8:58 PM | 
Posted by
Darth Kevin
We are nearing the completion of Keep on the Shadowfell with my group of new D&D 4.0 players. It's been a learning experience for all of us and I've definitely seen some growth in the players. Now it's time to transition on to the next Campaign, Scales of War.
Just walking away from the characters they've grown to love over the past year seems to be difficult for my players so I've decided to let them keep them as we start the next campaign. Through some divine intervention and a some high intrigue, they will be given a mission that sends them into deep cover in the Elsir Vale to get to the bottom of a plot that threatens to destabilize the entire region if not the world. They'll be given new backgrounds, new identities, and asked to pose as 1st level adventurers so as not to raise suspicion. They'll have the opportunity to change race and class too, if they so desire.
To aid in the believability of the scenario, I'm going to let them retain one of their current encounter powers at it's current to hit and damage value as an extra daily power until they reach level 4 in the new campaign. Flavor text would be something like "As your enemies press the attack, you momentarily forget your cover story and strike back with your full might."
Yes, it's a cheap trick, but I want to encourage these guys since they're new players. Taking away the characters that they've spent a year developing, even though they're only 4th level, would only serve to foster resentment at this stage of their introduction to D&D. Now when Scales of War is over, all bets are off. By that time they should be seasoned D&D players and will probably welcome the fresh perspective of a new character.
We'll see how it goes.
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Sarah Darkmagic has a great post on her blog regarding Play by Post using Google Wave. Of particular interest is her notes on how this method actually changes the focus of the game. You can also follow her on twitter @SarahDarkmagic Thanks Sarah!
There's been quite a bit of talk over the past few weeks on several of the D&D blogs about monster optimization. You'll find all sorts of tips on powers, stats, and levels which will give you numerous options for customizing your monsters. The D&D Monster Builder makes it simple to increase levels and adjust powers ad naseum. However, when the claw meets the pavement, things may not play out how you expected. An eager new DM learned that lesson the hard way.
Picture if you will, an eager new DM wanting to challenge his group of level 4 players with an encounter that challenged their new strength. Picture him slaving away at the Monster Builder tweaking here, adding levels there, all the while making sure the XP budget was spent. Now picture a single encounter that drags on for 3 and a half hours with the players getting frustrated and bored and casting dirty looks at the poor sod behind the screen.
OK, so it was bad. Maybe not that bad, but it wasn't pretty and it was completely the eager new DM's fault. He made made the monsters hard to hit and on top of that, had bottled the PC's up in a hall way. Now the PC's have to share at least some of the blame here. They had shunned the powers that had lower damage but allowed the tactical movement of enemies, instead opting for maximum damage output. Sure, they could have bullrushed, but no one seemed willing to take the attack of opportunity for breaching the line of HobGoblins holding them in the hallway. It became a battle of attrition and potion popping boredom.
The eager new DM made several critical mistakes with this encounter. Firstly, he became too enamoured with making the monsters harder to hit. High AC doesn't make a monster more dangerous, it just makes it more frustrating to engage. Without appropriate scaling of the monters ability to land hits and do damage themselves, they essentially became just a door that had to be hacked away and not a dangerous force to be reckoned with. Granted, the dice gods were definitely not smiling on anyone that night, but there was at least one round where no one hit anything! Yes... painful it was. Wait... was I just channeling Yoda?
What the eager new DM should have focused on was finding balance. Instead of increasing AC for AC's sake, he should have reduced the monsters AC while upping their potential damage output. The sense of danger in an encounter comes not so much from an inability to hit a creature as it does from how hard the creature hits you. Lowering the AC, and other defenses if necessary, and raising the damage output of your monsters accomplishes two goals. First, it keeps combat moving quickly without it becomming bogged down in a slug fest. Second, it makes the monsters seem dangerous in the short term perhaps prompting greater thought on tactical movement.
Alright, fine... I was the eager new DM in the story. I admit it. It's when I finally started to realize the above little gem that my next encounter did excatly what I wanted it to do. It was over in a reasonable amount of time with the majority of the monsters dead and two in custody while leaving the players stunned at the hit points that had been ripped away from them and thanking me for the inclusion of an NPC healer. It also left them reeling from the demise of Splug, the spunky comic relief. The hobgoblin forces saw him as a traitor and proceeded to let him hold their arrows.... point first.
The bottom line is that there is a lot of art to the customization and the optimization of monsters. Seek the balance that lies between survivability and damage output. Find the combination that generates the most fear in your characters coupled with the bloodlust to engage and destory your monsters sooner rather than later. Yes, there is an art here. Now, go find your inner Sun Tzu.
Picture if you will, an eager new DM wanting to challenge his group of level 4 players with an encounter that challenged their new strength. Picture him slaving away at the Monster Builder tweaking here, adding levels there, all the while making sure the XP budget was spent. Now picture a single encounter that drags on for 3 and a half hours with the players getting frustrated and bored and casting dirty looks at the poor sod behind the screen.
OK, so it was bad. Maybe not that bad, but it wasn't pretty and it was completely the eager new DM's fault. He made made the monsters hard to hit and on top of that, had bottled the PC's up in a hall way. Now the PC's have to share at least some of the blame here. They had shunned the powers that had lower damage but allowed the tactical movement of enemies, instead opting for maximum damage output. Sure, they could have bullrushed, but no one seemed willing to take the attack of opportunity for breaching the line of HobGoblins holding them in the hallway. It became a battle of attrition and potion popping boredom.
The eager new DM made several critical mistakes with this encounter. Firstly, he became too enamoured with making the monsters harder to hit. High AC doesn't make a monster more dangerous, it just makes it more frustrating to engage. Without appropriate scaling of the monters ability to land hits and do damage themselves, they essentially became just a door that had to be hacked away and not a dangerous force to be reckoned with. Granted, the dice gods were definitely not smiling on anyone that night, but there was at least one round where no one hit anything! Yes... painful it was. Wait... was I just channeling Yoda?
What the eager new DM should have focused on was finding balance. Instead of increasing AC for AC's sake, he should have reduced the monsters AC while upping their potential damage output. The sense of danger in an encounter comes not so much from an inability to hit a creature as it does from how hard the creature hits you. Lowering the AC, and other defenses if necessary, and raising the damage output of your monsters accomplishes two goals. First, it keeps combat moving quickly without it becomming bogged down in a slug fest. Second, it makes the monsters seem dangerous in the short term perhaps prompting greater thought on tactical movement.
Alright, fine... I was the eager new DM in the story. I admit it. It's when I finally started to realize the above little gem that my next encounter did excatly what I wanted it to do. It was over in a reasonable amount of time with the majority of the monsters dead and two in custody while leaving the players stunned at the hit points that had been ripped away from them and thanking me for the inclusion of an NPC healer. It also left them reeling from the demise of Splug, the spunky comic relief. The hobgoblin forces saw him as a traitor and proceeded to let him hold their arrows.... point first.
The bottom line is that there is a lot of art to the customization and the optimization of monsters. Seek the balance that lies between survivability and damage output. Find the combination that generates the most fear in your characters coupled with the bloodlust to engage and destory your monsters sooner rather than later. Yes, there is an art here. Now, go find your inner Sun Tzu.
Greywulf's Lair has an excellent article about sexism and racism in gaming. On the surface, the article points out several interesting angles that will make for unusual twists when designing campaigns. A deeper reading shows just how much social more's and our own proclivities shape choices we make in our games. Read it... NOW!
Here's ten tried and true ways to keep your adventuring group and your DM happy to have you at their table.
1. Pay Attention. Know the initiative order and have an action prepared when your turn comes up. No one wants to sit there for 20 minutes while you decide between an At-Will, Encounter, or Daily Power.
2. Be Prepared. Have notebook paper, pens, pencils, your mini, and updated character sheets with you and ready to go.
1. Pay Attention. Know the initiative order and have an action prepared when your turn comes up. No one wants to sit there for 20 minutes while you decide between an At-Will, Encounter, or Daily Power.
2. Be Prepared. Have notebook paper, pens, pencils, your mini, and updated character sheets with you and ready to go.
3. Know Your Character. While you don't have to write a mini-novel about your characters background, at a minimum you should know where you were born, how old you are, why and how you became an adventurer, what your basic personality is like, and what diety (if any) you follow and why. All of these things help you answer the question "What would my character do?" when you're faced with roleplay situations. And let's face it, it's the roleplaying that makes D&D fun!
4. Roll Dice Together. To speed up your turn, roll your hit and damage dice at the same time. Sure, you'll miss sometimes and won't need the damage die, but on the times you hit, it makes the time spent slogging through game mechanics that much faster.
5. Learn the Rules. Now I'm not saying that you have to be a savant and know every single nuance to every rule, but it's a good idea to at least have a basic understanding of the combat and skill systems. Unneccesary rules questions slow down game play. Having a basic understanding of the rules will make the game move more smoothly and reserve the rules questions for more difficult situations. Being a new DM and new to 4.0 myself, I'm still learning the rules even as we play through our first adventure, but I AM making it a point to learn them.
6. Cut the Chatter, Red 2! Everyone likes to have a good time. Let's face it, that's the main reason you're playing D&D in the first place. That being said, don't spend 15 minutes chatting about what cousin Beavis said to his wife at last Sunday's ice cream social. Ok, bad example, but you get the idea. The point is, try to keep conversation on topic. If you have a loose and irreverently silly group, that's fine, but try to keep the irreverent silliness confined to the adventure at hand.
7. Take Notes. There shouldn't have to be 20 minutes at the beginning of the session dedicated to figuring out how many Action Points, Healing Surges, and Hit Points you had after the last session. Nor should you have to spend time figuring out what happened last session. If it seems important, write it down!
8. Don't Metagame. Metagaming is using out-of-character knowledge to gain an advantage with in-character actions. Remember that roleplay is about what your CHARACTER would do, not what inside information you have as a player. For example, using knowledge from the Monster Manual such as a monsters vulnerability to radiant damage to your advantage even though your character has never encountered the monster before is a classic example of metagaming. Always address each situation from the "What would my character do?" and "What would my character know about this?" angle. Knowing your character (See #3) will help you answer those questions. Metagaming kills role play by killing the suspension of belief that is required to get into the story at hand.
9. Ask Relevant Questions. When the DM tells you, "A mysterious female Eladrin steps from the shadows wearing dark chain mail and says 'Halt! State your business!'", "Is she hot?" is probably NOT a relevant question. "Do I recognize her?", "Is there any insignia on her armor?", "Do I see anyone else in the area?" are most definitely relevant. Now, if the same NPC approaches you at a tavern and in an alluring voice says "What brings you to town, handsome?" then yeah, "Is she hot?" might be relevant. Think about the situation and ask questions designed to give your character useful information.
10. Role Play! That IS two thirds of RPG, you know. Get into your character and start imagining them in the situations the DM lays out for you. You're the star in your own private play, seize the role and make it your own. And never ever forget, have fun!
4. Roll Dice Together. To speed up your turn, roll your hit and damage dice at the same time. Sure, you'll miss sometimes and won't need the damage die, but on the times you hit, it makes the time spent slogging through game mechanics that much faster.
5. Learn the Rules. Now I'm not saying that you have to be a savant and know every single nuance to every rule, but it's a good idea to at least have a basic understanding of the combat and skill systems. Unneccesary rules questions slow down game play. Having a basic understanding of the rules will make the game move more smoothly and reserve the rules questions for more difficult situations. Being a new DM and new to 4.0 myself, I'm still learning the rules even as we play through our first adventure, but I AM making it a point to learn them.
6. Cut the Chatter, Red 2! Everyone likes to have a good time. Let's face it, that's the main reason you're playing D&D in the first place. That being said, don't spend 15 minutes chatting about what cousin Beavis said to his wife at last Sunday's ice cream social. Ok, bad example, but you get the idea. The point is, try to keep conversation on topic. If you have a loose and irreverently silly group, that's fine, but try to keep the irreverent silliness confined to the adventure at hand.
7. Take Notes. There shouldn't have to be 20 minutes at the beginning of the session dedicated to figuring out how many Action Points, Healing Surges, and Hit Points you had after the last session. Nor should you have to spend time figuring out what happened last session. If it seems important, write it down!
8. Don't Metagame. Metagaming is using out-of-character knowledge to gain an advantage with in-character actions. Remember that roleplay is about what your CHARACTER would do, not what inside information you have as a player. For example, using knowledge from the Monster Manual such as a monsters vulnerability to radiant damage to your advantage even though your character has never encountered the monster before is a classic example of metagaming. Always address each situation from the "What would my character do?" and "What would my character know about this?" angle. Knowing your character (See #3) will help you answer those questions. Metagaming kills role play by killing the suspension of belief that is required to get into the story at hand.
9. Ask Relevant Questions. When the DM tells you, "A mysterious female Eladrin steps from the shadows wearing dark chain mail and says 'Halt! State your business!'", "Is she hot?" is probably NOT a relevant question. "Do I recognize her?", "Is there any insignia on her armor?", "Do I see anyone else in the area?" are most definitely relevant. Now, if the same NPC approaches you at a tavern and in an alluring voice says "What brings you to town, handsome?" then yeah, "Is she hot?" might be relevant. Think about the situation and ask questions designed to give your character useful information.
10. Role Play! That IS two thirds of RPG, you know. Get into your character and start imagining them in the situations the DM lays out for you. You're the star in your own private play, seize the role and make it your own. And never ever forget, have fun!
I'm currently running a group of mostly inexperienced table-top gamers through H1 Keep on the Shadowfell (possible spoilers below). We're about halfway through the module now and I'm starting to see them get more comfortable with the rules and game play. I'm even starting to see some roleplay from time to time (we're still working on that). The group is fairly well balanced with the exception of not having a cleric. They've been surviving with the little bit of healing the Paladin can bring along with the judicious application of healing potions. My worry, however, is that as the encounters get more difficult, healing will become problematic and could lead to a TPW. To that end, I've decided to give them an NPC Cleric companion.
Now, the question is, do I give them a cardboard cutout that just slings spells and grunts every now and then, or do I give them a fully fleshed-out character with a personality and a believable background? The easy thing is the cardboard cut-out. You don't have to actually take the time to think about the character, you just throw powers around until the encounter goes away. Normally I like easy. As a new DM myself, I have plenty to do behind the screen to keep me busy, however, I'm dealing with players not only new to D&D but also new to roleplaying. Therefore, I chose the latter option. A fully fleshed out NPC companion character that I can use to draw them into some roleplay situations. In addition to that, with an already detailed background and established personality, a friend or family member can easily step into and play this character if they'd like to play a session or two but not commit to a recurring character.
In order for it to work, the NPC has to have a well defined personality that is drawn from a reasonably detailed back story. As long as I know the back story, goals, and motivations of the NPC, I can easily answer the "what would my character do?" question when roleplay and combat situations arise. Enter Satesh Willowbend, level 4 female elven cleric of The Raven Queen.
Now, the question is, do I give them a cardboard cutout that just slings spells and grunts every now and then, or do I give them a fully fleshed-out character with a personality and a believable background? The easy thing is the cardboard cut-out. You don't have to actually take the time to think about the character, you just throw powers around until the encounter goes away. Normally I like easy. As a new DM myself, I have plenty to do behind the screen to keep me busy, however, I'm dealing with players not only new to D&D but also new to roleplaying. Therefore, I chose the latter option. A fully fleshed out NPC companion character that I can use to draw them into some roleplay situations. In addition to that, with an already detailed background and established personality, a friend or family member can easily step into and play this character if they'd like to play a session or two but not commit to a recurring character.
In order for it to work, the NPC has to have a well defined personality that is drawn from a reasonably detailed back story. As long as I know the back story, goals, and motivations of the NPC, I can easily answer the "what would my character do?" question when roleplay and combat situations arise. Enter Satesh Willowbend, level 4 female elven cleric of The Raven Queen.
As to the background, some details are definitely not D&D canon in that I have taken some creative liberties to make the NPC fit the campaign arc that I have in mind. For instance, the Hand of Naarash is depicted as a cult of Bane in the "Heathen" H2 adventure module, but I've decided to morph them into yet another dangerous cult of Orcus and alter "Heathen" accordingly.
Background
Born to ranger parents on the frontier lands, Satesh's village was "converted" to serve Orcus by the Hand of Naarash, a cult dedicated to the Demon Prince. Those who would not pledge allegiance to Orcus were killed outright. Her parents died fighting a delaying action against the cultists to give some of the villagers time to escape to the forest. They died so that she could live. From that moment on, she swore vengeance on Orcus and those who would follow him.
She apprenticed herself to a cleric of the Raven Queen, not out of any real devotion or innate sense of piety, but because the Raven Queen commands her followers to stamp out the cults of Orcus wherever they are found. She found in service to the Raven Queen a means to achieve her revenge, for she has vowed to one day face the Demon Prince himself and destroy him for his atrocities.
Since earning full status as a cleric of the Raven Queen, she has spent several years studying and tracking the movements of the various Orcus cults, dealing damage to their cause where she could, and gathering intelligence on their machinations. Her recent investigations have brought to her attention a priest of Orcus named Kalarel.
Satesh has discovered that this particular priest had learned of the location of a rift to the Shadowfell, the realm of the undead and home of Orcus. Kalarel believed that he could reopen the rift and bring forth armies of undead to convert or cleanse the world and prepare the way for Orcus to rule the mortal plane. She had traced his movements until she lost the trail in Fallcrest several months ago. Rumors of a group of heroes fighting against a possible cult of Orcus to the west in Winterhaven reached her a few days ago and she hastened to Winterhaven.
Lord Pradaig and Sister Linora told her of the Gull Wings, a group of adventurers who had rid the country side of Kobold bandits that they believed were tied to a cult of Orcus. They also described the battle in the graveyard and showed her the note found on Ninaran. Since they hadn't heard anything out of the Gull Wings since the encounter at the graveyard, the Winterhaven leadership has grown concerned over their fate. Satesh volunteered to investigate the Keep and render aide to the Gull Wings if necessary.
Satesh made her way to the Keep and that's where things went sideways. She ran headlong into a Hobgoblin patrol in the upper levels and was taken prisoner. She was stripped of her armor and weapons, drugged, and held as food for the Hobgoblins war beasts (Deathjump Spiders).
Goals
Destroy the cults of Orcus where she finds them.
Destroy the Hand of Naarash and free the frontier from their tryanny.
Defeat Orcus and gain revenge for her slaughtered family.
Personality
Driven, focused, cold, detached, professional. Dry sense of humor, sarcastic and biting wit. She knows her duty and the only thing that matters is the sweet taste of revenge.
Background
Born to ranger parents on the frontier lands, Satesh's village was "converted" to serve Orcus by the Hand of Naarash, a cult dedicated to the Demon Prince. Those who would not pledge allegiance to Orcus were killed outright. Her parents died fighting a delaying action against the cultists to give some of the villagers time to escape to the forest. They died so that she could live. From that moment on, she swore vengeance on Orcus and those who would follow him.
She apprenticed herself to a cleric of the Raven Queen, not out of any real devotion or innate sense of piety, but because the Raven Queen commands her followers to stamp out the cults of Orcus wherever they are found. She found in service to the Raven Queen a means to achieve her revenge, for she has vowed to one day face the Demon Prince himself and destroy him for his atrocities.
Since earning full status as a cleric of the Raven Queen, she has spent several years studying and tracking the movements of the various Orcus cults, dealing damage to their cause where she could, and gathering intelligence on their machinations. Her recent investigations have brought to her attention a priest of Orcus named Kalarel.
Satesh has discovered that this particular priest had learned of the location of a rift to the Shadowfell, the realm of the undead and home of Orcus. Kalarel believed that he could reopen the rift and bring forth armies of undead to convert or cleanse the world and prepare the way for Orcus to rule the mortal plane. She had traced his movements until she lost the trail in Fallcrest several months ago. Rumors of a group of heroes fighting against a possible cult of Orcus to the west in Winterhaven reached her a few days ago and she hastened to Winterhaven.
Lord Pradaig and Sister Linora told her of the Gull Wings, a group of adventurers who had rid the country side of Kobold bandits that they believed were tied to a cult of Orcus. They also described the battle in the graveyard and showed her the note found on Ninaran. Since they hadn't heard anything out of the Gull Wings since the encounter at the graveyard, the Winterhaven leadership has grown concerned over their fate. Satesh volunteered to investigate the Keep and render aide to the Gull Wings if necessary.
Satesh made her way to the Keep and that's where things went sideways. She ran headlong into a Hobgoblin patrol in the upper levels and was taken prisoner. She was stripped of her armor and weapons, drugged, and held as food for the Hobgoblins war beasts (Deathjump Spiders).
Goals
Destroy the cults of Orcus where she finds them.
Destroy the Hand of Naarash and free the frontier from their tryanny.
Defeat Orcus and gain revenge for her slaughtered family.
Personality
Driven, focused, cold, detached, professional. Dry sense of humor, sarcastic and biting wit. She knows her duty and the only thing that matters is the sweet taste of revenge.
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