Run your game like D&D Encounters

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Mike Shea

Wizards of the Coast has been supporting a new style of play they call D&D Encounters. Players get together at their friendly local game shop each Wednesday and run through a single big encounter. Characters are either provided or players can bring their own.

This is an interesting way to play. Most of the time our D&D games have three to five battles depending on how long our game runs. On week nights, at a higher tier of play, getting three battles in within three to four hours can be quite a challenge.

So how can you run a home game that plays more like D&D encounters? Let’s take a look.

A single battle per night

Instead of running multiple battles per night, focus your game around a single big battle. Sometimes this battle might be a double-length encounter with far more monsters than a standard encounter would allow. Be sure not to overwhelm the PCs, however. Give them a chance for a short rest in between waves or some alternate ways to heal.

By focusing on a single battle, you have a lot more freedom to make it a big and epic battle. This is a battle with real meaning, not just filler. It should have all of the effects you’d expect in a big battle: terrain powers, environmental effects, hazards and traps, fantastic terrain, and terrain your players will enjoy exploiting. The play areas should usually be large, with multiple platforms and lots of intricate details.

You’d want to avoid a single solo creature for a battle like this. Instead, give your players a wave of normal monsters and maybe a few score of minions to cut through before they face the big bad guy.

Running only a single battle a night gives you a lot of room to make it the epic battle we love to run and our players love to carve into.

Replace skirmishes with skill challenges

Instead of small skirmishes, use skill challenges to get through areas that would normally result in battles. Dealing with a roving band of ghouls doesn’t have to be a battle. Instead, PCs can use their wits to avoid, reroute, negotiate, or endure their way through.

Increase experience gain

Since the PCs will fight in fewer battles, you’ll likely want to increase level gain. Characters should level up every two to three games even if they’re only completing one battle a night. Consider doubling experience gain or basing levels on quest rewards or simply setting a specific time when characters level.

Time is tight? Roleplay and run skill challenges in email

If you’re game is really tight on time, you can even run your background stories, roleplaying scenes, and skill challenges in email instead of at your table. This can keep your players engaged throughout the week instead of only on the evening they come over. It can also help you keep your game focused on the battle when your players show up at the table.

Generate some random encounter effect

The wizards_dnd twitter account posts encounter effects throughout Wednesday. There’s no reason you can’t have a list like this yourself. Build a list of effects that make sense for your encounter into a random table. If you have ten such effects, use a 1d20 to decide whether there is an effect at all and, if so, which one is in effect. A 1-10 would be no effect. 11-20 would trigger a certain effect. If you want to get mean, sprinkle in some effects that are detrimental to the party.

There’s no reason this game format can’t work well for you. If you run an evening game or only have a couple of hours to play, this style may work perfectly. A game based on a single encounter can give you a lot of creative freedom to build a single awesome battle instead of spreading your creative energy over a bunch of different fights.

Give it a try!

Posted in 4e D&D | 7 Comments

Gencon 2010 Schedule and DM Kit

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Mike Shea

So I’m heading to Gencon next week for my favorite four days of gaming! I’ll be seeing the other RPG bloggers, checking out WOTC’s new stuff, talking to their designers and developers, and rolling a hell of a lot of dice.

For those who care, here’s my current schedule. I tend to play things by ear, knowing that the best schedule works out until the minute you show up at the conference, so I don’t know if I’ll be hitting all of these events or not.

Anyway, here’s my schedule thus far:

Wed Aug 4, 2010

4pm – 6pm US Airways Flight 3271 National to Indianapolis

8pm – 12am Drunken D&D with Dave and Philip – undisclosed location

Thu Aug 5, 2010

1pm – 2pm DM Tips – Westin Caucus

2pm – 4pm Monster Builder Workshop – Indiana Blrm G – Marriott

4pm – 6pm Design & Development Seminar – Indiana Ballroom G – Marriott

7pm – 8pm True Dungeon – True Grind – Marriott – upper floor.

8pm – 12am D&D Hooters (crashing) – Hooters

Fri Aug 6, 2010

9am – 11am Ravenloft – Sagamore Ballroom

11am – 12pm Wil Wheaton (crashing) – Weston Grand Ballroom 4

1pm – 5pm Mini 2-1 – Sagamore

6pm – 10pm Ennies – Weston Grand Ballroom 4

7pm – 11pm Spec 2-2 – Sagamore

Sat Aug 7, 2010

10am – 12pm D&D Preview – Marriott Indiana Ballroom G

10:30am – 1pm True Dungeon – Dragonward (blogger one) – Marriott Upper ballroom

1pm – 5pm Mini 2-2 – Sagamore

4pm – 6pm Gamma World – Marriott Indiana Ballroom G

7pm – 11pm Mini 2-2 – Sagamore

8pm – 10pm Media Meet and Greet – The Safehouse

Sun Aug 8, 2010

8am – 12pm Mini 2-3 – Sagamore

4pm – 6pm US Airways Flight 3088 – Indianapolis International Airport

I don’t know if I’ll end up DMing any games or not, but I put together a little DM Kit anyway. I wanted this to be as lightweight as possible, since I’m flying, so here’s what I ended up with:

I’m not going to bother bringing any books at this point. With the large number of updates, the books aren’t exactly up to date and most people I’ll play with will know the rules anyway.

If you’re heading to Gencon and want to say hi, keep an eye on my Twitter feed to see where I’m at.

Posted in 4e D&D | 2 Comments

Monster Optimization: Solo Githyanki Psionist

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Mike Shea

In a recent epic-level game, my party was soon to come up against a Chaos Ship full of Githyanki pirates. I wanted a strong leader for these pirates, someone they would fear and someone who could steer a large Chaos Ship through the worst the elements could muster.

Thus was born, Captain Vlax the Githyanki Psionist. She was small for a Githyanki but her psionic abilities easily made her the best one to steer a massive ship through Chaos. For her design, she had to be a strong telekenetic, throwing barrels, moving the ship around, and throwing the party about. She also had to have some trademark Githyanki elements.

Starting from the beginning, I built her out as a level 24 solo – the same level as the party. I gave her two traits; +3d6 of psychic damage when she has combat advantage, the idea being that she makes a deeper cut with her silver sword against those she is dominating over; and her Telepathic shield, a push that hits bloodied foes.

Her silver sword attack does a lot of damage; something most of my epic solo monsters do. I used the Page 42 damage but picked the limited damage instead of normal to kick the damage high. She would be the only creature the PCs would be fighting so I wanted her to hit hard. Her telekinetic cut was a fun telekinetic power that drew those she wanted close to her for a cut. Mixed with her Psionic Blast, she can push everyone away and then draw in the ones she wanted.

Using Gamefiend‘s Worldbreaker concept, I gave her two large encounter-changing effects: Hull Shift and Summon Elemental Storm. These let her move the ship around, tossing the PCs on the deck, and summon minions that can further shake things up. The summoning is only usable when bloodied so the game changes when she’s below half her hit points.

Captain VlaxLevel 24 Solo Controller

Medium Natural Humanoid (Githyanki) XP 30,250

Initiative +21

Senses Perception +13

HP 880; Bloodied 440

AC 38; Fortitude 36; Reflex 40; Will 41

Immune fear; Resist 30 psychic

Saving Throws +5

Speed 6; Fly 6

Action Points 2

Traits

Telepathic Shield – Aura 2

A bloodied enemy that starts within the aura is pushed 5.

Psionic Advantage

+3d6 psychic damage with Combat Advantage.

Standard Actions

Silver Sword – At-Will

+31 vs AC; 4d6+18 damage.

Telekinetic Cut – At-Will

Vlax teleports three targets within 5 to her location and performs one Silver Sword attack against each target.

Psionic Blast- Recharge 4,5,6

Close Burst 5; +29 vs Will; 2d12+19 and the target is pushed 3 and knocked prone.

Minor Actions

Crate and Barrel- At-Will

Range 10; +29 vs Reflex; 3d6+14 damage and the target is knocked prone. This attack does not provoke OAs.

Hull Shift – Recharge 5,6

All Creatures on the boat except Vlax slide 3 to the port (1,2,3) or starboard side (4,5,6). If this would push them over the edge of the ship, they get a saving throw. If they fail the save, they take 4d8+28 elemental storm damage and are knocked prone in the last square they left.

Triggered Actions

Psionic Feedback – When a target attacks Vlax with a melee attack.

+29 vs Will; 3d6+14 psychic

Summon Elemental Storm – While Bloodied, Recharges when all four storms are defeated

At the end of her turn, while bloodied, Vlax summons an elemental storm from each of the teleportation circles. Each elemental storm is of either fire, cold, lightning, or earth. These storms attack after Vlax’s turn. They share Vlax’s defenses, have speed 6, and a basic melee attack of +28 vs Reflex, and inflict 15 damage either fire, cold, thunder, or untyped damage.

How did she turn out?

My group had a good time fighting Vlax. She didn’t get to use the hull shift as much as I wanted to. I think I just forgot about it. Her telekinetic cut kept the group on its toes. Overall she held her own and gave the party a good scar to remember. Like other villains, the PCs ended up hiring her as their own private Chaos captain so now she’s on their side. Should make for some fun ahead.

Want more info on how to build exciting encounters? Check out Sly Flourish’s Dungeon Master Tips.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider using these links to buy the Monster Manual 3, the Dungeon Master’s Guide 2, or the Plane Below books. You can also use this link to purchase anything from Amazon.com. If you need some good Githyanki miniatures, check out Troll and Toad, an official Sly Flourish sponsor.

Posted in Monster Optimization | 5 Comments

Status Effect Alternatives

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Mike Shea

There’s been a lot of talk about status effects. If you’ve played a game above level five or so, you’ve seen the grind that can come from a deluge of status effects. Being stunned or dazed (save ends) doesn’t just reduce the effectiveness of your player’s character, it can take away the enjoyment of the player when overused. Dazes and stuns can also dramatically increase the time a battle requires to play out.

Below you will find three new status effects designed to keep the threat on players high without reducing player actions in a round and without slowing the game down. These effects are designed to be sprinkled into your game, replacing slows, immobilizes, dazes, and stuns as you see fit in an encounter or for a custom monster of your choice. They are not designed as wholesale replacements to existing status effects.

Distracted: Grants Combat Advantage

This is a lightweight status effect that might work as an alternative to attack modifier limiters, slows, or maybe immobilizes. Granting combat advantage doesn’t just reduce someone’s defenses by two (opening up a 10% greater chance to getting hit) but also gives bonuses to creatures who have powers triggering off of CA. If you want your game to go a little faster and be a bit more dangerous as well as applying a status effect that doesn’t limit a player’s actions, this is a nice lightweight effect. Ensure you have monsters in your encounter able to capitalize off of this.

Staggered: Grants Combat Advantage, Vulnerable 5

This is a more severe version of Distracted. This time, the character’s guard is dropped. It is the equivalent of dazed without reducing the character’s turn. Instead, their defenses are opened up and they are more susceptible to damage. A player running a character inflicted by this status effect must consider the dangers of wading into battle.

Sundered: Grants CA, -2 to Defenses, Vulnerable 5 per tier

This final effect is the equivalent of a Stun. When sundered, most defenses are completely dropped. There is a 20% greater chance they will get hit and they will take a good bit of extra damage. Again, there is no limiter placed on the character. He or she can still take a full round of actions. Instead, he or she must seriously consider what damage might befall them should they stay in the thick of combat.

Hard Choices

Another way to modify existing, limiting, status effects is to give players a choice to remove it but accept some other infliction. For example, a dracolich’s stun breath might be shaken off if the character inflicted instead takes ongoing 15 damage. A character immobilized in a web might be able to break free as a free action by taking 10 damage per tier as they rip themselves out.

Giving players choices like this adds an element of strategy beyond just taking whatever status effect they might have. It also gives the DM a tool to increase threat against the PCs without slowing battles down.

None of these effects are designed to completely replace the existing status effects. These are meant to season your own game or your own custom monsters with some new effects that don’t slow the game down and don’t remove options from your players. Give them a shot and see what you think.

Need more game design tips? Check out Sly Flourish’s Dungeon Master Tips.

If you enjoyed this article, consider using these links to buy the Dungeon Master’s Guide 2, the Player Strategy Guide, or the Plane Above sourcebook. You can also use this link to purchase anything from Amazon.

Need some dice or battle maps? Pick up your gaming accessories at Troll and Toad’s, an official Sly Flourish sponsor.

Posted in 4E Mechanics | 18 Comments

DM Tip Twitter Archive: June 2010

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Mike Shea

Below is an archive of all of the Sly Flourish DM Tip Twitter posts for June 2010. Get daily DM tips at http://twitter.com/slyflourish!

#dnd tip: Watch out for too many dazes and weakens – they generally just slow down a battle.

#dnd tip: When customizing monsters, think about what makes that monster unique. Example; vampires have dominate, enervate, transformations.

I dig the Sunwarped Magic Zone from the Sunwarped Flats article: Arcane check; fail= surge dmg; success = +1d10 per tier elemental dam. #dnd

#dnd tip: Remember not to run a monster more than 4 levels higher than your PCs. They might still win but it will take hours.

#dnd Want to make your game harder? Add damage to monsters instead of increasing level. Jump one scale up on DMG page 42 damage.

How do you feel about running evening home games like #dnd Encounters – one big well-thought-out battle each night?

#dnd tip: When characters fall off of high places, consider different repercussions than falling to their death. Catch footing after 5d10?

Absolutely awesome #dnd article on demonic death throes: bit.ly/d9bEYo – I love Final Spew.

#dnd tip: Take a specific approach when building skill challenges. Disarming an doomsday trap is more specific than exploring caverns.

#dnd Tip: Celebrate critical hits with the warming sound of the fine Vuvuzela! bit.ly/ccjtMQ

Here’s the #dnd post from @cwgabriel. Use minor actions for skill checks. I’ve used this too and recommend it. bit.ly/9ctE8t

#dnd tip: Remember that skill challenges fall between using regular skill checks and full-roleplaying sessions. Don’t overuse them.

#dnd tip from @wizards_dnd Insider, Steve Winter: Avoid dull skill challenges like general travel or general information gathering.

A Weekend at Bernie’s #dnd skill challenge sounds awesome. I’m definitely stealing this idea. bit.ly/aeRrQK

#dnd tip: Watch the show Breaking Bad for ideas in character development, organic plotlines, and off-stage storytelling.

#dnd tip from the DM Guys podcast: Don’t worry about feeling silly when speaking in the voice of your NPC. You’ll get over it.

#dnd tip from @chattydm and @monkeyking: Add encounters that let your PCs shine such as undead encounters for clerics and paladins.

Great #dnd tip from @davethegame in the DM Guys podcast (bit.ly/andlZE): Build an “out” into combat to end it early.

#dnd tip: Even if you dont use the card-over-the-screen trick, 3×5 cards folded in half work well for a fully-visible initiative order.

#dnd tip: Always give the players a chance for success even if a villainous NPC succeeds in a plot. Players hate losing and wasting time.

#dnd tip: Consider James Bond-style introductions – prefaces full of action that might only be superfluously related to the story.

#dnd tip: Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character in Mission Impossible 3 makes for a great sinister villain archetype.

#dnd tip: Damaging auras are a great way to power up weaksause Solos. Try 5 dam per tier scaling to 10 per tier when bloodied.

#dnd tip: Designate your table’s rules lawyer as the official rules arbiter, but only if he or she is fair as well as annoying.

#dnd tip: Treat Demogorgon as two different and often competing NPCs instead of as a single entity.

#dnd tip: Instead of random one-shots, build one-shots that fill out a piece of the main campaign story as yet untold.

#dnd tip: Forget experience points. Level PCs on the adventures met, the quests completed, and the encounters defeated.

#dnd tip: Don’t forget to have loot and experience ready to hand out at the end of your game. It’s sadly easy to forget.

#dnd tip: McFarlane toys and WoW minis work well for monstrous D&D miniatures: amzn.to/b8GK92

#dnd tip: Fire giant minis work well for death giants, animated statues, and enlarged Duergar in a pinch.

#dnd tip: Start your Eberron campaign off right by making your PCs choose one of three houses to ally with.

#dnd tip: Model your fantasy towns and cities after the economics of real medieval castles and cities. amzn.to/bOAkTA

If you enjoyed these tips, take a look at Sly Flourish’s Dungeon Master Tips book.

You might also consider using these links to purchase the Monster Manual 3, the Player Strategy Guide, the Player’s Handbook 3 or the Gamemastery Flip-Maps from Troll and Toad, an official Sly Flourish sponsor. You can also support Sly Floursh by bookmarking and using this link to purchase anything from Amazon.

Posted in Twitter Tips Archive | Leave a comment