dungeon’s Master

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Month in Review

Month in Review: September 2012

In September I officially became a professional gamer as I had two articles published in Dungeon Magazine. At the same time my home gaming group decided that we needed a short break from D&D so we’ve been trying out other board games and RPGs. I’ve realized that by taking a step back it’s provided new perspective which is serving as a great source of inspiration.

In September we borrowed from Doctor Who and Dresden Files to come up with articles on New Initiative and Collaborative Dungeon Design. Who knows what October will bring?

Last month we continued to focus heavily on D&D public play with our preview of the new Lair Assault: Kill the Wizard, and weekly coverage of D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders. Even if you’re not actively playing D&D Encounters you should check out our actual-play podcast and our weekly show “Recounting Encounters” in which we dissect each week’s session.

We’d like to thank everyone who visited Dungeon’s Master in September. Please leave us your comments and let us know what you think. We welcome your feedback, opinions and questions. I also encourage you to follow me on Twitter (@ameron_dm).

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 5)

Last week the PCs managed to get inside the Council of Spiders hideout where they search for the captured Hoshtar Xorlarrin. Every Drow that stood in PCs’ way last week was killed. During their short rest the PCs looted the bodies and took anything of value they could find in the upper floor of the hideout. They paused just long enough to complete their secret objective before heading downstairs.

Once they reached the hideout’s lower level they came face-to-face with a rapier-wielding Drow Assassin. “And so it begins,” he said. “Thank you, dear friends, for starting what I’m sure will be a perfectly lovely war.”

This week I ran a table of four: Drow Rogue (f), Drow Rogue/Blackguard (f), Drow Druid (m), Drow Cleric Priestess(f). All four are affiliated with Bregan D’aerthe. This party began the adventure at level 4, and they are all level 5 now.

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Week 5) [ 1:39:28 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Actual Play Podcast at Dueling Grounds (Week 5) [ 1:53:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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DM Resources

Collaborative Dungeon Design

It’s unusual for DMs to get the players to help them design encounters. After all, part of the fun of being a player is the element of the unknown. Players love it and DMs relish in it. The idea that the DM springs the unknown on the players is practically a mandate of D&D. I know this is how things usually work when I’m the DM. I have a vision of what an encounter will be like or where it will take place and I make it happen. I create the encounters in secret. The last thing I want is for the players to have any foreknowledge of what’s next. In fact I’ve gone so far as to change details if I discover they know something they shouldn’t about the next encounter.

During my recent introduction to the Dresden Files RPG I experienced the extreme satisfaction of being part of the collaborative city creation process. The game takes place in a city that everyone helps develop. The DM (or in this case GM) still has the final say, but all the players work together to make the setting interesting. Of course it didn’t take long to see how this exercise could be just as useful to other games, namely D&D.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 4)

In chapter 1 the PCs were sent on a secret mission to find an old Drow outpost that was once used for magical research. Despite some in-fighting, the party completed their objective. They found the outpost and completed the ritual that allowed Lolth to siphon the arcane energies and put it towards the creation of her Demon Weave.

About a week has passed when chapter 2 begins. The PCs have recuperated from their adventure, leveled up and spent any gold they might have accumulated along the way. Again the PCs are summoned to a clandestine meeting and given a secret assignment by their superiors.

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DM Resources

The New Initiative – Talk then Fight

“Everyone, roll initiative.” When the DM speaks these magic words we all know that it’s time for combat. This is how D&D works. The players determine who goes in what order and then you have at it. Since initiative is tied to Dexterity, PCs with the highest Dex almost always go first. And what do you know, the powers for most strikers – Rogues, Rangers, Sorcerers, Monks, Vampires – are generally tied to Dex so this is usually their best stat. The result is that the PCs who have the best chance of inflicting the most damage will act first in combat more often than not. This is all well and good if your objective is to kill everything you come across, but every now and then don’t you think there should be an opportunity to talk to your opponents before the hot-headed striker does something stupid like acting first and killing something?

We have it so engrained in our D&D mindset that rolling initiative is the natural precursor to killing monsters that very few PCs will take a second to try and defuse a combat situation with words. And those that do usually act so far down in the initiative order that by the time they get to go the fight is already well underway. Yet talking is a free action. In-game, your PC can talk even if it’s not his turn – even if he didn’t win initiative. However, players I’ve gamed with rarely take advantage of this before combat begins. Players roll initiative and want to act in that order. So why not roll two initiatives – one for talking and one for fighting?

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 3)

Last week the PCs were ambushed by Svirfneblin. After barely surviving that encounter they took a short rest before heading onward to the former House Shobalar outpost of Sezz’ia. During the rest they searched area and looted the Svirfneblin’s bodies. On the corpses they found three potions: two healing potions and one elixir of invisibility. In one of the nearby passages they found a cowering Goblin.

At my FLGS we’ve been running two tables, one started at level 1 and the other at level 4. This week we only had six players, three from each group. Because we were four levels apart we couldn’t easily merge into one full party. So both tables ran with three players. At my table I decided to run an NPC to bring the party to four and to throw something unexpected at the players.

In attendance were the following three PCs:

  • Drow Rogue [female], aligned with Bregan D’aerthe
  • Drow Rogue/Blackguard [female], aligned with Bregan D’aerthe
  • Drow Druid [male], aligned with Bregan D’aerthe

The Rogue/Blackguard (whom I’ll just call Blackguard for simplicity) found the Goblin, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and demanded information from the sniveling, cowering creature. The Goblin, who quickly identified himself as Snüt, begged for his life. The Blackguard said she’d consider taking Snüt as her slave if he provide worthy.

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D&D Encounters DM Resources

It’s Here! – Lair Assault: Kill the Wizard

In this Lair Assault you’re are part of a special Drow “murder squad.” Your team must travel to the surface and kill a Wizard. It sounds straight-forward enough but failure will have devastating consequences. The Wizard has created a construct that he plans to mass produce and then set loose throughout the Underdark. These constructs have one purpose: kill all Drow. Your job is to Kill the Wizard, destroy the prototype, and ensure that no one can recreate it. Simple, right?

Lair Assault is part of Wizard of the Coast’s public play program. It’s intended to provide a whole new kind of D&D experience. There is very little role-playing in these adventures (by design). They are extremely combat heavy and reward smart play and clever tactics. It’s a power-gamers dream.

Knowing the kind of players these adventures attract, Wizards has made them exceptionally difficult. They fully expect that some or all of the PCs will die the first time they try any new Lair Assault. In fact they said at the outset that they estimate 80% of all groups will suffer a TPK in their first run-through. With the gauntlet thrown down you have to decide if you’re brave enough (or dumb enough) to accept the challenge and try to Kill the Wizard.

This is the fifth season of Lair Assault and the second that is part of the Rise of the Underdark theme running through all Wizards of the Coast product lines right now. One thing that makes this installment unique is that the players get to play the bad guys in this adventure. Not only that, but as Drow every player at the table should watch his back because you never know if another member of the squad is going to stab you in the back.

The new season of Lair Assault runs from September 1 – November 30. (I realize it already started, but I didn’t get the materials until last week and I’ve needed time to get this report put together.) Below I share some of the high-level details. I’ll try to keep it spoiler-free. Some of my suggestions and observations may seem a bit spoiler-y but most of my points are pretty obvious or fairly common sense things so I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I’m certainly not going to give away anything that will give players an unfair advantage.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 2)

As the party proceeded through the old mine shaft rocks fell from the ceiling behind them sealing the passage. Svirfneblin rushed our of side passages ready to attack the party – it was an ambush! “The Goblin’s warning was true!” shouted one of the Deep Gnomes. “They’ll give us no mercy, so show none to them!”

This week we jump right into the action. No talking, not role-playing, just straight-up fighting. And it was going to be a tough fight. We had nine players and two DMs this week at my FLGS. I ran the table of four. These are the same PCs from last season and I’m modifying the adventure to make it suitable for level 4-6. The PCs are all Drow and those in attendance were playing the Rogue (#2), Druid, Cleric (Priestess) and Wizard (Bladesinger). All of these PCs have the Bregan D’aerthe Spy theme.

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Editorial

I’m Getting Published in Dungeon Magazine

I’ve always said that writing for this blog is a lobour of love. It is its own reward. While that is indeed true, in the back of my mind I’ve always secretly hoped that it would give me the experience and exposure needed to write for Wizards of the Coast. Well, that dream is becoming a reality in September as Wizards will be publishing two of my submissions.

Way back in April 2011 Wizards reached out to a wide field of up-and-coming writers asking if they’d be interested in contributing to Dragon Magazine or Dungeon Magazine. Many of these would-be authors, myself included, had no professional writing experience aside from what we posted on our gaming blogs. Needless to say I jumped at the chance to contribute to the D&D cannon.

The Table of Contents for Dungeon #206 (September 2012) is now live on the Wizards of the Coast website. I don’t know when in September my articles will be live, but when they are I’ll let everyone know.

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Month in Review

Month in Review: August 2012

Here at Dungeon’s Master August was all about public play, community and conventions. It was a really busy month for gamer, as many of us made the annual pilgrimage to Indianapolis to game our brains out. In preparation for the con, we re-ran a few relevant articles from our archives to get you stoked. Happening simultaneously in August was the finale of D&D Encounters season 9 and the launch of season 10. Throw in the RPG Blog Carnival and you’ve got a pretty good picture of August at Dungeon’s Master. If you missed any of the coverage this is a great time to get caught up.

Every month I extend a huge thank you to our readers. It was extremely rewarding to actually meet a lot you at GenCon and say thanks in person for visiting Dungeon’s Master. One of our readers actually refereed to me as a celebrity, which I must admit went straight to my head. Our goal has always been to provide articles that people enjoy reading and that help make their game better, any name recognition I’ve earned along the way is just a nice fringe benefit.

Thanks to everyone who visited Dungeon’s Master in August. Please keep leaving your thoughts and feedback in the comments. If you have questions for us, or are interested in writing as a guest author, please email me directly or send me a Tweet.

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