Local area encounters can be spiced up by using small variations in terrain.  Overland travel can become its own encounter by providing different types of terrain for the characters to traverse.

Overland travel can really make a session interesting.  Travelling through a desert where temperatures fluctuate throughout the day and night provides for unique challenges.  Combine that with a lack of water, food and other resources, and the characters will be in a position to do more than hack and slash at the nearest enemy.

Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and forest fires can all also change up the scenario quite a bit.  Often these kinds of natural disasters are too much for low level parties to handle.  Mid-level parties generally have the resources to deal with these sorts of problems though they can be a test.  At higher levels, fighting dragons in hurricanes in swampland with danger from multiple sources makes things more interesting than yet another dungeon encounter.

Mix terrain with weather, disasters and clever monsters that use the terrain to their advantage and you have a recipe for something interesting and challenging.

Have fun with it!

Welcome back to Dungeons and Dragons Corner.

You can find Character Sheets Here.

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

For those of you who’ve been in the game for a number of years this is a throw back to nostalgia.  For those of you new to the game, well welcome to some of my earliest gaming memories re-done 4th edition style.

I’m sure I’m not the only one out there doing updates and retakes on old modules, but this should interest you anyway.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting my changes and updates to Module B2 Keep on The Borderlands, published for Basic Dungeons and Dragons, in 1981.  I doubt that the majority of the readers have the module or access to it, but no need to worry.  I’ll post revised maps, encounter information and all that.  Though I do recommend that if you can get a copy that you do so.  I had a ton of fun re-reading it.

First a bit of background.  This module (like many others put out in the early days) was more of a framework than a complete story.  It has a couple of interesting locations, some hints at possible story arcs, some maps, and some monsters and traps.  What it doesn’t have are fleshed out NPC’s, or a story tied to a larger campaign.

What I’ve done is to redo the encounters into my own personal campaign while maintaining as much as possible the original flavor.  I’ve redone the maps, and fleshed out NPC’s.  I’ll post all of this here, and as I get feedback I’ll make changes that make sense and eventually compile it together as a downloadable .pdf.

Part 1: The Keep

Drell’s Keep was recently re-established on the borders between Cormyr and Netheril by Kavmen Drell.  Lord Drell was awarded this post for his unfailing performance of his duty during the recent troubles with Netheril.  He has been ordered to secure and rebuild the keep and to establish it as an outpost and restocking station.  In order to accomplish this Lord Drell understands that he will have to find some long term resources rather than continue to rely on irregular supplies from Cormyr.

Location: Drell’s Keep is located in the foothills of the Storm Horns near the Stonelands near Netheril.  The exact location can, of course, be applied to any campaign.  I use forgotten realms because I like it.  The keep was originally built centuries ago in motte and bailey style, and is located on a low hill.  There is one road going up the hill and only one gate in.

The area surrounding the keep is a series of low valleys and hills.  The river Shrill, a relatively small river runs out of the mountains into the Stonelands.  The ruins of an ancient abbey lie on a hill across the river, though Lord Drell has no interest in the abbey at this time because it appears to be relatively calm.  More pressing are the caves only a few miles away in a nearby valley.  Scouts have confirmed that these caves are inhabited by various humanoids.  At least two scouts have not returned, and the area is considered to be dangerous.

The map on page 15 of the module shows more or less the general area that the keep occupies.  I didn’t redo the map of the general area because the one in the module is adequate.

Map of Drell’s Keep Wilderness.

Background and History for the DM:

Drell is a good man and an excellent leader.  He is also highly ambitious, though thoroughly loyal to Cormyr.  He hopes that he can draw enough followers here to build a thriving town.  Unfortunately he knows that in order to build a town he will have to encourage industry.  There is lumber in abundance, and he has plans for a sawmill.  Iron, however, still has to be brought in.  The humanoids in the area have been seen using crude iron weapons.  Old trappers tell about mines that used to operate in the past, but which were taken over by raiders.  He would like to clear out the caves and begin mining operations again.

Furs are also available in abundance, but the kobolds and goblins continually raid the trappers.  He is not willing to risk taking his forces out in strength against any single group for fear of reprisals.  He is willing to hire a party of adventurers to either eliminate or negotiate a peace with the various humanoid races that occupy the caves of chaos.

The bottom line is that Drell will have to clear out the caves in order to establish any kind of base.  He has received permission to commission an adventuring group and is willing to pay them 5 gold per right ear of any orc, kobold, gnoll, or goblinoid.  If there are hostiles in the abbey across the river they have not crossed the river to cause problems and can be ignored for the present.

The caves are occupied by refugees from different spellplagued outlying regions.  Small families of gnolls, goblins, kobolds, orcs, bugears, and hobgoblins all fled here when their original homelands were destroyed by various other large forces.  Individual motives and ambitions are given in with their individual sections.  The other major force is the domain of Simiobolt Hold, a priest of Cyric.  Because the followers of Cyric have been outlawed and pursued by most, Simiobolt has come here to find peace and to recruit followers.  Simiobolt has discovered that the keep is occupied again, and has sent his servants to find more information.  Until now Kavmen Drell is unaware of Simiobolt’s presence, though he would eradicate the priest if he knew of his activities.

These rules are posted at the entrance of the keep, as well as on the wall near all government buildings.

1.    The gate is closed after dark.  It is opened for nobody.
2.    Cursing in public. Fine 1 sp.
3.    Spitting in public. Fine 1 sp.
4.    Loitering. Fine 1 sp.
5.    Public drunkenness. Fine 2 sp.
6.    Public indecency. Fine 2 sp.
7.    Brawling. Fine 5 sp.
8.    Use of weapons to commit violence.  Fine 1 gp
9.    Use of magic without authorization. Fine 10 gp
10.    All persons not registered as permanent residents shall be able to provide proof of employment or purpose to remain more than 3 days within the keep.

More to come later …

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

So the party decided to go off in a completely unexpected direction.  Is this the end of the world?  No.  Is it inconvenient?  Maybe.  Can it be solved easily?  Yes.

Remember that in a game as open ended as Dungeons and Dragons, there is no such thing as the “wrong way.”  There are unexpected directions and events.  There are unplanned and unprepared areas, but there is not a “wrong way.”

Dealing with the unexpected is an art that can really only be learned by doing, but it isn’t that difficult to get the hang of it.  Understanding the elements of an encounter can help.

Encounters have 4 essential components.

-People
-Place
-Thing

So far sounds like the elementary school definition of a noun.  But the fourth element is probably the most important.

-Purpose

Getting the people, places, and things together are the bits that make encounters difficult.  These have to be prepared ahead of time.  It takes too much game time and effort to pull together the statistics of monsters on the fly.  Players can get bored pretty quickly while they are waiting for you to pull together the stats of that big red dragon.

So prepare ahead of time.

There are some things you can prepare ahead of time and some things you can’t.  In the manufacturing world there are things that can be done while the machine is running and things that can’t – this is referred to as internal and external setup for those of you keeping tabs.  The idea is the same in a game situation.  There are things you can prepare ahead of time and some things you can’t.  Doing as much ahead of time as possible will save you headaches later.

So what can you prepare ahead of time?

-Purpose.  This is crucial.  There had better be a purpose to whatever happens, and it is up to the DM to decide this.  So figure it out ahead of time.  Without this you are just playing a mini’s battle game, not an RPG.
-Things.  The stuff that the NPC’s have.  All of the key items – the stuff relating to the purpose should also be prepared ahead of time.  In most cases things won’t alter the people they are with.  Just stick it in a trapped box and the box then can be put in any encounter you want.
-Place.  You don’t get to pick the place.  The players do.  But you do get to pick which choices the players have.  I generally divide my encounters into a couple of categories.  Either they will happen in a dungeon, outdoors, or in a town.  What do I prepare ahead of time?  The dungeon map, a couple of outdoor encounter maps, and the town.  In any given session (even a really long session) it is pretty difficult for a party to visit more than one dungeon or town and do much more than knock on a few doors.

That leaves us with people.  Some people are more key than others.  Random XP fodder can be prepared pretty easily.  Use the monster manual or download monster cards and there you have it.  Make sure that the encounter fits your purpose and you have it.

Some people need more details.  These are the key NPC’s that you spend time crafting and really want the characters to interact with.  Generally when a party goes “the wrong way” it means that they have chosen not to meet the NPC’s you wanted them to meet in the place you wanted them to meet at the time you wanted them to meet.  Get over it.

If you really want the interaction of those NPC’s, then move the people to a different place.  Keep the purpose and the things the same and the players will not know the difference.

The trick here is that the 4 elements of an encounter can all be swapped out at any time.  An encounter’s purpose can be altered simply by the actions of the NPC’s.  The people can be altered by swapping out one stack of stat cards with another.  The things can be swapped out just as easily.

Make sure that all of the elements are prepared individually, without context, and add the context during the game.  The end result will be encounters that do not lack crucial elements and that don’t take extensive time to set up during the game.

If you happen to be lucky enough to have your players right where you want them, then even better.  No changes are necessary and you get to enjoy everything just the way you planned it!

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