Ok, if you’ve read my information on making encounter cards, and have read my information on making monster cards, and have followed it, then this is really the easiest way to run any campaign. In fact, it means you don’t have to do ANY other preparation work whatsoever and can still have a great time. And the best part is: the players will never know the difference.

So, you went out and spent 40 bucks on the latest zero to thirty level pre-made campaign. You have a couple of great dungeons. You’ve started the PC’s off in a cool town and dropped all the hints you could. You even gave them a map to the dungeon AND told them about the treasure on level two. But those jerks decide to go wandering in the hills for the next thirteen sessions “looking for something to do.”

Enter encounter swapping.

I assume at this point that sitting at your side is a pile of encounter cards, all dutifully prepared from the premade campaign (though really once you get the hang of it you can do it yourself in less time). Each of them represents a block of XP and treasure, as well as some interesting NPC’s. All you have to do is hit the party with these encounters, adjusting names as necessary and dropping hints that the party really should go to the dungeon.

If you think of those goblins in room one not as the servants of Borath the Butt-Ugly, but as 125 XP and 25 GP the party need, this becomes much simpler. During the first day of travel the party will run into the cousins of Borath the Butt-Ugly delivering a message to him. Simply remove encounter 1 from the dungeon.

Down the road a few miles they will run into Borath’s other cousins. If they keep it up they will eventually run into Borath’s twin brother Dorath the Drop Dead Gorgeous.

Eventually, of course, you will run out of encounters from that dungeon. What do you do? Move on to the next dungeon, of course. What if the PC’s go back to that dungeon later? You have a couple of options here.

1. Play the dungeon as is (always makes for a good dose of déjà-vu)
2. Remove the dungeon entirely. Oh no, an earthquake ate it.
3. Continue the swapping madness. Now instead of goblins there are orcs there.

Just be sure to have your handy pile of encounters at your side and you’ll never have to worry where the PC’s go or what they do. Their balanced level progression is guaranteed. Which is seriously important. One of the quickest ways for a party to get completely un-balanced in game terms is for a DM to start throwing ad-hoc encounters together. Many players know this and will exploit it. So do a little prep work and save yourself the headaches later.

As always, enjoy the game.

Welcome back to Dungeons and Dragons Corner.

You can find Character Sheets Here.

Feel free to make a Paypal Donation to support Dungeons and Dragons Corner!

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

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!

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