Metagaming – everything that happens outside of the game – is going to happen.  There is nothing you can do as a player or DM to stop it.  Whether it is simply the players discussing what roles they want their characters to play in the upcoming campaign (in order to build a well-rounded party), or running out and buying every pre-made module in order to know the DM’s next move – metagaming will happen.

So what do you do about it?

There are a lot of options, and a lot of opinions.  Some say embrace it.  Most say fight it and put a stop to it.

My recommendation is to direct it, as comfortably as possible in a direction that fits your interests and tastes.  What I am talking about here is being as open and honest with your gaming group about what you feel is an appropriate level and type of metagaming.

If, at the table you prefer that everything be said in character, then let people know.  Perhaps propose that a session or a portion of a session is run according to your style.  By opening the discussion you are enabling the other players to bring out their opinion and increasing the likelihood that they will support your opinion.

If you fight it – especially in a confrontational manner I can pretty much guarantee that you will get nowhere.  Most likely you will frustrate and alienate other players.  At best you will get them to abide by your rules just long enough for them to find another game.

Welcome to Dungeons and Dragons Corner.

You can find Character Sheets Here.

You can enjoy more of my work by subscribing to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Did you like this post? Want More? Then subscribe to my RSS feed!

This is a problem for a number of players.  They believe that their DM is simply out to get them.

Real or imagined, this can be a huge problem for enjoying the game.  So what do you do?

Realistically, no matter the actual cause of the problem there is only one answer.  Talk about it.  Don’t be confrontational or a jerk.  Just bring up the problem and ask what is going on.

It is entirely probable that whatever the true source of the problem is has nothing to do with anything that you have considered to this point.  It is also highly probably that the problem can be easily resolved.

A lot of people make the mistake of whining about the problem instead of dealing with it and drag the baggage around for months or even years before quitting and finding a different game.  This is unnecessary.  Either the problem is easily resolved or it isn’t, but it will never be resolved until it is confronted.

Did you like this post? Want More? Then subscribe to my RSS feed!

There is a certain prejudice among some gamers against using pre-made adventures.  They are so cookie cutter that it begins to feel more like playing Monopoly than dungeons and dragons (not that Monopoly is a bad game).

As a Dungeon Master, however, pre-made campaigns and adventures can be huge time savers.  But to keep my players guessing here area a few tricks that I have use in the past.

·    Change the names of the NPC’s.  You would be surprised how effective this is.  Give the barkeep a name that fits your style and personality and the players will respond accordingly.
·    Use towns from your campaign world.  Scrap the whole starting village and put in one that comes from your world.  Put the useful clues where they would fit organically in your town and run with it.
·    Get rid of the adventure elements that don’t fit.  Just cut them out and move on with your life.  If you don’t need it don’t use it.
·    Use only the encounter information, i.e. stat blocks and get rid of the maps/set up information.  This is particularly useful for the outdoors encounters stuff.  The stuff that happens almost in town or between town and the dungeon.  A lot of times there is a ton of useless background information that has nothing to do with your campaign and your world, but the stats and combat info are good and can be quickly dropped into your personalized setting.
·    Add your own NPC’s.  This is very useful.  If, for example you have been facing the dread druid queen who seeks to enslave the world in a animal/hybrid paradise then introduce some of her minions into the premade.  Swap out an encounter or two.  Change the big bad bosses name.

Keep the elements that make sense – in particular maps, monster statistics, names that you like etc. Any unique magic items or encounters made just for that adventure are often very useful because they tend to add a ton of flavor.

Did you like this post? Want More? Then subscribe to my RSS feed!

One of the basics of survival in any combat oriented rpg is to kill the bad guys.  In Dungeons and Dragons there are nearly limitless ways of accomplishing this task, and the less work that your character has to put into it the better.

Online D&D forums are full of all kinds of hints and tips about how to maximize your ability to dish out the damage, but there is far less information about how to eliminate the painful necessity of doing damage at all.

If you are clinging to 3rd edition, you have a few more options here, but 4th edition also has plenty of room for strategy.  In some ways even more.

The first key to keep in mind is that unlike many computer games the bad guys to in fact damage each other.  One of the greater fears about spell casters and their ilk are area attacks that can take out the entire party at once.  Often these types are paired with minions or partners whose job it is to bunch the party together.

Your strategy in these situation should be to always make sure that as many enemies as possible are within all possible areas of effect.  In other words if the caster wants to hit any two party members they should also be forced to hit at least one of their own allies.  This is most easily accomplished by keeping an enemy between the party members.

Next, look for opportunities to force the monsters to use hazardous terrain or to provoke opportunity attacks.  If you have a decent rogue type along then few traps should surprise the party.  Knowing which squares to avoid makes combat not only less dangerous but can be used to your advantage.  Skills such as intimidate and bluff can be used to good effect.  Also, using ranged attacks and blocking the good squares with skillful fighters can force enemies to either risk hazerdous terrain or opportunity attacks or be picked apart mercilessly at a distance.

Finally, never forget about compulsion effects.  3rd edition (and earlier) had many ways of taking control of an encounter.  These can be very powerful effects, starting at first level with charm person.  If you do manage to take control of the enemy, abuse the power mercilessly.  Lesser effects such as suggestion and charm person won’t allow you to cause an enemy to attack an ally or damage himself, but can be used to maneuver them into more vulnerable positions or to trigger traps of which they are not aware.

Always keep in mind that just like a real combat, D&D encounters are more than dice and numbers and the outcome can be swayed very quickly by using strategy and good jugment.

And be sure to have fun!

Did you like this post? Want More? Then subscribe to my RSS feed!

As a DM I’m generally opposed to metagaming – that is all of the game stuff that goes on outside of the game.  As a player the same generally holds true.  However there is one specific instance when I think it is not only okay, but can be very valuable.

When metagaming prevents the game from coming to a complete and total standstill.

When a designer sits down and builds a dungeon they generally have a concept in their head of how the dungeon is going to play out.  For less experienced designers, such as new DM’s, this can lead to some very severe problems such as unsolvable puzzles or overwhelming (or underwhelming) monsters.

In particular this can lead to the problem of where the dungeon itself causes the game to come to a halt.  The party lacks a critical resource to solve some aspect or the dungeon.

In these cases metagaming – i.e. using clues about the designer of the dungeon to figure out the dungeon can be helpful – not only because it generally will lead to loot and experience but because it can take a gaming session from frustrating and boring to interesting and exciting.

One example from my own play experience would be a rather long and uninteresting maze-like dungeon with roughly 2 encounters in it.  Rather than slog our way through it, continuing a session that was going from boring to more boring, my compadres and I decided that the DM in all likelihood based on her personal tastes had very little in the way of serious campaign related material hidden in the dungeon.  We therefore decided to stop searching every little nook and cranny and just looked for the way out which it turns out wasn’t that hard to find.  A short time later we were back down the path of interactive fun.

It took some metagaming and us stepping outside of what we as players and what our characters would normally do, but if we hadn’t we would literally have spent hours doing activities that no one at the table would have enjoyed.

Did you like this post? Want More? Then subscribe to my RSS feed!

Have you played a dwarf lately?  If you have then you may need a name for that dwarf.  His is a dwarven name generator that I find handy sometimes.  It is also useful for making up a list of dwarven names for NPCs which is especially useful if you know the party is going to be heading into a dwarf city or other area populated by dwarves.

Over at Seventh Sanctum there are generators for lots of different things and I like to use them from time to time.

Here is a dwarven name generator that only does one name at a time, but it also gives a bit of information about the name and how it could be used.  This is probably more useful for Players than for DM’s, but both are excellent tools if you need a name quickly or if you just don’t know where to come up with cool names on your own.

Did you like this post? Want More? Then subscribe to my RSS feed!

Picking a good Dungeons and Dragons name for your character, whether a PC or an NPC can be a challenge.  For run of the mill NPC’s there are name generators available that can help with the task, but if you are making the boss that will appear over and over again throughout then finding the right name can make a world of difference to the players.  Likewise if you have spent time creating a character then the name is something you will have to live with for a very long time.

Here are some basic traits that a good name has:

1. It is memorable.  If you have to refer back to your notes two and three times then it is probably not memorable enough.  Memorable names can be short or long.
2. Short.  A short name is easy to remember and comes essentially as its own build in nickname.
3. Nicknames.  Does the name lend itself to more memorable nick names.  We all enjoy making fun of the bad guys.  The Count of All Evilness isn’t as scary as Lord Heartripper, no does it lend itself to mocking nicknames such as Heartripper the Stripper - soon to become just Lord Stripper and perhaps even Strip.
4. Meaning.  Does the name convey meaning that is relevant to the personality of the character?  A good Dungeons and Dragons name should give a hint about the purpose of that that character.  Often this can be accomplished using a compound name with a noun and a verb.  Swordwrencher could be a fine surname for a fighter who specializes in disarm tactics.

A Dungeons and Dragons name is not the same as choosing a name for a character in a short story or a novel.  Names for stories do not generally convey the same overt level of meaning because the author doesn’t want to give away too much.  In a game clues are much more necessary and often they need to be given a bit louder.  The DM needs to know how to treat your charcter in a social situation and the name can be a big help with that. Likewise players would generally rather face off against the goblin king Rancid Ashenforce than Bob the goblin.

Did you like this post? Want More? Then subscribe to my RSS feed!