Many Dungeons and Dragons players get caught up in the quest for treasure and level advancement, which is understandable as these are primary goals of the game.  However, there are other ways to gain an edge in the game.

 

• Min/Maxing.  Careful character building can give you a serious edge over non-optimized characters.  Taking training in the perception skill while maximizing your wisdom score simply makes sense.  If you couple that with a feat that gives you a bonus, then you have effectively freed up an item slot from requiring a perception bonus.  This same principle can be applied to any skill, though it is important to understand your particular group and DM to know which skills will be the most important.
• Understand the direction of the campaign.  Some skills will be used session after session.  Some skills will sit there as unused numbers on your character sheet.  Nearly every dungeon has a secret door or two.  If you are playing a premade module, you can guarantee that there will be a couple of perception checks required.  If you are playing a more role-playing intensive campaign with diplomacy and intrigue, you may want to consider insight.  Similar arguments could be me made for most other skills.
• Play to your strengths.  All too often players will min/max their character, focusing on melee or ranged combat and then spend their time doing the complete opposite.  It doesn’t do you much good to max your insight skill if you don’t engage the NPC’s.  If you’ve maxed your stealth ability but charge into combat every encounter the points you’ve placed won’t do you much good.
• Help your party.  There are some items that can help nearly any character.  Other items are much better only in the hands of specific characters.  If you don’t need an item, don’t horde it.  If that ring could be used by the mage and you only need it as a spare, you may want to pass it along to increase the overall effectiveness of the party.  Sooner or later, in a well-balanced campaign, every party member will need to perform at their peak.
• Take advantage of terrain.  If there is a well in the middle of the room.  Push the bad guys into it.  No reason to face them in a straight fight if you don’t have to.
• Role-Play.  Towns and villages can be much more than just a quick stop for clues and shopping.  Milk every NPC for all the information you can find.  Many times the clues to walking unscathed through the encounter is waiting to be uncovered by talking.  Many times you will be able to convince someone to act as a guide or scout.  Having an NPC helper is worth more, in terms of power, than earning a level.  DM’s enjoy the interaction and will often reward an enjoyable role-playing exchange.

Paying attention to the details of the game outside of the advancement tables and treasure charts can pay big dividends.  Nobody likes to lose a character to an unfortunate combat incident or stray trap.  You can do a lot to avoid these tragedies by playing a smart game and taking advantage of all the resources presented.

 

As always, have fun!

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