How I DM: Feb 2013 - Eberron Ed.

As mentioned earlier this week, I ran a game last Friday night for six friends. The D&D Next play test was the rule set of choice, but we would have had fun no matter what. We play at most once a month and we don't always run campaigns with a through line. Friday I decided I would kick off a brand new campaign though. A fun exercise, but a lot more leg work than continuing an ongoing campaign or running a one shot. World building is probably the hardest part, but couple that with encounter building, group dynamics, character backgrounds and it takes a lot of work to get a new campaign off the ground.

Eberron Next
Setting as it turns out is hard to convey. The burden of world building is a heavy one, so relying on a campaign setting is a nice short cut. Previously I ran a Dark Sun campaign that mostly felt Dark Sun-ish, but also occasionally presented problems. This time around I decided to try out Eberron. The linchpin behind it being a fantasy world that has gained technology through magic. That means airships powered by ancient elementals and automatons birthed from eldritch machines. Sounds great, but how do you fit it all in one night and not make the story feel cramped? I don't know that I did a great job or that any campaign setting can ever do a great job. Maybe it is me.

In any case I started out the night with a letter for each player on parchment and sealed with a wax skull (below). Each one bought the players together in the cloud city of Sharn. From their they escaped the city on an airship as it was destroyed by a vortex in the sky. Pirates attacked and blew up their elemental. The ship crashed in a jungle and they dungeon crawled their way to midnight.

 3D Terrain
For Friday night I took a decent portion of my prep time to put together 3D terrain. I have openly loved the idea of war gaming for almost a decade now, but hated it in practice. I like painting minis and would build a big permanent battlefield covered in flock in my sun room, but I don't want to regularly play a war game. So when I get a chance to work on terrain for my campaigns I jump at it. I work quick and sloppy, knowing that I will use it once and never again. The steps are as follows, I wish I had taken pictures along the way:

1. Materials: Purchase polystyrene insulated sheathing from a local hardware store. It is cheap and comes in lots of sizes and thicknesses. I bought a 4' x 8' sheet a year ago and still have plenty of it.
2. Cut and prep: I use a mix of tools for this work. A box cutter and x-acto knife for the basic shape, occasionally a medium sized bumpy stone to add texture and the back of a pen to slightly engrave a grid once I layout 1" dashes with a long ruler.
3. Prime: I have used a big brush and cheap acrylic paint in the past to do a quick base coat. I used a spray acrylic this time and in light passes it was fine. When I went hard in the paint though it started to melt the polystyrene. Which was not the intended result.
4. Dry brush and/or flock: I have done both, but dry brushing is easier/faster and gets great results. It makes the engraved grid stand out so the terrain does not impede the mechanical nature of combat resolution. Flocking does impede things a bit, but looks way cooler.

How I DM: Next Ed.

Friday night I ran my second play test of D&D Next. Since May of last year I have been batting around the idea of it in my head though. With very little D&D history to fall back on, I'm beholden to what I know about fourth edition (4E). It was the first system I learned, loved and made my own. It was and is a great system. It was marked by slow combat and weighed down by complexity  for complexities sake post the heroic tier though (levels 11-30).

My Dark Sun campaign probably suffered from a self imposed rapid progression. I adopted a level per game night rule instead of doling out XP. It was a mess of modifiers and option paralysis by the time they got to level 14. Pace of progression was something I could have managed better. The result at the table would be the same either way. Hour long encounters when we only had five hours a month to play.

Next

What I want out of Next is a simplified 4E rule set, something that Essentials barely scratched the surface of. What Next offers, right now, is pretty close to hitting that on the nose. It feels a lot like the former system, but without the stat inflation and less to tack on to the character sheet at every tier. There are of course balance issues. Friday night some at the table questioned the moderate difficulty check being set at 15 for all characters. Or level 1 spells that had no chance of hitting level 1 monsters (see: Sleep). Issues like these are just math problems though. It is after all a play test, you can just add and subtract your way to balance through trial and error. Right?

There are annoyances that I would like to see permanently dealt. For instance speed and range being communicated in feet. It is easy enough to do the math of 5 feet = 1 square on the grid, but it is annoying as well. When this reaches into to pre-made modules though it is down right frustrating. Over the summer I looked at a map that came with the play test, where 1 grid square = 10 feet. Which meant each square was a 2 x 2 matrix of 5 foot squares. It was a pain in the ass to transcribe to my actual grid. I'd think the reverse, communicating in grid squares, would be easy enough for "map of the mind" folks. While making the grid loving DM (me) a lot happier.

Finally the known unknowns are still unknown, in practice. By that confusing sentence, I mean the modular approach they are taking to satisfy "everyone". There will be a core rule set that seems to be represented by the current play test. Then there will be all kinds of additional rules to allow DMs to play the way they want. They have done a good job of communicating examples of those rule sets, but we have not seen them in the play test yet. Some will be easy enough to add and maintain balance and others will be add at your own risk. You could turn your game ass over teakettle if mixed without forethought. How these will play out as "official" options versus what a DM might have just home brewed any way is still unclear.

Next of Next
If they get the rules right. I am hoping and assuming they will. What I want next for Next is the modernization of the supporting resources. My players and I relied heavily on the web based character builder and compendium in 4E. The monster and encounter builder, where less than good though. What was missing from all the tools was proper mobile support. I want it all available on my iPad. Interactive character sheets, encounter tools and even the books. If they have to sell a physical book and pair it with an interactive digital download, for a few bucks more, than so be it. On Friday night every player that sat down at the table owned a smart phone, tablet or both. There were workarounds and third party tools last time, but nothing that add up to a great experience. I want it better this time.

How I DM: Skill Challenged

How I DM, is a series of articles that reflect back on my time as a dungeon master over the past year plus. I am currently DMing a Dark Sun 4e campaign for a group of friends and family. Today's article will focus on my use and experience with skill challenges.

I mentioned in the recap of my first Dark Sun game night that I was frustrated with the way skill challenges are presented by WotC. As a DM, who is still learning the ropes, I shied away from using them at first. I wasn't quiet clear on how they would fit into the story. My first attempt at using them was four or five game nights into the Bloodlines of Fate campaign I ran this past summer and fall.

Assuming that the company that puts out the game I run for my players knows what is fun. I ran it word for word like they write it. The group needed to get behind a tavern to stop a weapons deal a cult was brokering. So I presented them with a pass/fail criteria like every module I have seen come out of Dungeon magazine. Something to the effect of "you need to make six success rolls before three failures and here are the skills you can use to do that: 2x Stealth, 2x Bluff, etc...". My players were confused. I ended up explaining it two more times before they ever rolled a dice.

It didn't add to the story and felt shoe horned into the evenings other events. Afterward I determined that I must have been doing something wrong. So for the game this past Saturday I took the the approach of wrapping it in story. I started by letting my players know they had 3 days of rations each and that traveling to their destination would take 3 days. Each day I presented a scenario that was coupled with a skill check.

On the first day of your journey you all come across a fork in the path. One way leads into a valley and the other over a craggy slat flat. Go ahead and roll a nature check to determine what you might know about these two terrain types.

If they passed, they add no time to their trip. If they failed they would add a day to the trip and increase the chances of sickness or death by travelling without supplies. I allowed both trained and untrained rolls, but noted that any untrained failures would cancel out successes. It worked fine I guess, but still felt like it was not a part of the game or story. After that night I think I have finally determined where they fit and don't fit at my table.

During Combat
Using multiple skill checks or challenges during combat can build drama, risk and role play into an otherwise boring encounter. The best experience I have had with it are traps that round after round will damage the players until disabled. An arcane based trap that requires 3-4 successful skill checks before it is disabled forces a player to choose between killing creatures or deactivating a constant source of damage.  Better yet a trap that works like an alarm system. Allow it to go off long enough and it will bring more enemies to the fray.

During Role Play
This is how I always have understood skill checks. Want to lie to a town guard, skill check. Want information from the town drunk who isn't cooperating, skill check. It plays out naturally on it's on and usually falls to me to be reactive to player decisions. On occasion I have a few planned out ahead of time. E.g. A NPC will lie to the players and not reveal his/her true intentions unless they call him on it. If it takes away from the story or leaves out a crucial piece of information I might lead them to it. They usually are quick enough to ask on their own. "Can I roll insight to see if he is telling the truth".

Crammed Between
The formality of either announcing "this is a skill challenge" or putting book ends on the mechanic by changing tone is what makes them feel out of place. To my mind all of the fun that a formal skill challenge should offer is already covered by skill checks in combat and role play. So why have them at all? The more I think about their inclusion into 4e, the more I think they were added as a way to make sure skills got used. Not to justify the inclusions of skills, but as an easier way to present skill use to first time dungeon masters. It's a poor substitute for just integrating it into regular play.

How I DM: Bluntung

How I DM, is a series of articles that reflect back on my time as a dungeon master over the past year. I am currently DMing two different games, one on a virtual table top and a brand new local game. Today's article will focus on the building my first custom monster.

I mentioned previously that for the June edition of my meatspace D&D game I got the oppurtunity to create my own custom monster. Something I have toyed with in the past, but never gone whole hog with. The result was a creature that was fun to play and a minor challenge for my players.

Bluntug is the lieutenant of the Hand of Black in the area where my players are adventuring. When they first encountered him he was kneeling over a small pan of black slime and speaking to it. Upon learning of their presence he removed the upper portion of robes and revealed that his right arm was missing. He then kicked over the pan of ichor, filling the room with the liquid and forming a grotesque make shift arm out of it as well (see Hand of Black). Fun stuff to describe as the DM.

How I DM: Materials

How I DM, is a series of articles that reflect back on my time as a dungeon master over the past year. I am currently DMing two different games, one on a virtual table top and a brand new local game. Today's article will focus on the tangible materials I use to run my local campaign.

NPC Tokens
The one inch washer token tutorial linked above is the cheapest and best solution I have seen to date. I have made two sets so far and love the concept. Google images is a wash with concept art and deviantart accounts filled with great images for NPCs. The TokenTool was something I was already familiar with from my Virtual Tabletop game and Photoshop and I have been in love since 2000. Unless I hit the lottery and purchase a lot of D&D minis from ebay, these will be my go to for the foreseeable future.

Encounter Map - Battlemat
When I finally decided to have a go at a local game the first thing ordered was a dry erase Battlemat from Chessex. What came in the mail was a high quality map that I soon realized I could not draw on until the night of game. Which meant that I had to draw up my whole encounter in the span of twenty minutes right before my players arrived. It worked, but I was not entirely pleased with it. So now it has been given the role of random encounter map. Not all of my encounters will be planned out in great detail. If the party wants to take off into the wild on a whim there will be consequences and those will play out on the mat.

Encounter Map - Easel Pad
The link above is not the specific easel pad I picked up, but it is the same concept. I went to my local office supply store and picked up a 30 page pad because I wanted something more permanent. The above mentioned Battlemat is nice, but not being able to sit down the week before my game night and really take my time on the encounter map stinks. I employed colored pencils and a sharpie to create my most recent map and spent the better part of two hours doing so. It was time well spent.

Glass Counters
I have used these for a while now, even before I took on the role behind the screen. They are great for keeping track of multi-use spells (e.g. Healing Word) and spells that stack (e.g. Iron to Glass). As a DM though I have been using them as minions. Creating a token for every one hit point lackey in my game could be very time consuming. So toss a few glass beads around and you are good to go. I picked up the Chessex branded ones from my FLGS, but you could easily go to any craft or dollar store and get decorative glass beads for much cheaper.

Reaper Minis
The official D&D minis leave plenty to be desired, they are plastic, poorly painted and lack detail. So my players have all picked up their minis from Reaper. They are solid pewter, incredibly detailed and have tons of options to choose from. Thankfully for them I love painting minis and have volunteered to complete theirs. From a DM stand point using these as NPCs is an even pricier proposition than D&D minis. I do however have two completed Reaper minis I use as a player and plan to use as NPCs in my own game.

How I DM: Planning

How I DM, is a series of articles that reflect back on my time as a dungeon master over the past year. I am currently DMing two different games, one on a virtual table top and a brand new local game. Today's article will focus on the tools I use to plan my campaigns.

Google Documents
There is nothing more simple than the functionality offered up by Google Docs. It is essentially Microsoft Office in the cloud. Which means I can work on my campaign from home, work or where ever I find myself with free time. I write my outlines and notes in the word processor and store item and monster list in spreadsheets. A pen an paper could get the job done just as well, but this isn't the time of cavemen and dinosaurs.

Lovely Charts
I started off using Lovely Charts for plot flowcharts. Other tools are better and offer up similar functionality with the explicit purpose of campaign planning, but none that I know of do it on the web. As my plots and sub plots grow more complex I have started to create NPC relational charts as well. How does the lumberjack know the king's niece and the like.

D&D Compendium
Until very recently I was not a DDI subscriber, but I still used the compendium in my research of all things monster, item, trap, etc. Think of it as the near end all be all of D&D encyclopedias, but with better search. I just had to look up the specifics in my books once I found what I was looking for. Now I can do it all on the web and even print everything I'll be using for my game right off the site.

Asmor Tools
Where WotC falls short in encounter building and other helpful applications, Asmor picks up the slack. The Encounter Planner and Quartermaster specifically have been life savers on a few occasions.

Orokos Tools
Having a player base made up of adults with jobs, kids and spouses can make scheduling a free Friday night a nightmare. Role playing by email or at least attempting to can take the sting out of month(s) of down time. Orokos allows my players to share their characters sheets with me and keep a log of their dice rolls.

Obsidian Portal
The best place on the web to chronicle every detail of my games for my players and anyone else who is interested (does that person exist?). I make extensive use of the wiki page and do a write up on every game night. You would think it would be to jog my players memories, but sometimes I forget too.