Something present in older forms of Dungeons & Dragons that has not survived into the current edition is the destruction of magic items by various effects the party might suffer in combat. In AD&D and original D&D, when you were hit by a fireball spell, every item you had was required to make a saving throw (with success values determined by a special Item Saving … Continue reading Destroying the Players’ Magic Items
In the early days of Dungeons & Dragons, a lot of details of traps were left undefined. Certainly, perusing the AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide and the Basic Rules, I had little idea about how and when to use traps. And, more importantly, what role they played in the game. One of the oddest things was how bad thieves were at dealing with them. A first-level … Continue reading A Few Thoughts on Traps
Here is a short encounter from the Dungeons & Dragons game I ran tonight. (For 3rd-5th level characters) A short greenish statue, about four-feet tall, of a humanoid figure with a fish-like head, squats on the far side of the room opposite the door. Two green gems glitter in its eye sockets. The statue is made of green-glazed clay and is hollow. It represents a … Continue reading Idol of the Fish People
I recently contended something about Dungeons & Dragons adventure design on Twitter. What did I argue? A mundane Dungeons & Dragons adventure that covers the basics well will likely prove more enjoyable than an inventive one that does not unless you have a great Dungeon Master. M.T. Black asked me what I considered the basics. Here they are: Set out the goals for the characters. … Continue reading Fundamentals of Adventure Design
I love dungeon delving. I also enjoy other types of campaigns, but dungeons were my first love in Dungeons & Dragons, and it is fascinating to see how players approach them. And designing dungeons is one of the parts of D&D I enjoy most. At present, I am often using a Dyson Logos map found in one of his packs on DriveThruRPG as the basis … Continue reading Dangers in the Dungeons
The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide introduced me to the concept of henchmen. They were a follower loyal to your main character and provided another character that you could control. (Good when there were fewer players!) Henchmen advanced at half rate and took a share of the treasure. But these seemed quite reasonable compared to the benefits. However, I never played in an … Continue reading Using Henchmen in Dungeons & Dragons
I often begin my campaigns with megadungeons. I sketch out a couple of maps of the first two levels, stock them with monsters, traps, tricks, and treasures – usually using a combination of choice and random selection – and let the players go explore. I have never, however, spent the entire length of a campaign exploring one. Stories suggest themselves to me as we play. … Continue reading Enter the Megadungeon
I am a fan of wandering monsters and random encounters. The concept, in case you were not aware, is that every so often while the party are exploring a dungeon or travelling through the wilderness you make a check to determine whether they have an encounter. The encounter is not necessarily combat, although it often in the sort of combat-heavy games I tend to run. … Continue reading Worldbuilding through Wandering Monsters
For some reason, I wanted to design this monster with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons statistics. I have no idea why. And I am sure someone else has done this before me. But I wanted to put it out there. TETRAHEDRON FREQUENCY: Very RareNO. APPEARING: 1-4ARMOR CLASS: 4MOVE: 4″HIT DICE: ¼% IN LAIR: NilTREASURE TYPE: NilNO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4SPECIAL ATTACKS: MaimSPECIAL DEFENSES: Surprise on a … Continue reading The Most Fearsome Monster (AD&D stats)
Exploring the wilderness could be a dangerous endeavour in the early forms of Dungeons & Dragons. If the random encounter table indicated an encounter with goblins, OD&D suggested that the party discovered 40-400 of them! It paints a view of a dangerous world. Outside of the civilised nations, large warbands of monsters stalk the land. It was only the humanoid monsters (orcs, kobolds, goblinoids, bandits, … Continue reading I Track the Monster to its Lair!
