Creating suspense in a game session is a matter of creating risk for the players.  There are several kinds of risk that are valuable to different players.  The most common is danger to the characters, but other kinds of risk can also be important.  Loss of riches.  Potential gain can also create suspense.

Once you have decided on a type of risk, then the level of risk needs to be set correctly.  An overwhelming risk – such as a Red Dragon at level one is overwhelming and feels more like insanity than suspense.  If the risk is too low again it doesn’t feel like risk.  Typically the risk should feel slightly beyond the capabilities of the party.  Something that will cause a stretch for them, but which will be worth it in the end.

Presenting the risk in a meaningful way is also very important.  The presentation must be geared to the players as well as the characters.  Different players value different aspects of the game.  Some appreciate the excitement of combat – others like mysteries and role playing.  Present the risk in a way that appeals to the various players in the group.

Welcome back to Dungeons and Dragons Corner.

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When it comes to designing adventures, one of the hang ups can be finding a place to start.

Building individual components isn’t necessarily all that difficult.  Putting together a monster with a treasure packet is a fairly simple process.  Making a story that makes some degree of sense can be a bit more difficult – especially if the players decide not to play along.

Building a setting around a fantasy story that you like – a book, a movie, a game – can be an excellent way to build flavor into your game without stressing yourself.

My main rule of thumb when designing this way is – Keep the setting; make new characters.

The look and feel of a world, the kinds of creatures found there and their habits add a lot of flavor.  Keep these elements and the players will almost instantly recognize where they are and how they are supposed to act.

By eliminating over-familiar characters and plot devices the players will be able to find their own adventures.  If there is a personality in the story that you liked a lot, then go ahead and have that personality – but change some aspect.  Change the name, the location, or clue that they are guarding.  Changing these aspects of the characters will keep the players guessing as to what is coming next.

Taking multiple elements from different stories is an easy way to build in originality.  If you enjoy watching mysteries, then take elements from a modern mystery and apply it to your world.  A serial killer that needs to be caught might use magic instead of weapons.  The flavor and feel of the mystery are the same, but can be applied to your universe and given a unique spin.

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Ok, here’s a tough one for more experienced players. So many times you get set to start a new campaign, and it turns out to be the most boring session ever.

DM: Your all in a tavern in a village in the hills, and you hear a rumor about a treasure in a dungeon.

It’s the cliché of all clichés. And as a player, I got bored of it pretty quick. One of the first things I learned to do (as a player) was to ignore whatever background glop the DM tried to feed me and proceed with my own antics in the inn and/or village, thence forcing the DM to come up with all sorts of nonsense on the fly. Now would be a good time to mention that many DM’s don’t like me as a player.

The point is I got bored. Bored players are dangerous players. They are dangerous to themselves, each other, and the DM, and they can wreck a session fast. Worse, they can wreck an entire campaign.

So, start things off with something original.

I generally run a weekly game, and when starting with a new party, or even with just a new character, I give my players a deadline, usually a few days before their first session to provide me a bit of background for the character they will play.

Guess what, 99% of the time they do absolutely nothing.

Which is why I proceed to give them a background. This is usually only a paragraph or two of information, and I try to keep the character specific stuff to a minimum.

Now, if you happen to have oodles of time, you can do a little pre-role-playing with your players. This is generally done individually, and is something I like to handle through instant messenger or email. It allows the player to ask some generic questions about the opening setting, and gets rid of much of that boring opening monologue.

Now, when you actually start the session, remember it is ok to start the party separately. If one character is in the town guard and some of them are just passing adventurers, then one or the other won’t have much to do for the first bit, that’s ok. Tell them to sit tight and you’ll get to them. A word of caution. DO NOT do this with a new player (either new to the game or new to you). Get them involved immediately. But if your group has played together before, you know who you can put on hold and who you can’t ignore.

Here are some alternatives to starting at the inn and overloading with monologue.

• Start them in the dungeon. (Was the party captured? Are they in the king’s fortress that is being assaulted?) There is nothing like a captive audience.
• Start them out in combat. No, they don’t necessarily have to be on the same team. Keep on the Shadowfell calls for an opening kobold ambush. What happens if that ambush is the start of the game, and the party is approaching the ambush from different sides and the players don’t know each other to begin with? Nothing grabs your players’ attention faster than opening the first session with the two simple words “roll initiative.” Then place their minis for them and off you go.
• If you don’t want to be so forceful, you can try grouping the party together in a way that makes sense. Two of them are town guards, one of them is the village priestess, another runs an apothecary, and the last was just attacked by orcs on the way to town. Together they join up to help this poor soul out.

The point is to be as imaginative as possible. Do your best to avoid that slow time during the first session where nobody really has anything to do.

And as always, have fun!

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Have you ever heard someone talk about a past gaming session and say “that was an awesome monologue the DM gave about his character in dnd”?

Um, neither have I.

I have already written an article about spicing up the initial session. Today I’m talking about the rest of the sessions.

As a player there are several things I don’t really remember very well, or that I remember as bad things.

* Monologues
* Pointless Puzzles
* Minions
* Room Descriptions
* Other player’s characters (most of them anyway).
* Names of useless NPC’s
* Things my character didn’t do.

Today I’m dealing with that time during the session where you want to share your new creative writing attempt with the party.  You’ve spent weeks (months? years? decades?) developing your cool campaign. You eschew all pre-made material. You have a child born of your thought and you finally have a chance to deliver it.

And all those stupid players can think about is phat lootz.

One of the hard parts about being a DM is that most of what you do nobody will ever see, hear, or care about. So try not to get frustrated when nobody wants to hear you tell a story.

The players aren’t there to hear a story. They are there to DO things. To act and be acted upon. The memorable moments come when they get to kill a particularly nasty foe or make a daring escape. When the party is being stalked through a dark forest and they manage to lure the enemy out and finally crush it, that is memorable. Hearing the DM’s history of that haunted forest and how it was once controlled by an irrelevant long dead noble who now has nothing to do with the campaign is not usually as much fun.

As a player I really don’t care, not unless it really does have to do with the campaign. If that noble is now a lich controlling a cabal of evil druids then yes, I want to know. However, I think I would rather find out in a meaningful way. A scrap of a history book rescued from a fire and handed to me as a nifty handout, or a bit of poem recited once.

If the players want more, they will ask for it. If they don’t ask, they probably don’t feel it is relevant, and that should be a pretty big hint about how you as a DM are doing. If they aren’t interested in what you think they should be interested in, then may it isn’t interesting after all.

Try shifting gears a bit. Don’t be afraid to sit quietly and let them decide where they want to go and drop the relevant hints along the way.

Above all, enjoy yourself!

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Let me preface this post with a link to a post on the WOTC D&D Forums.

Link

This is a wonderful concept, and the downloads (which you can find in the post) are exceptional.

A lot of times it can be difficult to get a seed started to generate ideas from. A randomly generated back story is a great way to get the juices flowing, even if you end up rejecting some of the generated information.

It works pretty well in conjunction with the ideas that I presented here and here about developing a character when you don’t know what character to play.  Once you have a basic idea of where the character is going it becomes much easier to put together the details in terms of rules and mechanics.

The beauty of a random back story is that it doesn’t really matter what system you are playing because it is really all about developing the flavor of the character that you are going to be playing.  In any relatively balanced system the class or path that you choose shouldn’t affect your character’s ability to be successful, but many players find it difficult to be successful with a character that they don’t enjoy.  Getting a story behind a character that a player can enjoy is a huge step forward towards playing a successful, interesting character.

Check it out and have fun!

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Every campaign has monsters and treasure.  Even the most plot driven campaign will have things to kill and loot to grab.  That doesn’t mean that combat is the only thing.

A part of Dungeons and Dragons is the story.  For many players and Dungeon Masters the story is the big part.  It is the reason they started playing in the first place.

As greed sets in, however, many players lose sight of the story.  While the story does not necessarily need to be the center of the entertainment, for many players it is still very important.  One of the most common complaints I hear is that one player or another refuses to play to the story.

While there is no need to cling blindly to any DM’s plot, it is a good idea to pay attention to and find enjoyment in the story as it unfolds.  What are the clues that are being given away early on?  Where will they lead?  Often the story elements are tied closely to the most powerful magic items and most interesting NPC’s.

When the DM introduces a particularly interesting person, sit up and pay attention.  Take a moment to enjoy a good role-playing exchange.  If you can, try to step outside of yourself a little and play your character as well.  As you get into the story, the events of the campaign will have more meaning for you as a player, and the long journey up the level ladder will become more enjoyable.

Watch out for players who want to enjoy the story.  Pay attention to their needs.  For these people, combat encounters can be drudgery.  Even the reward of loot doesn’t mean much.  When their moment to shine comes, usually in town and outside of combat, give them the time they need to play up their character.  Most of the memorable moments in my role-playing career happened outside of combat.  These moments can help cement friendships, and often are what keep players coming back in-spite of other poor outcomes in the game.

As always, enjoy your next Dungeons and Dragons session

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Telling the story in a role-playing setting is tricky business.  When you pick up a book, you understand that the author is in complete control.  You will go where she takes you and have no control over any of the action or characters.

The DM/Player relationship is not the same as an Author/Reader relationship.  Some of the same principles apply, and some are completely different.

The elements of a good story include (but are not limited to):

• An interesting plot
• Memorable, multi-dimensional characters
• Interactions between those characters

 We’ll get to plot in a minute.

By definition Dungeons and Dragons and pretty much any other role-playing game will have characters.  If the people you play with are as much fun as the people I play with then those characters will be memorable.

But the players are only a handful of characters in a rich world that can have dozens even millions of characters.  As a DM you have to make those characters memorable.  This means giving them personality and depth.  Does that innkeeper just automatically bring what is ordered or does he do it with a snarl?  Is he racist against elves?  Is he in love with dragonborn?  Does that shopkeeper always talk that way or are those allergies?  Why does she keep a vase of violets on the counter?

Once the characters are interesting, they have to interact with the players.  This interaction can be physical, verbal, emotional, etc.  Don’t be afraid to spend time dialoguing with the players in-persona.  Don’t be afraid to avoid a combat altogether so that the cowardly goblins can back out of a combat.  If everyone the bad guys all jump to the attack and the good guys all act as money-changers the game can grow stale quickly.

The players will remember the story element of that goblin who talked his way out of a fight long after they kill his buddies.

Finally, a word on plot.  Plot is far less important in a role-playing setting than in a novel or short story.  If you have interesting characters and interesting interactions, the thinnest of plot lines will engage your group for hours.  In fact, some of the least memorable and least interesting sessions happen when the DM tries to bury the players in the plot rather than letting them grow into the story.

Have a great game!

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