I rarely run Dungeons & Dragons campaigns where I know in advance who the Big Bad of the campaign is. Well, that’s not true – I do know when I run published adventures. However, for my homebrew campaigns, it is something that I work out as the game progresses. This is not the only way to do it. I know many of my friends know … Continue reading Uncovering the Campaign’s Big Bad
For our play of the Castle Greyhawk campaign, I’ve been developing my own Wandering Monster tables. For the most part, these are aimed at providing danger – thus foes – for the players. Especially when – on the Labyrinth level – this was the main thing that would challenge the party. Let me say: Using only wandering monsters? Not good. You want areas of interest … Continue reading Two Wandering Monster tables
I am very fond of wandering monsters. This is partly due to me still running large dungeon complexes, but I also use them in wilderness adventures to break up the play and provide moments of unscripted action. The original version of wandering monsters in the dungeon was a check every 10 minutes, with a 1 on a 1d6 roll indicating monsters encountered by the party. … Continue reading The Joy of Wandering Monsters
Dungeons & Dragons is a resource-based game. For most of its editions, you have a limited amount of resources, with hit points and spells being the main two resources you deplete. However, if you look at its original presentation and then compare it to the current version, there are a few rather significant changes to how things are handled. Particularly concerning access to healing – … Continue reading The Game of Attrition
One of the bits of advice I give new DMs is this: Have more than one foe in a fight. The trouble with solo monsters is that they’re often underwhelming or, alternatively, far too powerful. This can derive from their ability to focus fire on one hero. In a fight against four goblins, it is very difficult for those goblins to all attack the same … Continue reading How many Monsters in an Encounter?
The basis for this week’s session was the short adventure The Chieftain’s Barrow, available on the DMs Guild, plus wilderness random encounters from Lost in the Wilderness (no longer available). The party heard rumours of undead troubling a village in the Cairn Hills, so set out to investigate it. On the first day of travel, they came across a small house near a pond, where … Continue reading Weekend Adventurers – September 5th 2022
As I write this, it is the 19th of August, 2022, and I’ve just become aware of the new Playtest for Dungeons & Dragons. While Wizards are code-naming it “D&D One”, let’s call it what it is – Dungeons & Dragons 6th edition. While they say it will be backwards compatible with the current edition (5th edition), I’m betting that it’ll be about as compatible … Continue reading The New Dungeons & Dragons Playtest
I have a few problems with the humanoid monsters often suggested for first-level Dungeons & Dragons adventures. Quite frankly, a lot of them are just too scary for first-level adventurers to face. Over the years, I’ve developed a few points about what sorts of monsters I want first-level characters to face. They possess these traits: The monster is easy to hit, The monster has trouble … Continue reading Monster Choice in First Level Adventures
How deadly is your Dungeons & Dragons game? Do players go into each combat wondering if their character will survive? Do they avoid combat? Or do they rush in, knowing their chance of losing their character is very low? People enjoy different things. And, even in the early days of the game, there were varying desires for how deadly it should be. Consider that hit … Continue reading Deadliness, Options, and Risk
After a couple of months off, it’s time for my Friday Night group to begin a new Dungeons & Dragons campaign! At the end of the previous campaign, the 20th level characters stopped a war between Ket and Veluna – and banished Xan-Yae, goddess of the twilight, back to the Plane of Shadow. Ten years later… Most of my campaigns are set in the World … Continue reading A New Campaign!
