In my last essay, I discussed the relationship between hit points, armour class and the survivability of the character. It occurred to me that in Dungeons & Dragons 5E, Armour Classes exist in a fairly narrow range and are achieved by two primary methods. Either by having a good Dexterity and wearing light armour or by wearing heavy armour and caring not about Dexterity. A … Continue reading Bad Design: The AD&D Monk
Players looking at the original form of Dungeons & Dragons may be surprised to discover how little Plate Armour costs. You could get the best non-magical Armour Class as a starting character. I find this interesting. In the beginning, a level 1 character had 1d6 hit points. If a monster hit you, you would take 1d6 damage. When you reached 0 hit points, you died. … Continue reading The Tension between Armour Class and Hit Points
I delight in running all levels of Dungeons & Dragons. You can always throw exciting challenges at the party, and they can always surprise you with their solutions. I find nothing better than setting a challenge without knowing how to overcome it and watching the players invent something in front of my eyes. As the DM, you are the interpreter of the adventure environment. Use … Continue reading Actions, Rewards, and Consequences
Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPG) exist in a unusual place. To quote Gary Gygax, “Unlike Chess… the rules are not cut and dried.” (AD&D Players Handbook, 1978). That is to say, Dungeons & Dragons and its ilk rely on a base set of rules and then on the referee’s judgment to fill in the gaps (or even interpret the rules). So, to define things, a “rule” … Continue reading Rules and Rulings
I have been spending a lot of time listening to podcasts and reading books on history over the past couple of years. The history of revolutions. The history of Rome. The history of the late medieval period in Europe and the transition to the modern world. The study of the Late Middle Ages is of particular interest to me because of Dungeons & Dragons and … Continue reading A Sense of History
I love running low-level adventures for Dungeons & Dragons. The early levels of the game can provide memorable experiences. However, there are things I dislike seeing in adventure designs for that level of play. I do not enjoy it when first level is one incredibly dangerous combat and that’s it. I am also not particularly fond of party fighting a lone boss monster at level … Continue reading First-level Dungeons & Dragons Adventures
My basic strategies for high-level play are as follows: Make the action feel significant Let the characters feel powerful Pump numbers (AC, damage, to hit bonus) if they’re not sufficient. Keep challenges different Make the action feel significant The basis for the closing stages of my Greyhawk campaign is this: A war has started between Ket and Veluna. Due to escalating events, the gods themselves … Continue reading More on High-Level Play in Dungeons & Dragons
In my Greyhawk campaigns, I have a tavern the characters use as a base. (It’s the Green Leaf Tavern in my new game). And these taverns have notice boards that list a few potential quests for adventurers. And I add to that a few rumours the characters hear. I should emphasise that this is for a more sandbox-based campaign, where I rely on player input … Continue reading Short Quests and the Living Campaign
In the beginning, there were no published adventures. And then there were. The initial offerings tended to be in the terms of “Here’s a location. Here are its inhabitants. You figure out what to do with this product.” And then things changed. Adventures were designed more with goals in mind – the players were in them for a reason! And more structure formed around them. … Continue reading Thoughts on Adventure Structure and Railroading
My Greyhawk game has reached the City of the Gods. And they met some blue “goblins”. After sneaking around in the previous session, it was time for a fight! So, the session began. And the “goblin” leader opened his mouth and said, slowly, “Do you understand me?” Yes. Not goblins, but in fact explorers from an advanced technological plane! Which led to a hilarious conversation. … Continue reading Two High-Level Encounters
