Last time, I listed a number of good and unaligned deities for your consideration. It is possible that some of your heroes have darker aspirations. Having played a cleric to a dark force myself, I understand that sometimes its nice to rock out with the dark side. So, for the evil crowd out there, I present my favorite five evil deities:
Number Five: Gruumesh
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Domains: Orcs, Slaughter, URRRG SMASHY-SMASHY!
MO: Gruumesh is the one-eyed god of slaughter. He idealizes the cruel ways of the orcs just as Moradin embodies the ideals of the dwarves. Gruumesh doesn't want to rule the world with his vast hordes, he just wants the burn it all down. He has no interest in conquering territory or enslaving foes. For Gruumesh and his followers, destruction in the ultimate ideal. That's probably why the "Gruumesh and Son" home decoration company tanked so hard.
Number Four: Vecna
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Domains: Secrets, Necromancy, The Jibblies
MO: Vecna was once a mortal. Through his tireless research into arcane secretes, he became a lich and, eventually, a god. Before his transcendence, he was betrayed by his trusted lieutenant, Kas. The former ally cut off Vecna's hand and gouged out his eye. The Eye and Hand of Vecna, as well as the Sword of Kas, have all become iconic artifacts in Dungeons and Dragons. You may not see eye to eye with the lord of secrets, but you have to give him a hand.
Number Three: Loth
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Domains: Lies, Spiders, Drow, Creepy Crawlies
MO: Loth doesn't have the same connection with her Drow that other deities have with their followers. She doesn't perpetuate the ideals of the dark elves, she only rules them with an iron fist (and waaaaay too many legs). The drow society is a ridged matriarchy, when men only fit to serve or be sacrificed by the priestesses of the wicked spider goddess. It's no wonder so many of them escape the underground to become angsty anti-heroes.
Number Two: Bane
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Domains: Tyranny, Discipline, War, Kicking Ass (for Evil)
MO: Bane is the brother of combat extraordinaire, Kord. At the dawn of time, when the gods clashed with the powerful primordials, it was Bane who organized the gods into an army and ensured their victory. His original intent was to retain that discipline and rule as King of the Gods, but that didn't really work out. Did I mention that Bane is depicted in full Spartan armor? Following him is not for the faint of heart of the weak of arm.
Number One: Tiamat
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Domains: Greed, Wealth, Evil Dragons, Rage Face x5
MO: Tiamat is at the top of this list because she is way ahead of the competition. Five heads to be exact, one for each color of chromatic dragon. Each of those heads has its own breath weapon, meaning that this terrifying beastie has an arsenal of elemental fury to back her up. Tiamat's believers are obsessive hoarders, even more so than ordinary dragons. Each of her follower's hoard must have a sizable pile set aside for The Queen of Avarice.
That concludes the list of my favorite Evil deities. When playing my own cleric of Bane, I really enjoyed walking on the dark side. Do you have your own characters who worshiped figures of Evil? Do you think my list is all wrong? Let me know in the comments!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Divining Awesome
The DnD world is big on religion and features grand, sweeping pantheons of powerful deities. The Gods, prophets, and otherworldly Pasta Monsters that make up the religious landscape of our daily lives cannot be found in the Player's Handbook, however. DnD presents you with eleven choices of primary worship, all of which are notable in their own ways. To help you out with what must be a very difficult choice I have selected five notable deities to count down.
Number Five: Pelor
Alignment: Good
Domains: The Sun, Summer, Not Liking Evil Much
Overview: Those of you versed in ancient Greek and Roman mythology are no doubt familiar with Apollo, the God of the Sun. He is an exceptionally strong and handsome man who drives the fiery sun chariot across the sky each day. Pelor, despite also being a sun god, is nothing like that. He's far more of a priestly god, using his powers to heal the sick, bring mercy and compassion into areas of darkness, and oppose undead things.
Assessment: Pelor is, without question, the most boring deity in Dungeons and Dragons. You know they're struggling for material when "hates undead" makes it into the description of a good deity. Can you imagine any god with even a glimmer of good intention seeing the desecration and reanimation of loved ones and saying, "You know what the world needs? More of that." I didn't think so.
Number Four: Moradin
Alignment: Lawful Good
Domains: Dwaves, Creation, Really Big Hammers
Overview: Moradin is the epitome of Dwarven ideas: a master craftsman (craftsdwarf?) with unwavering loyalty and a taste for good booze. He is deified proof that Lawful Good doesn't mean you don't know how to party. Moradin is also the creator of the Dwarves, though he didn't exactly shake a leg once they were enslaved by the giants (A deity letting his "chosen people" be enslaved? Never).
Assessment: Moradin claims to be Lawful Good, but I think his alignment is more "Dwarf." If you are a dwarf, you should consider following the divine forge-master. If you aren't a dwarf, you may still find Moradin's passion for metalwork and/or heavy drinking to be right up your alley. Tradition is also a big part of Moradin's fellowship so no matter what your taste, he's the one deity that will never come up short.
Number Three: The Raven Queen
Alignment: Unaligned
Domains: Dying, Fate, Brooding, Crawling in Thy Skin, The Wounds That Will Not Heal
Overview: Ah, The Raven Queen. No other divine being captures the tradition of brooding dark heroes quite as well as she. Hers is the domain of dying, but not death. She guides each departed soul through the bleakness of the Shadowfell and on to their ultimate destination (conveniently retaining those souls who don't know exactly where they're headed). She is death, but not the Grim Reaper we're so used to.
Assessment: I have a love/hate relationship with Miss Raven. Conceptually, she's pretty cool. There's something very interesting about anyone tasked with the safe transit of the departed. Unfortunately, those who follow her tend to fall into the Brooding Anti-Hero camp that I hate so much. A hero who worships the person who will ultimately decide their fate can be played many ways. Make sure yours is played one of the ways that hasn't been done a million times before.
Number Two: Bahamut
Alignment: Lawful Good
Domains: Good Dragons, Protection, Setting Evil on Fire
Synopsis: Bahamut is The Platinum Dragon, the one being able to make dragons feel inferior. He's a strict Lawful Good, stomping out Evil and Tyranny wherever it can be found. His teachings don't focus on the destruction of evil however, emphasizing instead the protection of the injured and oppressed. If the baddies don't get the hint and shape up, you may bring down the holy wrath of wtfpwning.
Assessment: As a dragon, Bahamut already gets a ton of bonus cool points. The lack of Draconic rampaging may be a disappointment for some, but you should get over that by reminding yourself that you worship a dragon. I do find his Lawful Good alignment to be limiting. As an adventurer, it can be a pain in the ass to follow all the rules all the time. Thankfully, Bahamut prefers to observe and keep his hands out of mortal affairs.
Number One: Kord
Alignment: Unaligned
Domains: Storms, Battle, Kicking Ass, Taking Names, Chewing Gum
Synopsis: Kord is the Lord of Battle and the god of storms. He is the ideal adventurer's deity, endorsing the wanton violence that seems to follow a party of heroes wherever they go. Despite being unaligned, Kord still has some sense of justice. He doesn't endorse beating up anyone, anywhere. There's still an expectation that the fight will be in the name of greater justice.
Assessment: Kord is an excellent choice for any race, any class. His focus on combat fits in with the adventuring life and his monosyllabic name fits into any battle cry. Kord is a deity for anyone who enjoys the thrill of combat, contests of strength, and occasionally punching someone in the face just because they deserve it.
Number Five: Pelor
Alignment: Good
Domains: The Sun, Summer, Not Liking Evil Much
Overview: Those of you versed in ancient Greek and Roman mythology are no doubt familiar with Apollo, the God of the Sun. He is an exceptionally strong and handsome man who drives the fiery sun chariot across the sky each day. Pelor, despite also being a sun god, is nothing like that. He's far more of a priestly god, using his powers to heal the sick, bring mercy and compassion into areas of darkness, and oppose undead things.
Assessment: Pelor is, without question, the most boring deity in Dungeons and Dragons. You know they're struggling for material when "hates undead" makes it into the description of a good deity. Can you imagine any god with even a glimmer of good intention seeing the desecration and reanimation of loved ones and saying, "You know what the world needs? More of that." I didn't think so.
Number Four: Moradin
Alignment: Lawful Good
Domains: Dwaves, Creation, Really Big Hammers
Overview: Moradin is the epitome of Dwarven ideas: a master craftsman (craftsdwarf?) with unwavering loyalty and a taste for good booze. He is deified proof that Lawful Good doesn't mean you don't know how to party. Moradin is also the creator of the Dwarves, though he didn't exactly shake a leg once they were enslaved by the giants (A deity letting his "chosen people" be enslaved? Never).
Assessment: Moradin claims to be Lawful Good, but I think his alignment is more "Dwarf." If you are a dwarf, you should consider following the divine forge-master. If you aren't a dwarf, you may still find Moradin's passion for metalwork and/or heavy drinking to be right up your alley. Tradition is also a big part of Moradin's fellowship so no matter what your taste, he's the one deity that will never come up short.
Number Three: The Raven Queen
Alignment: Unaligned
Domains: Dying, Fate, Brooding, Crawling in Thy Skin, The Wounds That Will Not Heal
Overview: Ah, The Raven Queen. No other divine being captures the tradition of brooding dark heroes quite as well as she. Hers is the domain of dying, but not death. She guides each departed soul through the bleakness of the Shadowfell and on to their ultimate destination (conveniently retaining those souls who don't know exactly where they're headed). She is death, but not the Grim Reaper we're so used to.
Assessment: I have a love/hate relationship with Miss Raven. Conceptually, she's pretty cool. There's something very interesting about anyone tasked with the safe transit of the departed. Unfortunately, those who follow her tend to fall into the Brooding Anti-Hero camp that I hate so much. A hero who worships the person who will ultimately decide their fate can be played many ways. Make sure yours is played one of the ways that hasn't been done a million times before.
Number Two: Bahamut
Alignment: Lawful Good
Domains: Good Dragons, Protection, Setting Evil on Fire
Synopsis: Bahamut is The Platinum Dragon, the one being able to make dragons feel inferior. He's a strict Lawful Good, stomping out Evil and Tyranny wherever it can be found. His teachings don't focus on the destruction of evil however, emphasizing instead the protection of the injured and oppressed. If the baddies don't get the hint and shape up, you may bring down the holy wrath of wtfpwning.
Assessment: As a dragon, Bahamut already gets a ton of bonus cool points. The lack of Draconic rampaging may be a disappointment for some, but you should get over that by reminding yourself that you worship a dragon. I do find his Lawful Good alignment to be limiting. As an adventurer, it can be a pain in the ass to follow all the rules all the time. Thankfully, Bahamut prefers to observe and keep his hands out of mortal affairs.
Number One: Kord
Alignment: Unaligned
Domains: Storms, Battle, Kicking Ass, Taking Names, Chewing Gum
Synopsis: Kord is the Lord of Battle and the god of storms. He is the ideal adventurer's deity, endorsing the wanton violence that seems to follow a party of heroes wherever they go. Despite being unaligned, Kord still has some sense of justice. He doesn't endorse beating up anyone, anywhere. There's still an expectation that the fight will be in the name of greater justice.
Assessment: Kord is an excellent choice for any race, any class. His focus on combat fits in with the adventuring life and his monosyllabic name fits into any battle cry. Kord is a deity for anyone who enjoys the thrill of combat, contests of strength, and occasionally punching someone in the face just because they deserve it.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Story Arcs
As a DM prepares for each weekly meeting, its important that they consider the ongoing plot of their campaign. D&D is a form of collaborative storytelling and "story" is a vital part of a healthy campaign. The campaign plot is hard enough to track, but there can also be any number of side-plots affecting a party. Each of these plots is an "Arc:" the building blocks of a compelling story. Arcs come in different sizes and weave together to form the central story of the campaign. This week, I'm going to look at the different kinds of arcs.
Personal Arcs
Personal Arcs are neither the smallest nor the largest arcs in a campaign, but they have foundations that stretch into time before the "main" story gets started. A personal arc is the story of a specific character. When you get started, the size of a personal arc depends on how much effort the player was willing to put into their back story. Similarly, personal arcs can only grow if the player is willing to invest the energy to determine how their character reacts and is ultimately changed by the events of the campaign.
Encounter Arcs
Each encounter is a story, albeit a short one. The story of the average encounter is little more than "The party enters a room. Holy crap, monsters! The party exists the room." Every now and then, however, the stakes are a little higher. The encounter takes place on a rooftop or a platform slowly sinking into a lake of lava. The party may need to dispatch foes quickly or discretely to ensure the safety of a hostage. Once in a great while, the party will finally corner a hated foe for an epic battle to the death.
Quest Arcs
A Quest is a string of encounters that share a common purpose. Usually, this is a goal such as "recover the artifact," "find the missing person," or "get rid of that really big bear." The encounters that build into a quest arc tend to occur uninterrupted so that the goal or purpose can be fulfilled (or unfulfilled) as quickly as possible. On their own, quests do not contribute a tremendous amount to the campaign's story. When looked at together, however, one can see the tiny themes and hints that build into something greater.
Adventure Arcs
Adventure arcs are formed by quest and encounter arcs (and sometimes personal arcs) that share a common theme. The theme may be subtle, like a common monster type or more obvious, like a shared uniform. This theme will tie seemingly unrelated events together and point the party towards a greater foe. As the adventure arc continues, the party will learn more about their enemy and work towards a confrontation. These arcs tend to conclude after such a confrontation, but not before the party learns that it was all part of a greater plot.
Campaign Arcs
The campaign arc is the granddaddy of them all. It can and should bring together personal, quest, and adventure arcs into a cohesive story. As the party works through the campaign, this arc should always make appearances. The more disjointed events seem in the beginning, the better. As the story progresses, the characters should put together the pieces and realize what will be waiting for them at the end of their adventures. It should be apparent what's at stake should the heroes fail: nothing less than the end of the world as the characters know it.
Personal Arcs
Personal Arcs are neither the smallest nor the largest arcs in a campaign, but they have foundations that stretch into time before the "main" story gets started. A personal arc is the story of a specific character. When you get started, the size of a personal arc depends on how much effort the player was willing to put into their back story. Similarly, personal arcs can only grow if the player is willing to invest the energy to determine how their character reacts and is ultimately changed by the events of the campaign.
Encounter Arcs
Each encounter is a story, albeit a short one. The story of the average encounter is little more than "The party enters a room. Holy crap, monsters! The party exists the room." Every now and then, however, the stakes are a little higher. The encounter takes place on a rooftop or a platform slowly sinking into a lake of lava. The party may need to dispatch foes quickly or discretely to ensure the safety of a hostage. Once in a great while, the party will finally corner a hated foe for an epic battle to the death.
Quest Arcs
A Quest is a string of encounters that share a common purpose. Usually, this is a goal such as "recover the artifact," "find the missing person," or "get rid of that really big bear." The encounters that build into a quest arc tend to occur uninterrupted so that the goal or purpose can be fulfilled (or unfulfilled) as quickly as possible. On their own, quests do not contribute a tremendous amount to the campaign's story. When looked at together, however, one can see the tiny themes and hints that build into something greater.
Adventure Arcs
Adventure arcs are formed by quest and encounter arcs (and sometimes personal arcs) that share a common theme. The theme may be subtle, like a common monster type or more obvious, like a shared uniform. This theme will tie seemingly unrelated events together and point the party towards a greater foe. As the adventure arc continues, the party will learn more about their enemy and work towards a confrontation. These arcs tend to conclude after such a confrontation, but not before the party learns that it was all part of a greater plot.
Campaign Arcs
The campaign arc is the granddaddy of them all. It can and should bring together personal, quest, and adventure arcs into a cohesive story. As the party works through the campaign, this arc should always make appearances. The more disjointed events seem in the beginning, the better. As the story progresses, the characters should put together the pieces and realize what will be waiting for them at the end of their adventures. It should be apparent what's at stake should the heroes fail: nothing less than the end of the world as the characters know it.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Motivating Your Players
The Dungeon Master's Guide (and The Player's Strategy Guide) introduce the concept of "player motivations." These eight categories describe what a player is most looking for in a campaign. Any DM worth their salt can tell you the importance of tailoring your campaign to fit the playstyles at your table. Today, I'm going to share these eight motivations and give you an idea how you can work with (and against) these tendencies to create a more engaging game night.
The Actor
"I am Sir Edwin Von Nancypants and this is my ceremonial Toga-Robe."
The Actor is a player who doesn't just play their character, they are their character. Actors may speak in whatever accent they think their character would use or they may go all out and dress like their character. However they choose to express their motivations, Actors are looking to engage with the game world in a personal way.
Using the Motivator: Engaging Actors is easy; they do most of the work themselves. Make sure that you refer to the player by their character's name and make an effort to hide any negative feelings you have towards this play style. It's important to make sure that the rest of your players also keep their stigmas in check. Wearing strange outfits and speaking in character may seem like LARPing behavior, but it's still a valid way to play.
The Explorer
"I known it's just listed as 'Room and Board,' but what does the food taste like?"
The Explorer wants to know about the way the game world ticks. The descriptions of people and places aren't just filler for them, they're part of the gaming experience. Explorers will want to know the details of the lost city they've found and will want to examine every last crevice of the dungeon. When the party finds an item of note, it will probably be the Explorer who holds on to it.
Using the Motivation: When you build your campaign world, spend a little extra time thinking of the details of people and places. Your Explorer will really appreciate a couple extra lines of description and will love it when you can answer their questions about the history of a place. Explorers care about the details and are likely top remember them, so you can use certain colors or ornamentation to indicate what kingdom a person or place belongs to.
The Instigator
"I sure hope whatever is living here doesn't pop out of nowhere and totally pwnsauce us!"
The Instigator is a troublemaker. The reason may be that they're only interested in conflict or that they just bore really easily. Whatever their excuse, Instigators get a kick out of making things happen. They may pick fights with especially dangerous-looking enemies or have a habit of stealing from everyone the party meets. Whatever they do, it tends to send the party into conflicts.
Using the Motivation: Like Actors, Instigators do a lot of the work themselves. The hardest part about keeping them entertained in your game is planning for all of the stunts they may pull. If you want to punish the Instigator for being so reckless, remember that the rest of your party will be dragged along, too. Make sure that you don't lock the entire group into a no win situation because one of them couldn't keep their hands to themselves. Consider having the wronged NPC challenge the reckless character to a one-on-one duel for honor.
The Power Gamer
"The attack does 24 damage, but I also get 2 damage for charging and 6 for..."
On the battlefield, the Power Gamer is a force to be reckoned with. This player gets their kicks by maximizing the efficiency of their character. Most often, this is represented by their efforts to get the most damage possible out of every attack, but it can also involve the pursuit of the highest AC or even an enormous bonus to a certain skill. Power Gamers love to optimize and may even use online forums to get the best possible build.
Using the Motivation: A lot of the pleasure a Power Gamer is looking for comes from the work they do in between meetings. At the table, the best thing you can do for them is to put them is those situations where they do their best work. Make sure you also include situations where all their planning falls flat, too. If the player has created an unstoppable juggernaut, make sure to have some skill challenges or traps where all that killing power is useless. This will give your non-Power Gamers space to showcase their own talents.
The Slayer
"Is it dead yet?"
The Slayer just likes to kill things. Their satisfaction is derived from facing difficult foes and sending them to the dirt. Slayers aren't interested in dialogue or overly wordy descriptions and will likely space out until something arrives that they can kill. They will likely play strikers and will go out of their way to provoke things into combat. If it looks alive, the Slayer probably wants to kill it.
Using the Motivation: What Slayers want is your average Hack and Slash adventure. Keep lining monsters up and they will be perfectly happy knocking them down. To really engage your Slayers, give them an enemy that they will really want to take out, but keep them from killing it for a little while. This can be as easy as creating an especially vile Big Bad and keeping them safe from bloodthirsty players with bodyguards and political ties. Before the Slayer can sink their weapons into them, they will have to prove to the public that this person actually deserved it.
The Storyteller
"If I can pull the sword out, will I be the next king?
The Storyteller engages with the ongoing events of the campaign and how their character fits into it. For the Storyteller, the far-reaching effects of their actions matter. They may ask you to repeat important plot points or to slow down while they take notes on events. What a Storyteller is looking for is a chance to use their knowledge of your plot to give their character an edge in becoming a part of it.
Using the Motivation: As with the Explorer, a little extra work goes a long way with the Storyteller. Work out how the actions of your players influence the world, both in the immediate and long-ranging ways. Give the characters the chance to work out threats to important NPCs and foil them. As they get higher in levels, make sure to have their reputation precede them. NPCs pointing them out in a crowd, Lords asking for them by name, or even children arguing in a back ally about who gets to pretend to be the Storyteller's character.
The Thinker
"Four stones of different colors arranged in a circle... FETCH MY THINKING CAP!"
The Thinker is actually pretty straightforward. This motivation loves puzzles, coded messages, and fights that reward careful planning. The Thinker takes their time when planning actions, preferring to see what their opponents will do before making their own move. Thinkers get a kick from the strategy element of combat, working to outmaneuver foes before stabbing them to death.
Using the Motivation: To really get to your Thinker, you're going to have to think outside the traditional DnD mold. What Thinkers really want is problems that allow them to apply their real life knowledge. When designing a dungeon, include traps that can be avoided by a particularly observant person. Have doors that unlock following a small Mastermind-like game. In short, create obsticles that require more than dice throws to surpass.
The Watcher
"If you're having a good time, I'm having a good time."
The Watcher doesn't play for exclusively their own enjoyment, but rather for the enjoyment of everyone else at the table. They have the most fun when the whole group is having a good time. A Watcher will rarely call attention to their own character, but will encourage the other players to do what they do best. Watchers may not always seem like they're participating actively in the game, but they will always keep the team together.
Using the Motivation: The Watcher is a motivation of an entirely different nature. The Watcher doesn't want to be singled out for any singular participation and you need to respect that. This is made especially difficult by the fact that all good DMs must be part Watcher themselves and players who are Watchers don't always look like they're having fun. Throw your Watchers some bait every now and then, but don't force the issue. Not everyone wants to be the next king, after all.
The Actor
"I am Sir Edwin Von Nancypants and this is my ceremonial Toga-Robe."
The Actor is a player who doesn't just play their character, they are their character. Actors may speak in whatever accent they think their character would use or they may go all out and dress like their character. However they choose to express their motivations, Actors are looking to engage with the game world in a personal way.
Using the Motivator: Engaging Actors is easy; they do most of the work themselves. Make sure that you refer to the player by their character's name and make an effort to hide any negative feelings you have towards this play style. It's important to make sure that the rest of your players also keep their stigmas in check. Wearing strange outfits and speaking in character may seem like LARPing behavior, but it's still a valid way to play.
The Explorer
"I known it's just listed as 'Room and Board,' but what does the food taste like?"
The Explorer wants to know about the way the game world ticks. The descriptions of people and places aren't just filler for them, they're part of the gaming experience. Explorers will want to know the details of the lost city they've found and will want to examine every last crevice of the dungeon. When the party finds an item of note, it will probably be the Explorer who holds on to it.
Using the Motivation: When you build your campaign world, spend a little extra time thinking of the details of people and places. Your Explorer will really appreciate a couple extra lines of description and will love it when you can answer their questions about the history of a place. Explorers care about the details and are likely top remember them, so you can use certain colors or ornamentation to indicate what kingdom a person or place belongs to.
The Instigator
"I sure hope whatever is living here doesn't pop out of nowhere and totally pwnsauce us!"
The Instigator is a troublemaker. The reason may be that they're only interested in conflict or that they just bore really easily. Whatever their excuse, Instigators get a kick out of making things happen. They may pick fights with especially dangerous-looking enemies or have a habit of stealing from everyone the party meets. Whatever they do, it tends to send the party into conflicts.
Using the Motivation: Like Actors, Instigators do a lot of the work themselves. The hardest part about keeping them entertained in your game is planning for all of the stunts they may pull. If you want to punish the Instigator for being so reckless, remember that the rest of your party will be dragged along, too. Make sure that you don't lock the entire group into a no win situation because one of them couldn't keep their hands to themselves. Consider having the wronged NPC challenge the reckless character to a one-on-one duel for honor.
The Power Gamer
"The attack does 24 damage, but I also get 2 damage for charging and 6 for..."
On the battlefield, the Power Gamer is a force to be reckoned with. This player gets their kicks by maximizing the efficiency of their character. Most often, this is represented by their efforts to get the most damage possible out of every attack, but it can also involve the pursuit of the highest AC or even an enormous bonus to a certain skill. Power Gamers love to optimize and may even use online forums to get the best possible build.
Using the Motivation: A lot of the pleasure a Power Gamer is looking for comes from the work they do in between meetings. At the table, the best thing you can do for them is to put them is those situations where they do their best work. Make sure you also include situations where all their planning falls flat, too. If the player has created an unstoppable juggernaut, make sure to have some skill challenges or traps where all that killing power is useless. This will give your non-Power Gamers space to showcase their own talents.
The Slayer
"Is it dead yet?"
The Slayer just likes to kill things. Their satisfaction is derived from facing difficult foes and sending them to the dirt. Slayers aren't interested in dialogue or overly wordy descriptions and will likely space out until something arrives that they can kill. They will likely play strikers and will go out of their way to provoke things into combat. If it looks alive, the Slayer probably wants to kill it.
Using the Motivation: What Slayers want is your average Hack and Slash adventure. Keep lining monsters up and they will be perfectly happy knocking them down. To really engage your Slayers, give them an enemy that they will really want to take out, but keep them from killing it for a little while. This can be as easy as creating an especially vile Big Bad and keeping them safe from bloodthirsty players with bodyguards and political ties. Before the Slayer can sink their weapons into them, they will have to prove to the public that this person actually deserved it.
The Storyteller
"If I can pull the sword out, will I be the next king?
The Storyteller engages with the ongoing events of the campaign and how their character fits into it. For the Storyteller, the far-reaching effects of their actions matter. They may ask you to repeat important plot points or to slow down while they take notes on events. What a Storyteller is looking for is a chance to use their knowledge of your plot to give their character an edge in becoming a part of it.
Using the Motivation: As with the Explorer, a little extra work goes a long way with the Storyteller. Work out how the actions of your players influence the world, both in the immediate and long-ranging ways. Give the characters the chance to work out threats to important NPCs and foil them. As they get higher in levels, make sure to have their reputation precede them. NPCs pointing them out in a crowd, Lords asking for them by name, or even children arguing in a back ally about who gets to pretend to be the Storyteller's character.
The Thinker
"Four stones of different colors arranged in a circle... FETCH MY THINKING CAP!"
The Thinker is actually pretty straightforward. This motivation loves puzzles, coded messages, and fights that reward careful planning. The Thinker takes their time when planning actions, preferring to see what their opponents will do before making their own move. Thinkers get a kick from the strategy element of combat, working to outmaneuver foes before stabbing them to death.
Using the Motivation: To really get to your Thinker, you're going to have to think outside the traditional DnD mold. What Thinkers really want is problems that allow them to apply their real life knowledge. When designing a dungeon, include traps that can be avoided by a particularly observant person. Have doors that unlock following a small Mastermind-like game. In short, create obsticles that require more than dice throws to surpass.
The Watcher
"If you're having a good time, I'm having a good time."
The Watcher doesn't play for exclusively their own enjoyment, but rather for the enjoyment of everyone else at the table. They have the most fun when the whole group is having a good time. A Watcher will rarely call attention to their own character, but will encourage the other players to do what they do best. Watchers may not always seem like they're participating actively in the game, but they will always keep the team together.
Using the Motivation: The Watcher is a motivation of an entirely different nature. The Watcher doesn't want to be singled out for any singular participation and you need to respect that. This is made especially difficult by the fact that all good DMs must be part Watcher themselves and players who are Watchers don't always look like they're having fun. Throw your Watchers some bait every now and then, but don't force the issue. Not everyone wants to be the next king, after all.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Playing With Your Party
I am very happy to say that I will be playing DnD for the first time since college this week. I'm the DM and my party consists of two people who have played, but are out of practice, and someone who is entirely new to the game. For the next few weeks, I'll be posting things that directly relate to my current experiences at the table. Today, for instance, I want to talk about DMs also controlling a player character.
If your party is a little sparse and/or missing a vital role, you may consider building a character to tag along for the adventure. If you enjoy playing, there are some pretty obvious benefits to rolling up your own adventurer. In addition to fortifying the lineup and rounding out the tactical options, you get to share in the glory of the adventure. Your well-built encounters may still crumble, but at least you'll be doing some of the crumbling.
There are drawbacks and potential pitfalls when joining the party's ranks, however. The most difficult issues involve the problem of "Meta-Gaming." For those unfamiliar with the term, "meta-gaming" is when a player uses knowledge that their character would not or could not know. This includes an enemy's stats or the habits/origins of a particular beastie. When the DM plays a character, they not only know everything about every enemy, but also the entire planned campaign arch. Also, a DM-controlled character has a habit of dominating the action and hogging moments that the players should be a much bigger part of.
If the advantages outweigh the drawbacks for you, there are three basic levels of DM participation:
Full Character Participation
A DM engaging in full character participation has created a complete character. They have built everything from their skills to their equipment to their power selections. Full character participants are involved with the party not only during combat, but also when the party engages in skill challenges or talks to NPCs. In this way, the DM is both fully a DM and fully a player.
Pros: Full character participation lets you experience everything you love about playing DnD while still serving as DM. It allows you and the players to be partners as well as adversaries. It can also be an incredibly effective way to ensure that the players see and do everything that you intend them to.
Cons: Meta-gaming is a huge problem for this kind of participation. Not only will your character know everything about the world and the campaign, your monsters will also know exactly what your character is doing. Also, trying to manage both a full character and the workings of an entire campaign is a lot of work.
Limited Character Participation
When participating with a limited character, a DM still puts together a full character sheet. This includes picking skills, powers, and equipment. This character participates in combat, but has some reason to be useless when you need to play as NPCs. The easiest way to achieve this is to have your character be unable or unwilling to speak. This can be by design (a Warforged built without a mouth), trauma (a Drow raid survivor whose tongue has been cut out), or by choice (a priest who has taken an oath of silence).
Pro: The major advantage this has over full character participation is that you don't have to juggle your character and NPCs while the party is out of combat. You also hog less of the party's spotlight, becoming more of a tagalong than a full member. The story of how your character got their limitation can be a great way to drop quest hooks, too!
Con: Your ability to use your character to give the party information is severely, well, limited. A mute character cannot explain the history of a battlefield or share suspicions about the local clergy. In addition, you still have to juggle all the combat actions of your character along with your monsters.
Partial Character Participation
A partial character has the complexity of your average monster in terms of stats (in fact, you can use most standard monsters as is). The best way to create one is to follow the steps in the Dungeon Master's Guide 2 for converting monsters to companion characters. A partial character has no more than one of the basic, At-Will, and Encounter attacks and only two or three trained skills.
Pros: A partial character is very easy to keep track of, even when running multiple monsters in a combat. Depending on what monster you use, your character may also be unable to speak/not allowed to enter settlements, allowing you to be fully a DM when the party talks with NPCs.
Cons: A partial character is so limited that you may wonder why you've even bothered to have a character at all. Since your character is a monster, they will have limited healing surges and are unlikely to survive challenging combat. A partial character's skills also tend to be somewhat sub-par meaning the the party is more likely to fail in skill challenges that call for a group check.
If your party is a little sparse and/or missing a vital role, you may consider building a character to tag along for the adventure. If you enjoy playing, there are some pretty obvious benefits to rolling up your own adventurer. In addition to fortifying the lineup and rounding out the tactical options, you get to share in the glory of the adventure. Your well-built encounters may still crumble, but at least you'll be doing some of the crumbling.
There are drawbacks and potential pitfalls when joining the party's ranks, however. The most difficult issues involve the problem of "Meta-Gaming." For those unfamiliar with the term, "meta-gaming" is when a player uses knowledge that their character would not or could not know. This includes an enemy's stats or the habits/origins of a particular beastie. When the DM plays a character, they not only know everything about every enemy, but also the entire planned campaign arch. Also, a DM-controlled character has a habit of dominating the action and hogging moments that the players should be a much bigger part of.
If the advantages outweigh the drawbacks for you, there are three basic levels of DM participation:
Full Character Participation
A DM engaging in full character participation has created a complete character. They have built everything from their skills to their equipment to their power selections. Full character participants are involved with the party not only during combat, but also when the party engages in skill challenges or talks to NPCs. In this way, the DM is both fully a DM and fully a player.
Pros: Full character participation lets you experience everything you love about playing DnD while still serving as DM. It allows you and the players to be partners as well as adversaries. It can also be an incredibly effective way to ensure that the players see and do everything that you intend them to.
Cons: Meta-gaming is a huge problem for this kind of participation. Not only will your character know everything about the world and the campaign, your monsters will also know exactly what your character is doing. Also, trying to manage both a full character and the workings of an entire campaign is a lot of work.
Limited Character Participation
When participating with a limited character, a DM still puts together a full character sheet. This includes picking skills, powers, and equipment. This character participates in combat, but has some reason to be useless when you need to play as NPCs. The easiest way to achieve this is to have your character be unable or unwilling to speak. This can be by design (a Warforged built without a mouth), trauma (a Drow raid survivor whose tongue has been cut out), or by choice (a priest who has taken an oath of silence).
Pro: The major advantage this has over full character participation is that you don't have to juggle your character and NPCs while the party is out of combat. You also hog less of the party's spotlight, becoming more of a tagalong than a full member. The story of how your character got their limitation can be a great way to drop quest hooks, too!
Con: Your ability to use your character to give the party information is severely, well, limited. A mute character cannot explain the history of a battlefield or share suspicions about the local clergy. In addition, you still have to juggle all the combat actions of your character along with your monsters.
Partial Character Participation
A partial character has the complexity of your average monster in terms of stats (in fact, you can use most standard monsters as is). The best way to create one is to follow the steps in the Dungeon Master's Guide 2 for converting monsters to companion characters. A partial character has no more than one of the basic, At-Will, and Encounter attacks and only two or three trained skills.
Pros: A partial character is very easy to keep track of, even when running multiple monsters in a combat. Depending on what monster you use, your character may also be unable to speak/not allowed to enter settlements, allowing you to be fully a DM when the party talks with NPCs.
Cons: A partial character is so limited that you may wonder why you've even bothered to have a character at all. Since your character is a monster, they will have limited healing surges and are unlikely to survive challenging combat. A partial character's skills also tend to be somewhat sub-par meaning the the party is more likely to fail in skill challenges that call for a group check.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tiers of Evil
Having well-built characters is good, but its a waste if they aren't involved in a well-built adventure. To help my DM readers, I'm going to start talking about how to build a strong campaign. I'm going to start with one of the most prominent obstacles in any party's travels: the villains. A memorable villain will give the party a reason to keep fighting. One villain won't be enough, however. As the campaign progresses, defeated foes reveal allegiances to still greater enemies. In the end, the party must go against the true villain- the man behind the curtain.
Tier Five: Faceless Legions
At the bottom of the food chain is the legions of faceless warriors who support the entire villainous empire. The party will be fighting these most of the time and they will never expect more than a couple lines of description before they lay into them. The Faceless Legions may not be exciting, but they are vital. Without a steady supply of mooks and lackeys, every fight would have to be against a memorable arch-villain.
Putting Them to Work: More than most of your encounters will feature the Faceless Legions. There isn't very much you need to consider when deploying them apart from basic strategy and stats. Make sure every encounter with hordes of nameless foes isn't the same, however. Even the most generic of lackeys has their own ideas on tactics. Overwhelmed foes might break rank and flee while especially cocky ones might attempt to take the defender one-on-one.
Tier Four: Elite Soldiers
Often, a villain will call in a more specialized warrior to slow down a group of heroes. These elites are tougher than their disposable counterparts, but they still won't last more than a single encounter. They may be a leader of their generic, faceless counterparts or they may prefer to work alone or in their own special group. No matter how they strike, they are noticeably different from other foes without adding significant story building to the fight.
Putting Them to Work: The most common use for Elite Soldiers is to spice up a battle with the Faceless Legions. Throwing in an enemy with distinctive armor or tactics can force your party to abandon their tried-and-true tactics. Just be careful how distinctive your elites are. A party doesn't have to be full of pros to figure out that the foe with the most description is the one they need to take out first.
Tier Three: Ringleaders
At this tier we begin to see enemies which the party will have some knowledge of before a battle. They may be the head of a notorious thieves' guild or the chief of a rampaging barbarian tribe, but all Ringleaders are infamous enough that the players will hear their name before running into them. Ringleaders may even be working for villains further up the chain. Numerous criminal organizations could be funding a single tier two evil without even knowing it.
Putting Them to Use: Ringleaders can be little "mini-bosses" at the end of a series of encounters. Their lackeys might give the adventurers grief over a series of quests, but the Ringleader isn't going to be able to avoid justice for long. Putting a Ringleader down is a minor reward for the players, a chance to make life marginally better for the people under their sway. It's also a great way to point their ire higher up the chain.
Tier Two: Faces of Evil
Tier two villains are the major evils of the campaign. They are likely to be people that the characters have been seeing or hearing about for the majority of the adventure. For a while, the party may have believed these baddies were the highest rung of the evil plaguing their land. These villains have connections everywhere and a ton of influence. Going up against them will test the adventurers to their limits.
Putting Them to Work: The Faces of Evil should be major foes in your campaign. They are likely to be in positions of power and getting to them will require numerous quest's worth of favors and equipment. When the party does manage to corner a Face of Evil, it should be a very difficult fight. These villains didn't get where they are by being pushovers. With them gone, the world may become a little lighter or maybe the world is put into greater danger from the evil on the next tier.
Tier One: World Eater
When the Face(s) of Evil have been defeated, the party learns of a far more terrible threat to the world. The World Eater is the top of the evil food chain; the end all and be all of the villain word. It could be a dark God or an elemental monster or even a super-powered wizard. No matter what form it takes, the threat remains the same. If the World Eater gets their way, the world as the adventurers know it will be gone forever.
Putting Them to Work: The World Eater represents the ultimate ambition of the villains of your campaign. It may be ageless and putting it's malicious intelligence towards enslaving the planet. It could just be a mindless force of destruction that the forces of evil were planning to use on their enemies. Either way, its bigger and badder than anything the party has fought thus far and it should be the epic concluding battle to your campaign.
Tier Five: Faceless Legions
At the bottom of the food chain is the legions of faceless warriors who support the entire villainous empire. The party will be fighting these most of the time and they will never expect more than a couple lines of description before they lay into them. The Faceless Legions may not be exciting, but they are vital. Without a steady supply of mooks and lackeys, every fight would have to be against a memorable arch-villain.
Putting Them to Work: More than most of your encounters will feature the Faceless Legions. There isn't very much you need to consider when deploying them apart from basic strategy and stats. Make sure every encounter with hordes of nameless foes isn't the same, however. Even the most generic of lackeys has their own ideas on tactics. Overwhelmed foes might break rank and flee while especially cocky ones might attempt to take the defender one-on-one.
Tier Four: Elite Soldiers
Often, a villain will call in a more specialized warrior to slow down a group of heroes. These elites are tougher than their disposable counterparts, but they still won't last more than a single encounter. They may be a leader of their generic, faceless counterparts or they may prefer to work alone or in their own special group. No matter how they strike, they are noticeably different from other foes without adding significant story building to the fight.
Putting Them to Work: The most common use for Elite Soldiers is to spice up a battle with the Faceless Legions. Throwing in an enemy with distinctive armor or tactics can force your party to abandon their tried-and-true tactics. Just be careful how distinctive your elites are. A party doesn't have to be full of pros to figure out that the foe with the most description is the one they need to take out first.
Tier Three: Ringleaders
At this tier we begin to see enemies which the party will have some knowledge of before a battle. They may be the head of a notorious thieves' guild or the chief of a rampaging barbarian tribe, but all Ringleaders are infamous enough that the players will hear their name before running into them. Ringleaders may even be working for villains further up the chain. Numerous criminal organizations could be funding a single tier two evil without even knowing it.
Putting Them to Use: Ringleaders can be little "mini-bosses" at the end of a series of encounters. Their lackeys might give the adventurers grief over a series of quests, but the Ringleader isn't going to be able to avoid justice for long. Putting a Ringleader down is a minor reward for the players, a chance to make life marginally better for the people under their sway. It's also a great way to point their ire higher up the chain.
Tier Two: Faces of Evil
Tier two villains are the major evils of the campaign. They are likely to be people that the characters have been seeing or hearing about for the majority of the adventure. For a while, the party may have believed these baddies were the highest rung of the evil plaguing their land. These villains have connections everywhere and a ton of influence. Going up against them will test the adventurers to their limits.
Putting Them to Work: The Faces of Evil should be major foes in your campaign. They are likely to be in positions of power and getting to them will require numerous quest's worth of favors and equipment. When the party does manage to corner a Face of Evil, it should be a very difficult fight. These villains didn't get where they are by being pushovers. With them gone, the world may become a little lighter or maybe the world is put into greater danger from the evil on the next tier.
Tier One: World Eater
When the Face(s) of Evil have been defeated, the party learns of a far more terrible threat to the world. The World Eater is the top of the evil food chain; the end all and be all of the villain word. It could be a dark God or an elemental monster or even a super-powered wizard. No matter what form it takes, the threat remains the same. If the World Eater gets their way, the world as the adventurers know it will be gone forever.
Putting Them to Work: The World Eater represents the ultimate ambition of the villains of your campaign. It may be ageless and putting it's malicious intelligence towards enslaving the planet. It could just be a mindless force of destruction that the forces of evil were planning to use on their enemies. Either way, its bigger and badder than anything the party has fought thus far and it should be the epic concluding battle to your campaign.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Five Habits of Highly Effective DMs
In an earlier post, I talked about ways to be a good DM. This week, I'm going to talk about ways to be a great DM. Good DMs lead campaigns that make every meeting fun, but a great DM keeps the party chatting about their adventures between game nights. Here are five tricks that will bring any campaign to the next level.
Trick One: Build Around Your Characters
"You are confronted by your long-lost brother who still blames you for your father's death."
When your group first got together to build characters, you made sure that your players built their characters around your world (to some degree). Now, its time to return the favor. Make sure you know important facts of each player's back story: hometown, family, occupation, childhood rivals. You might even consider jotting some notes in your DM notebook (you do have one, right?).
Tricking Out: The next time the campaign train pulls into a small, unnamed town, you can pull out a hero's hometown. Will this character be welcomed or shunned? Will anyone even recognize them? Want to give your party a little "friendly" competition? Pull together a team of NPCs that have connections to each of your adventurers. Always be looking for ways to pull pieces of back story into the adventure.
Trick Two: Know Your World
"This valley has been conquered by thirteen different warlords and I can name all of them."
It's very easy (and perfectly acceptable) to simply drop your heroes in the generic DnD world and be done with it. If you want to make a bit more of your weekly adventures, take some time to customize the world. You can keep the rules and deities or go full blown home-brew. What's important is that you know how your world works and that your players are able to access the information they need to play.
Tricking Out: An easy way to customize your world is to limit class or race choices (personally, I don't suggest limiting classes). Take a look at how each class/race fits into your world and pick out ones that just don't jive. Make sure you can defend your choices as one of your players is guarantied to want to use a removed option. Know the way that your cities are governed and what place magic holds. This work will make quest building a breeze.
Trick Three: Don't Let the Books Hold You Down
"I said it's a wizard, not a Beholder."
The DnD source books hold a ton of useful information. You can find incredible monsters and detailed stories within them. Take as much from them as you want, but always remember that you are the final word. You are not limited to the words or pictures in your DnD books. If a creature doesn't quite have the abilities or appearance you need, just fudge it. No one can tell you you're wrong about your own world.
Tricking Out: If you need an epic final villain for a quest arch, but all the monsters of the party's level are beasties you aren't prepared to use, just go ahead and manipulate size and appearance to fit your needs. Its easy to claim a troll is a freakishly strong humanoid or a Beholder is a ray-firing wizard. The stats are meant to work for you, not against you. Make them do what you want.
Trick Four: Descriptions, Descriptions, Descriptions!
"The city's gates are flanked at each side by large statues of men covered in chains."
A good campaign gets the players to believe in the world their characters live in. If you want to achieve this level of play, you need to make sure you tell the players everything they would notice about their surroundings. Describing the clothing and decorations of a city can tell characters that they're in a slave state just as well as simply informing them of this fact as they enter.
Tricking Out: Good descriptions are important whenever your adventurers are encountering something you want them to remember. A vicious scar or a pair of gold-rimmed glasses will stick out in their mind each time they encounter a hated foe. A kingdom's national colors will help distinguish fellow countryman from ruthless invaders. Every little detail helps your world jump out of the game and feel real.
Trick Five: Plan Ahead
"The letter is initialed 'MG' and sealed with a small picture of a bird."
DMing by the seat of your pants and throwing together each encounter the day of your meetings is certainly a viable strategy if you don't have a lot of free time. To make your campaign great, keep a long term plan in mind. Your villain will make a much greater impact if you've been dropping hints about them for the past few meetings. When your party puts together the pieces you've been dropping, they will feel like they've accomplished something.
Tricking Out: Leaving written orders for the party to find is an easy way to lay groundwork for latter events. There are a ton of others ways, including cryptic warnings from the village soothsayer or identical methods in a series of crimes. You might consider an elaborate prophecy in which the players are important figures or just a series of enemies with identical tattoos. However you do it, this sort of planning ahead gives your players something to think about and look forward to as your adventure unfolds.
Trick One: Build Around Your Characters
"You are confronted by your long-lost brother who still blames you for your father's death."
When your group first got together to build characters, you made sure that your players built their characters around your world (to some degree). Now, its time to return the favor. Make sure you know important facts of each player's back story: hometown, family, occupation, childhood rivals. You might even consider jotting some notes in your DM notebook (you do have one, right?).
Tricking Out: The next time the campaign train pulls into a small, unnamed town, you can pull out a hero's hometown. Will this character be welcomed or shunned? Will anyone even recognize them? Want to give your party a little "friendly" competition? Pull together a team of NPCs that have connections to each of your adventurers. Always be looking for ways to pull pieces of back story into the adventure.
Trick Two: Know Your World
"This valley has been conquered by thirteen different warlords and I can name all of them."
It's very easy (and perfectly acceptable) to simply drop your heroes in the generic DnD world and be done with it. If you want to make a bit more of your weekly adventures, take some time to customize the world. You can keep the rules and deities or go full blown home-brew. What's important is that you know how your world works and that your players are able to access the information they need to play.
Tricking Out: An easy way to customize your world is to limit class or race choices (personally, I don't suggest limiting classes). Take a look at how each class/race fits into your world and pick out ones that just don't jive. Make sure you can defend your choices as one of your players is guarantied to want to use a removed option. Know the way that your cities are governed and what place magic holds. This work will make quest building a breeze.
Trick Three: Don't Let the Books Hold You Down
"I said it's a wizard, not a Beholder."
The DnD source books hold a ton of useful information. You can find incredible monsters and detailed stories within them. Take as much from them as you want, but always remember that you are the final word. You are not limited to the words or pictures in your DnD books. If a creature doesn't quite have the abilities or appearance you need, just fudge it. No one can tell you you're wrong about your own world.
Tricking Out: If you need an epic final villain for a quest arch, but all the monsters of the party's level are beasties you aren't prepared to use, just go ahead and manipulate size and appearance to fit your needs. Its easy to claim a troll is a freakishly strong humanoid or a Beholder is a ray-firing wizard. The stats are meant to work for you, not against you. Make them do what you want.
Trick Four: Descriptions, Descriptions, Descriptions!
"The city's gates are flanked at each side by large statues of men covered in chains."
A good campaign gets the players to believe in the world their characters live in. If you want to achieve this level of play, you need to make sure you tell the players everything they would notice about their surroundings. Describing the clothing and decorations of a city can tell characters that they're in a slave state just as well as simply informing them of this fact as they enter.
Tricking Out: Good descriptions are important whenever your adventurers are encountering something you want them to remember. A vicious scar or a pair of gold-rimmed glasses will stick out in their mind each time they encounter a hated foe. A kingdom's national colors will help distinguish fellow countryman from ruthless invaders. Every little detail helps your world jump out of the game and feel real.
Trick Five: Plan Ahead
"The letter is initialed 'MG' and sealed with a small picture of a bird."
DMing by the seat of your pants and throwing together each encounter the day of your meetings is certainly a viable strategy if you don't have a lot of free time. To make your campaign great, keep a long term plan in mind. Your villain will make a much greater impact if you've been dropping hints about them for the past few meetings. When your party puts together the pieces you've been dropping, they will feel like they've accomplished something.
Tricking Out: Leaving written orders for the party to find is an easy way to lay groundwork for latter events. There are a ton of others ways, including cryptic warnings from the village soothsayer or identical methods in a series of crimes. You might consider an elaborate prophecy in which the players are important figures or just a series of enemies with identical tattoos. However you do it, this sort of planning ahead gives your players something to think about and look forward to as your adventure unfolds.
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