In B/X Dungeons & Dragons, the structure for an encounter with monsters goes like this: Similar procedures were used in other early editions, and elements of them appear in later editions as well. Incidentally, I’m using “monsters” in the old sense, when a “monster” is anyone the character meet, friend or foe. Let’s break down some of the aspects of this structure. Encounter Distance All … Continue reading D&D Procedures: Monster Encounters
In Dungeons & Dragons, there are dungeons. And in those dungeons are doors. Doors were tremendously important in Classic D&D (the term I’ll use to describe the original, B/X and AD&D versions of the game), and I have a few thoughts I’d like to share with you about them, and how you can use them well. The basic purpose of a door is to divide … Continue reading D&D Procedures: Doors
I was watching Justin Alexander’s stream yesterday when one of his watchers lamented that newer players didn’t know about all the tricks used in the old days. Such as using marbles to test if a passageway sloped downwards, or a ten-foot pole to test if the passageway ahead had a pit trap in it. Justin replied that it doesn’t take much for that sort of … Continue reading Using (Your) Marbles – Decision Making in RPGs
Beginning this Monday, we’ll be starting our play through of Shadow of the Dragon Queen. For those unaware of the adventure, it was released in December 2022, and is the first official adventure in a long time to be set in the Dragonlance setting. I delighted in the original Dragonlance novels and adventures, so exploring the new take on the story is exciting for me … Continue reading Preparing for Shadow of the Dragon Queen
My Monday night Greyhawk campaign is currently using a format that we’ve dubbed “Weekend Adventurers”. That is to say: each session is what happens on the weekend. The party then go back to their regular jobs for the rest of the week. That is, they have a week of downtime between each session, which they might spend working or pursuing other activities. The rogue of … Continue reading A Little Quest – Notes on Improvisation
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
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
After about seven months of weekly play, typically with 3-hour sessions, my Wednesday group finished Curse of Strahd last night. They found the last of the artefacts at the end of the previous session, and – having already found Strahd – they began the session by confronting him in his lair. Two rounds and one action later, he was dead. It turns out that a … Continue reading Running Curse of Strahd: Endings
In the early writings about running Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax and others suggested you create a base for the characters (the town) and a nearby dungeon (the dungeon) wherein the monsters guarded the treasure. Over the years, I have done a lot of play based on that idea. And it is rare I detail the town to any great extent. This the thing about … Continue reading The Town outside the Dungeon
