Tagged Questions
22
votes
15answers
2k views
In D&D, A PC became king. How do I keep him in check?
I'm running a D&D 4e campaign. There, a player has worked very hard and somehow tricked me into becoming a king of an evil kingdom. Good for him; he deserves it. However, how do I keep him from:
...
4
votes
2answers
177 views
Evolving a region from war torn to merchant hub
Currently in my planning for my campaign I have a desert region that would make for a great way to travel, except tribes of Monkeys are at war. One side quest I have planned out has the players end ...
10
votes
7answers
430 views
Ending combat: should I “kill” monsters prematurely?
Out of time constraints (my group can generally only meet for 3-4 hours every other week), as a GM I frequently find myself prematurely "killing" off monsters when it seems clear to me that the ...
9
votes
4answers
310 views
Making epic combat interesting and challenging but not complicated
I'm running up on the tail end of a year-and-a-half 4e campaign, and epic levels are exhausting to GM. Everyone has more weird powers than you can shake a dragon at, and that includes the NPCs ...
10
votes
5answers
307 views
How to go from a humorous campaign to a more serious one?
I am currently running a D&D 4E game. The game started off kind of goofy (we have a thrikreen rogue with glowing blonde hair, an ale-obsessed dwarf battlemind, a ditzy human wizard, and a dwarf ...
14
votes
2answers
268 views
How can I make diseases non-trivial?
As noted here, diseases in 4e seem more trivial than I think they were intended: they rarely last more than one increment!
What rules can I make/break, or what actions can I take, so that contracting ...
6
votes
2answers
202 views
Increasing experience gain in session
I want to increase the experience gain per game season for several reasons:
My group does not play too often, something like once a month, therefore some players seem to loose sense of achievement ...
15
votes
4answers
500 views
What should a DM do if a player wants to do something impossible?
If a player wants to do something a little out of the ordinary such as punching down a wall with his bare fists, what should I do? Do I make a DC for it? Do I make it so that no matter how much he ...
5
votes
4answers
284 views
How do I deal with absent players?
If a player is absent and nobody chooses to play this absent character and instead I let it vanish for a while with a suitable reason or excuse, does this missing player gain levels and XP with the ...
8
votes
5answers
380 views
How do I reduce the number of encounters in D&D 4E without reducing the difficulty?
4E is setup very well for long chains of battles, especially in the form of a dungeon crawl. However, sometimes it doesn't make sense to constantly be in chains of combat. Here are but a few examples:
...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Standard monster tactics for 4E D&D combat
In a similar vein to a question on tactics sources, I'm interested in knowing what are common tactics for monsters to use. The DMB and the MV mention monster groups, which are very useful, but I want ...
13
votes
8answers
543 views
Non-magical encounter suggestions
I'm once again turning to the good folks at Stack Exchange for help regarding my non-magical campaign. I've written several encounters in which the PCs fight the main bad guys and their followers ...
21
votes
7answers
2k views
How do I use Passive Perception to have some characters notice parts of the environment?
I'm new to DM'ing and have an issue I'm not sure how to deal with. The situation is this: It's pitch black outside and the PC is walking, with a lantern in hand, toward a building. A bird is ...
21
votes
9answers
2k views
Traps specifically for Smart characters
Does anyone have examples or suggestions on creating traps that are harder for Smart (High INT/WIS) characters?
Example: My NPC necromancer has set up his lair. In his arrogance he believes that ...
15
votes
8answers
693 views
My necromancer keeps dying (and can't raise himself)!
Sometimes in the course of running an adventure you will run into an encounter that calls for a summoner to bring on a horde of undead (often minions).
I have a simple problem: My summoners die in ...
17
votes
5answers
413 views
How do I make a single combat in a day challenging and interesting?
4e is a game of resource attrition. I can't find the quote in DMG right now, but from memory and experience, it works best with about 3-5 combat encounters in an adventuring day. That way, some of the ...
9
votes
3answers
172 views
How can I import the natural suspense and tension from a game of Dread into a game of D&D?
In Dread the game naturally lends itself to suspenseful play. As the game progresses the tower gets more wobbly and tension builds naturally due to the game's mechanics. I'd like to somehow bring this ...
22
votes
3answers
574 views
How to implement a stealth based instant-kill system
I've been playing 4e for a few months now and I'm really interested in creating a dungeon crawl in which the PCs can choose to stealthily kill off certain monsters before they are able to alert other ...
6
votes
3answers
127 views
How do I re-use a module?
I have a very small group of people to play DnD with. (2 people not including myself right now, trying to convince a 3rd)
Before I left to this DnD free zone, I got a bunch of starter packs with ...
6
votes
4answers
272 views
What are the steps that you as GM's and PC's take to develop a Level 1 character?
This is for the basic character creation at level 1.
I know the PHB goes into some detail on character creation and the steps for doing so.
What I want to know is how you as GMs or players create ...
8
votes
2answers
535 views
How do I run a single player 4e essentials game? Drow Hunter
I am trying to create a set of encounters for my wife. She will be playing a Drow Hunter (controller) from the Essentials line of DnD 4e.
I'm looking for advice on how to make encounters (2 levels ...
3
votes
3answers
2k views
How do you as GM's level/de-level monsters in adventures that are premade
I am getting ready to start a new campaign that was made for higher level characters.
I want to use the campaign but want to lower the monster levels and may want to raise monster levels inthe future. ...
12
votes
3answers
330 views
Non-combat objective: Delay larger enemy force
I'm re-writing the "Battle of Albridge" encounters from The DM-kit's Reavers of Harkenwold. As supplied they are mostly just a rehash of earlier fight-to-the-death skirmishes on re-used maps. Instead ...
21
votes
6answers
666 views
What GM tasks can be delegated to players to speed up encounters?
My party's encounters (D&D4e - 13th level) take on average 3-4 hours. We chit chat a lot and are pretty easily distracted, and it's not a huge deal because we're all having fun. But lately we've ...
8
votes
3answers
661 views
How can I successfully run one-on-one adventures in D&D 4E?
It seems clear that 4E really wants the party to have at least four PCs, so that all four roles can be covered. The official rules give tips on what to do when you can only have three PCs, but when ...
11
votes
6answers
530 views
Out-Of-Control Characters
As I review the suggestions the DMG (pg32) has I wonder what other suggestions that realistic.
I know that if a player is out of control (ie: killing masses for no reason) a DM would send Imperial ...
11
votes
5answers
478 views
What can be done to encourage players/character to use rituals more?
An on going issue I have is with my players is that they leave a very large amount of power untapped in the arsenal of things they can do, namely rituals.
As a DM I use them all the time, but the ...
7
votes
6answers
198 views
What are good techniques help remember the interrupts of DND 4e monsters?
For new and experienced 4e DM's alike, a recurring challenge is activating all of the appropriate interrupt powers on monster sheets. It gets really easy to miss something when solo monsters can have ...
8
votes
7answers
355 views
What techniques are there for balancing power gamers with story gamers in D&D 4E?
In my current D&D 4E game, I have a fairly large number of players with differing preferences for play style. As they have progressed through levels, differences between the characters with ...
13
votes
7answers
335 views
What major differences are there between convention DMing and home DMing?
I've been DMing for a while in 4th edition D&D, but I've only been DMing for Living Forgotten Realms and D&D Encounters. Now I'm thinking of starting to do some home games in various systems. ...
18
votes
5answers
359 views
How do I run a game for a larger group?
I am currently running a Dungeons and Dragons 4 campaign for a group of 9 players. Whittling the group down to a more manageable size is not really an option since they are all family. When we do ...
