Players are clever. They scheme, plan, plot and connive their way into and out of the most difficult situations we as the DM can create. This is especially true if you have players in your game who are tactically minded. I have the singular joy (and curse, at times) of playing D&D 4E with a group of real-life combat veterans. Some might call it metagaming, but in the encounters I run for them it just ends up being a simple fact: my players are incredibly tactically minded, and that translates especially well into a game like 4E. Because my players synergize and work as a well-oiled unit without even really thinking about it, I have had to “up my game” in order to keep the game challenging for them. Thus, I have developed a few tricks that I use to keep them on their toes. A recent series of encounters I ran demonstrates several of these minion tricks, so I will use them as examples.

Keep Them Guessing–Sometimes

Anybody who has run or played in more than a couple games of 4E knows that it’s pretty easy to recognize a minion unless the GM puts a great deal of effort into hiding them or disguising them as standard monsters. Once in a while it can be a good thing to put a bunch of visually identical (but statistically different) monsters on the board, and let the PCs figure out which is which by trial and error. However, this is a tactic that should be used with great caution. Most players who decide to use an encounter or daily power and find out they used it on a minion won’t be pleased. In an encounter designed around a theme of trickery or misdirection this can be a good thing, but more than once in a very great while will do nothing more than make your players resent you, and rightly so. The bad guys hoodwinking the characters is one thing—the GM hoodwinking the players is something else entirely. Use this tactic wisely.

Instead of deliberately misleading your players, use the tools in the Dungeon Master’s Guide (especially the second one) to build interesting encounters incorporating your minions. Find interesting ways of introducing them into the encounter. Invent creative abilities and powers or steal them from other monsters to make your minions tactically interesting. And finally, use the players’ expectations of minions to your advantage in how you use the little buggers tactically.

Introducing Your Minions

Spreading your minions out is a well-known means of keeping them from getting obliterated all at once. PCs with blast or burst powers are well-known as minion-killers. That’s part of what the Controller classes are especially good at. But the “spread them out” mentality is something that can be used chronologically as well as spatially on the battlemat.

My PCs were deeply involved in an urban combat involving wererats (skirmishers), a couple dire rats (brute non-minions, much to the PCs surprise) and a bunch of giant rat minions. I had built a total of 16 giant rats into the encounter, and gave them +1d4 damage with combat advantage, befitting their sneaky nature. There were only a couple of the minions on the board when the combat began, and the PCs dealt with them quickly. However, one of the wererats moved over to a sewer grating (marked on the battlemap from the beginning of the combat) and used a standard action to, in essence, use a terrain power and make a screeching rat call into the sewers. From then on, every round on the minions’ initiative, 1d4 giant rats appeared in a square adjacent to the sewer grate and entered the encounter. Each time they did, I subtracted that number from the amount I knew the encounter was built for. The PCs, of course, saw this as an “endless rat generator” and suddenly redoubled their efforts to take down the standard monsters in order to end the encounter. They didn’t know there was a finite number of minions, and it upped the tension considerably. They’ve also gotten far more interested in using the terrain of an encounter after seeing the monsters use it against them.

Another encounter in a Far Realm themed adventure saw the PCs fighting a tentacled, aberrant horror with huge egglike pustules all over its back. This encounter was built as a solo monster of two levels below the PCs and again, a considerable number of minions. The minions, however, didn’t start on the map at all. Instead, every time the PCs hit the solo with a single-target attack, I described one of the egg-pustules rupturing and a floating, amorphous blob of semi-sentient goo being “born” in a square adjacent to the solo. This is how I introduced the minions—the PCs had to decide whether to wail away on the solo and create more minions or deal with the minions and let the solo have time to pound on them. It increased the drama of the encounter just as much as the sewer rats.

Make Minions Matter

The “spawn” minions had a particularly nasty ability: when reduced to 0 hit points, they exploded in a shower of horrific goo. This was a close burst 1 dealing 4 psychic damage to any non-aberrant creature. This added yet another angle to an encounter the players had thought was tactically simple. The players, especially the ones who throw around burst and blast templates constantly, suddenly weren’t just affecting the monsters. Because the spawn appeared in squares adjacent to the solo, the melee characters often had several of the amorphous buggers attacking them at once. They were lower level than the PCs, so they didn’t hit often, but that wasn’t their real danger. Constantly dealing psychic damage to the melee characters was a serious concern, and the players had a good time figuring out how to deal with it. By the end of the encounter, the players had really come to hate the spawn minions, but it was a good kind of hate. It showed me I should definitely use those minions again.

Likewise, in the rat encounter, giving the giant rats a +1d4 damage bonus against targets they had combat advantage against wasn’t a huge deal, but it definitely made the PCs sit up and pay attention when they saw me rolling dice to determine a minion’s damage. They expected a flat number; playing against their expectations made the combat more engaging.

Think Like A Minion

The last encounter of that session was a big, set-piece battle against the cult of Far Realm worshippers. The PCs had fought numerous tentacled nasties by this time, and weren’t particularly surprised by the suicidally fanatic cultists, nor by the carrion crawlers that scuttled their way to do battle. But I used their expectations against them again and made the encounter more interesting by doing so. The cultists were, in fact, hosts for the same kind of “exploding brain amoebas” (as the players ended up calling them) that had spawned from the solo monster in the earlier encounter. I took the number of minions slated for the encounter and split them in half. The first half were the human cultists—simple cookie cutter minions with no special abilities. I did this deliberately to let the PCs romp through them and feel heroic, which they did.  The cultists were especially suicidal, and I described them as such. The PCs took it as typical fanatic behavior, but the cultists knew what was growing inside them and what would happen upon their deaths.

I made sure the cultists went about 1/3 of the way from the top of the initiative order. I also kept track on the battlemat where the bad guys’ bodies fell when they died. I usually do this because I treat the corpse of a Medium sized corporeal monster as difficult terrain. This time, however, there was an additional twist, and an additional number on the initiative tracker. When the cultists died, the PCs did what any well trained soldier does when a target has been neutralized—they moved right past the body and engaged new targets, leaving the artillery characters in the “safe” space behind them.

When the mystery number came up on the initiative, though, the bodies of the cultists exploded in just the same way the egg-sacs on the back of the solo monsters had, spawning more of the “exploding brain amoebas” and making the players curse profoundly. The spawn were now *behind* the melee characters and proceeded to swarm the second-line fighters instead, forcing the PCs to change their established tactics . This created tension and more than a little bit of real fear for the characters’ lives. In the end, the players told me point-blank the encounters had been tough, interesting, and above all memorable. I have a feeling that “exploding brain amoebas” is going to become a common table phrase for this game.

When it comes down to the final analysis, minions have the potential to become boring just as easily as any other kind of monster if not used deliberately. It’s not enough to just throw them into an encounter as filler; likewise so they can use Aid Another or provide flanking or even just to provide cover against ranged attackers. In order to get the most out of your minion mile you need to think about how they fit into the encounter as a whole both in-game and in the metagame sense. Use minions to create interesting tactical situations and give them memorable abilities, and your players will remember them much longer than you might think one measly hit point could manage.

I’m the DM; my players constantly find ways to stump me!

Ahh, good ol’ fashion beating the DM over the head with questions tactic…One most players have done.  Including myself, because this is not necessarily a bad thing to ask a lot of question about your surroundings, it helps get everything more defined and “realistic” feeling and it also is a good way to help people get creative. (As explained in another article, where I mentioned Terrain can be used as weapons or advantageous spots for PC’s or even NPC’s.) So remember that DM’s, do not get angry or frustrated at your players for asking questions, they are just getting a flavor for the game and it probably means they are interested in what’s going on, take this as a good thing.

First, read the module ahead of time. Even if you’ve read the module a thousand times before since you’ve owned it, take time within the -same week- that you are suppose to be DMing to read that module. If it’s a larger one, try reading a portion of it that you plan on putting your party through. Preferably, if you can, do this the day before everyone shows up (or within the same day, if time prohibits.).

Second off, do not let the module restrict your creativity and make extra side notes on who, what, where, when, why. A module might say there is a man with some information about something the party has to talk to, give this man a personality, a hair color, eye color, a race (or change it if you wish), give him a background, perhaps an accent. Maybe he conflicts with the party for some reason and now the party has to find another way to get that information or suffer without it. If the party chooses to slaughter the person, then they don’t get the info. Don’t let them find it out some other way! Let them reap their own consequences, or reward. This gives the players a sense of “Every action has a reaction” and shows that not everything will be handed to them. Don’t be a Monty Haul!

Thirdly, leave room for improvement and failure, A party can make a situation worse or better so leave room for this. If the group decides to do it their own way, let them, if they cut the adventure in half and cut to the end somehow — reward them for their creativity. If they choose to go elsewhere, the adventure does not have to stop! Something my step dad taught me is just because the party isn’t doing the adventure, doesn’t mean it’s put on hold. Perhaps the bad guy goes on and wins, or perhaps another adventuring group goes off and gets the job done. If the players don’t do it in the allotted time, that’s their problem! Don’t put it on hold because your party wants a few bar wenches, everything in the world has a time limit and villains ESPECIALLY are no exception. (A few tips from Restelphin who helped inspire this article. Thanks, dad!)

But I -really- want them to do this, but they turned the wrong way!

Alright, sometimes we cheat as DM’s. We give you a fork in the road, and you can go left, or right. You choose right, the module says left. What do we do? Well, flip them! Sometimes you are giving them the illusion of choice, which IS FINE. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise, now ONCE THEY GET THERE if they choose to turn around and leave, LET THEM, because changing the direction of the road once in awhile is okay, but not allowing them to turn around and leave (unless of course there is a trap or something of the likes prohibiting them) is no longer improving the story it is RAILROADING. Your job as the DM is to keep the story going, and it is OKAY if the party goes off the beaten path for you to tell them “Hey guys, I didn’t prepare for this. I need a minute or two to prepare/get some ideas.” This is FINE. Most people will understand, because you want a good game and not to ruin it because you continued with a story line you were uncomfortable with this can lead to a bad game and isn’t something anyone wants to experience. I feel a boat load of disagreements coming on, but I stand true to what I said. Tweaking a few things in the adventure in order to uphold the unity of the game is NOT an issue. Of course, telling them you did that will probably lead to a barrage of bashings because no one likes to think they are being controlled in any way, but during the course of playing DnD there will be moments where you take a different, secret, DM’s route. Everyone has different opinions and DMing tactics. This is also okay, there is no one way to run a game.

I’m a player, what does any of this have to do with me?

As a player your biggest responsibility to a DM is understanding. If a DM needs a moment, give him that moment so you get a good game, help give him ideas; like telling him what exactly you are doing, your characters motives, his thought process, what his goals and aspirations are. This can give the DM inspiration and ideas, and can also help develop your character and even give you time to think of your actions more thoroughly. Have fun if he is taking time to prepare, remember he is doing this for you and don’t be afraid to converse with your fellow players. Perhaps, if the DM allows, take this time to sit at the bar with the other characters and chat to get to know each other, or have some random in game moments that really don’t affect big issues. Or ask even if you can shop around in the players handbook for items, this is time for you as the player to also get more prepared for the game, make sure there isn’t anything you forgot.

Feel free to ask questions during a game, about their eye color or surroundings. Ask about the demeanor of patrons around you, does anyone look suspicious? Do you choose to hide your purse or stay away from one character in particular you think is looking to dip his hands into your pocket. It is not the DM’s job to HAND you a story, he is the WORLD and you should go out looking for adventure just as much as he should provide the steps of your story. You are collaborating on a story and your actions can affect the world just as much as his can if you implement yourself correctly. Just like people can put their names in history books. When a DM is running a module sometimes it’s better to take the “obvious hook” if they are new DM’s, don’t be too hard on someone that is new. Try and give them leeway and always give advice, make sure they know it’s okay. And if you know more about the rules and you notice he’s struggling, don’t be an ass — help him, but don’t impose on his game either. Maybe you see him struggling with the tables, or you think he is accidentally montying. Point it out to him, don’t be afraid to suggest things to your DM. This is a GROUP effort to play the game, not one person is entirely in control though respect your DM if he chooses a different route. If you don’t like the style he runs his games in, feel free to run your own, but don’t berate him during a game.

If you know the module that you are being run through, remember “Out of character knowledge!” You might know something, but it doesn’t mean your character does, try your best to stay in character and not to tell him the exact secret pit trap and that you don’t want to step on it. If you are not capable of doing this, let your DM know. If they are answering a riddle and you know the answer to, step away from the table or let him know you wish to sit this one out because you think it wouldn’t be fair to the game. Don’t cheat your DM, it’s silly and pointless. It’s not like you can win DnD.

But mostly, be creative and have fun! This is a game full of possibility so don’t be afraid to take it!

“I’m a level 14 Dwarven Fighter.  I’m tough as nails and drink like a fish.  I wear plate mail the color of rust and dirt to hide the blood that flows freely from my enemies.  My axe is a gruesome weapon to behold! “  Wait, what do you mean make an Intelligence check?  I’m a Fighter!  Ok… I rolled a 17!  Oh, I remember that guy at the bar?  From what?  Before?  You mean I existed before there was a party?

Every game we play is a story written and shared by the players and the dungeon master.  True, the dungeon master is the cosmic author and every player is a character, but not all stories are exclusively by the author.  Every character has an origination and a story to go with it.  Take our dwarven friend from before.  He’s a gruff character no one would want to meet in a dark ally.  Not that we want to have couch time with a dwarf, but what is the reason for the aggression and violence?  Is it simple stereotyping or does the player have a good reason?  Characters should have backgrounds, and this is as good a time as any to be thinking about them.

Once upon a time I had a questionnaire that covered the one hundred most important questions you should ask about the character you are playing.  It is time consuming, painful, and sometimes repetitive.  However, taking this much time to develop the parts of a character not found on a character sheet is rewarding for the player, the gm, and the game.  If your character is staying in a tavern in some small city far from civilization, what size room are you going to pay for?  What kind of drink and meal do you order?  Are you a good tipper?  I have yet to find a stat modifier that answers these questions, which means you have to play your character in these situations.  Drawing upon a set of characteristics you develop in a character background makes this role-play easy.

Let’s go back to the dwarf from before.  This character was raised outside of dwarf society in a human city.  His idea of being a dwarf was shaped by two things; first, human songs and writing portray dwarves as fierce and tempered creatures of the mountains and, second, he was antagonized constantly for being different.  A player who wants to have a dwarf with the swagger of violence will role-play that personality with greater success when they can draw on a good foundation for that personality.  As the dm, nothing makes a game flow smoother than when your players willingly play the story for you.

Ok, you might be thinking, and my seven NPC’s will need how much time put into them, now?  Do not answer the full one hundred questions for any NPC.  I could say that you probably don’t have enough time or that you hate NPC’s or something else, but there is a good reason to leave some of the NPC open.  Players want to help create the world and will tell you how they think an NPC might react.  If the players think the bartender is an agent for the evil wizard or a zealot for the fanatical religion, play it that way.  What I want you to focus on can only be found by knowing the backgrounds of your PCs.

You have a grand story to tell but you need to have small, more personalized, stories to fill the gaps.  It’s game night, someone didn’t show and you hate to advance too much plot without him or her.  No problem.  One of your players has a history of troubles with certain elves.  Turns out tonight the caravan the elves have been driving as a cover story has pulled into town.  The party, sans one member, will have to deal with the situations as they unfold.  Another example, maybe you have a character playing Lawful boring and you need them to dig deeper.  An older child bullied the paladin when they were young which led to the justice-avenger mentality.  Now, the paladin is watching a group of thugs beat up a merchant.  Upon arriving to assist the hapless merchant, the paladin realizes the merchant is the same bully from years ago.  Does justice demand protecting the weak or does it allow for vengeance?  Spending a whole night gaming without having to forward your master plot enriches the experience for your players.  Also, it gives you more command of the story when you do end up in the thick of things.

Letting a player, or players, direct some of the plot while you sit back and relax gives you a feeling of accomplishment.  Everyone comes to game expecting to be a part of the story.  Further, when it’s time for a player to role-play their part it can be difficult, scary, and stressful.  Help make their experience enjoyable by giving them reasons to detail their history.  Don’t get me wrong, I want the players to fight those epic battles I have been spending my time planning as much as you do.  But wouldn’t you rather let the players think it was their idea?

One of the most underrated yet important parts of DMing is the creation of dungeons for the adventurers to explore. Too often we focus on the story telling or interesting ways to run the fights, all the while ignoring the fact that the players need places to be in for the story to be told and the monsters to be killed. I use the term ‘dungeon’ to describe any setting that you, the DM, can come up with be it forest, swamp, cave or honest dungeon, built beneath an evil wizard’s tower. Like many, I used to agonize over each and every room, spending countless hours on each map I needed to make however, like everything else, minimal time is needed for preparation if you know what you are doing. This article shows a quick and easy way to generate dungeons quickly and easily. 15 to 20 minutes should be enough to get a playable dungeon.

First, a few materials you’ll need to get started.

1: Paper. While this seems obvious, some types of paper are much better than others. For organic areas with lots of squiggly lines normal paper is OK but these are hard to describe, for simplicities sake I suggest sticking to straight lines until you get used to everything, for this purpose grid paper is ideal. Grab a grid book from pretty much any newsagent or school supplies store; alternatively you can download customizable and printable sheets from many places on the internet such as http://www.printfreegraphpaper.com/

2: Pencils. Never, I repeat NEVER, write in pen if you make a mistake it is very messy to fix up. For most purposes a standard HB pencil will be fine but it is great to have some basic colored ones. A blue patch works much better to represent a lake than a circle with a note in it.

3: Misc. An eraser is a must for getting rid of those little mistakes you will inevitably make. A ruler helps for your basic straight line and a protractor makes the dreaded circle room much easier to draw.

4: Dice. Grab your dice bag and get ready to roll. Trust me, this will become clear soon enough.

OK, got your equipment… No? Why not? Grab them and meet me back here to make your dungeon. Trust me; I’ll wait for you… Oh, you’re back, good, time to get started.

I’m going to be assuming an average size dungeon which can be mapped out on a single sheet of A4 paper, for smaller dungeons only use a portion of the sheet, for larger ones use multiple sheets, easy as that. Start by dividing your paper into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, this gives you 9 sectors to work with and a sector of a few rooms is far easier to build than a whole dungeon. Pick a sector to start in, I tend to start at the top-left corner and work towards the bottom-right but the order is up to you. All the basics are now done and it’s time for the fun stuff. For each sector follow the steps outlined below.

1: Determine how many rooms in the sector and how big they are. Grab a percentile die and consult the table.

1-10: 6 small rooms
11-22: 4 small and 1 medium rooms
22-28: 2 small, 1 medium and 1 large rooms
29-40: 1 small and 2 medium rooms
41-49: 2 medium rooms and 1 small rooms
50-58: 2 medium and 1 large rooms
59-68: 1 medium and 2 large rooms
69-75: 3 medium rooms
76-80: 2 large rooms
81-90: 1 large room
91-100: 4 small rooms

2: What shape is each room going to be? Well it’s quite simple; in fact, it is just as simple as working out how many they are in a sector. Grab your percentile and roll for each room, note down each result as you get it.

1-5: Circle
6-15: Octagon
16-50: Rectangle
51-85: Square
86-100: Triangle

Yes, most rooms are going to end up either rectangle or square but trust me, describing and drawing them is much easier than the other shapes.

3: Last but not least you need to know exactly what size each room is going to be, until now all you have had for sizes is the vague description of small, medium and large. This is the longest section since you need to roll at least once for each room. As you roll the size of each room you can draw them in, either number each quarter of the sector and roll a d4 so see where the room lands or pick for yourself. I’ll also give some tips for drawing each style of room. All sizes are measured in squares of grid paper, it is up to you to determine what each square represents. I use each square as 5ft (so a small square room will end up between 10 and 20 feet on each side while a large one will be between 10 and 60).

Square:

By far the easiest room to roll and draw simply roll the dice to get the size of each side of the square.

Small: 2d2
Medium: 2d4
Large: 2d6

Rectangle:

The rectangle is harder than the square to draw, but only because the sides are different lengths. Notably, it is possible to roll the same number for each side which pretty much turns the rectangle into another square, if you don’t want that simply re-roll one side.

Small: 2d3 by 2d4
Medium: 2d3 by 2d4
Large: 2d4 by 2d6

Octagon:

Well, that about wraps it up for the easy shapes, time for the harder ones. For the octagon you have two choices, either you can have the room a regular octagon (all eight sides the same length) or irregular (all sides can be different lengths). I honestly recommend the regular octagon for simplicities sake but if you want the irregular shape you’ll need to roll once for each of the first seven sides (the last one just connects the last gap). The numbers may seem small in comparison to the other shapes but an octagon 4 squares to a side is MUCH bigger than a rectangle 4 squares to a side.

Small: 1d2
Regular: 1d3
Large: 1d4

Triangle:

While there are many types of triangles, the easiest two to use are the equilateral and the right angled. For the equilateral, roll once and make all sides the same length. Place a dot at each corner and use a ruler to connect them. For the right angled one you need to roll twice. Place a dot in a corner, another one directly above it and another one horizontally next to it (the distances determined by the rolls). Connect the dots and voila, a triangle. Of course, if you want to make it complicated on yourself you can roll for each side and work it out from there but you will be kicking yourself when you have to describe the room later. Either choose which type of triangle you want to use or flip a coin, heads it’s equilateral, tails it’s right angled.

Small equilateral: 2d3
Medium equilateral: 2d4
Large equilateral: 2d6
Small right angled: 2d3 by 2d2
Medium right angled: 2d4 by 2d3
Large right angled: 2d6 by 2d4

Circle:

Ahh the circle room, my old nemesis, there is a reason I have left this room to last and why it is the least likely result on my table. First, I hate drawing them, second I absolutely detest trying to get my players to visualize the room, let alone placing it on a battle board. The single easiest way to draw it is to grab a protractor, set the distance to however many squares you roll up and go from there. Failing that pick a midpoint and place a dot at the edges of where the circle will be and connect them up as best as possible.

Small: 1d2
Medium: 1d4
Large: 1d6

Well, what do you know? Your first sector is pretty close to complete, all that remains is to connect them up any way you want. Either you can run a large corridor through the whole sector with some smaller branching corridors or have the rooms connect directly to each other or any combination in between. Don’t forget that you can always leave a room or two connected only secret passages. With that out of the way, go back up to the top and do it again for each sector and connect the sectors in the same way you did each room in each sector.  Don’t forget to give at least one sector access to the outside world.

That about wraps it up, the hard part is done, the rest is up to your imagination. Is your dungeon a cave system? Is it well made or rough hewn? Maybe it’s a swamp with slightly shallower pathways. I suggest numbering each room for easy reference and writing descriptions on another sheet of paper. You need to think about what type of doors (if any) separate the corridors and rooms. Tables and ideas for traps, random encounters and treasure can be found easily with a bit of work, heck the treasure and random encounter tables are in the core rulebooks for most systems, or you can tailor each encounter yourself, or do what I do, decide on the important bits and randomize the rest. Remember, each table is only a guide, you can change the values or ignore them completely if you want, if a room needs to be a certain shape or size for your idea to work the put it in. Maybe you like circles more than I do or you want a more organic looking dungeon, add a few numbers to the circle result and take them away from something else. Maybe you hate triangles, get rid of them, don’t let a random table ruin what you are trying to achieve. Your decision, as always, is final.

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I don’t know all the rules, or I don’t agree with everything. What should I do?

Not knowing all the rules is okay, there are a lot of rules in DnD! The books specifically tell us that the main core rulebooks override any other rules if there is any question. A specific rule overrides a vague rule, unless the DM chooses a different route. The DM is ‘ultima Omega’ when you sit down at look to him to tell you the story, it’s his rules. When an author writes a book, you as a reader don’t go to the author and tell him that his race is wrong, and could not logically exist. The DM makes the ultimate decision, but as a DM you must also know when to admit you are wrong and to work with your players. The DM’s guides give us helpful tips on how to change rules, or that if there is an issue, to solve it temporarily and go in later after the sessions or at a good stopping point to discuss it. It also states that you can have one person looking up something while the game continues on; the most important thing here is to keep your players interested, keep them in the game. If people ‘get smart’ and tell you that you can’t change the rules since this is Dungeons and Dragons and you didn’t create it, tell them they are now playing “My Basement and Dragons” and to chill out and enjoy the story.

When we assume the role of “story teller”, the normal rules won’t always agree with your situation. I’ve found myself mixing rules because you enter a new world, a new place, and new mechanics. If you are in an upside down world where fish breathe out of water and humans have solar gills that collect sunlight in the day and store it at night in a sort of hibernation stasis where they don’t have to actually breathe, the rules might be slightly different in this world than in the PC’s normal book-crunching math-grinding logic-based generic fantasy world. The book constantly stresses imagination, “winging it”, creating stories, etc.  This is not a damn video game! There is no set system of mechanics unless the DM states so, but the DM must also have a sense of order and neutrality. As DM you are a world, you are what works in the world, you must have a thousand faces with a thousand different histories and a million different rules. Plan to take time before the game to specify certain rules, in and out of game. These rules will determine how serious the game will be.

In my group, cell phones and texting is completely prohibited unless for emergency purposes, we like to get into the game. Laptops have been mostly banned due to the fact people will not focus on the game and will be playing with other things while the rest of us are trying to escape our monotonous lives.  Explain to PC’s your rules, if they don’t like it they can sit out and wait for the next DM later on. We also have a sit-in rule. Since we run DnD a little different than the average Joe, new players just ’sit in’ for their first session. If they like what they see they can join in the next game. Players need to have not only respect for their DM, but trust. They need to trust that the DM won’t frequently rule unjustly. If you are uncertain, roll a die to have an extremely neutral outcome and don’t let anyone sway you otherwise. Sometimes, when we are unsure if we want a player to do something we say “Call high or low”, and roll a D6 — thus if we roll high, and he said high, then it works within his favor. And sometimes, I must admit, we roll behind the screen and -lie-. Yes, I said it -lie-. Sometimes the players need to feel justification or like everything is randomized or neutral, and sometimes it can’t work that way. That’s the kind of attitude players need to accept, so rolling behind your screen while you are thinking or deciding, sometimes helps ease the players’ minds because they don’t think you are being unjust — since you rolled the dice, you must deciding based  off of the numbers! Sometimes, that isn’t always the case. It’s useful to develop a subtle dice roll trick that you train in private so that you can control the result. It needs to be convincing since nobody will respect you as a DM if it looks like you’re rolling the dice to ‘rig’ the result, but it’s not hard to do and in a stressful situation you can do it quickly without anybody noticing.

Taking a player aside between sessions can also be very helpful, ask him what their problem is, and why they can’t cooperate or get along, ask them politely if there would be something that would allow them to quietly ‘pipe down’ while others are playing. See if you can make him or her happy so you don’t risk losing the player and avoid a bad climate in your group. Sometimes you encounter a player who hates roleplaying and is only there for level grinding, others only like roleplaying, and some like a good mix of both. Try to satisfy every need, and if someone is unhappy about a situation they are in tell them they don’t have to participate; they follow the group throughout the whole experience and don’t have to do a thing but quiet down, though perhaps in such a situation they are not rewarded any experience since they did not participate.  Remind players that everything has a consequence. If a player refuses to participate with who you want to participate, let them get injured or die or whatever other unfortunate possibility you had planned. Do not be soft on them, they made their decision. Going too soft will open the doors to more abuse and the other players won’t respect you for ‘going soft’ on somebody who needs a kick in the rear. Too many people take the game play personally; it is supposed to be fun, but it is STILL A GAME. As the DM, it is YOUR game. Establish this criteria before the game begins.

Having conversations with the players on what they think is fair or not can also be healthy, though sometimes you completely disagree — this tends to happen. In such cases be respectful to everyone’s opinions and take into note if you are being fair or not. Sometimes it simply won’t be fair and you’ll just have to respectfully swallow it. It is a game.

I like to stick with the rules! I don’t like people deviating!

Fantastic, the rules are made for a reason and are there for mediating and ensuring a fair game. So, when you DM you let everyone know that if it’s in the book, it’s the way it is! But remember, when you are not DM it’s not your game and not your decision, you don’t make it more fun for anyone by complaining, you are just stalling the game and making it harder.

Sometimes, players who are complaining or throwing insults or constantly trying to control a situation don’t have control in their own lives so they seek it out in their gaming group. In these cases it’s good to give them some amount of special control or unique responsibility in the game to keep them from bursting out.  Sometimes these players are just rude — and sometimes, they don’t realize what they are doing. Talk to them about it in private, always being considerate with your choice of words.  If they still choose not to listen, subtle reminders during play or before the game about how this is your world, your rules. “My Basement and Dragons”. Remember?

There are some fun things we’ve included in our group at times, something similar to the “Swear jar”, but instead it was the “Throwing dice jar”. If ever a player threw dice, he’d have to put a quarter or some amount of change into the jar. (Of course, we usually ended up buying pizza with the change later on, but shhh..) Throwing dice is UNACCEPTABLE behavior and is just downright childish.  If you are so angry you want to throw things, maybe you should be considerate enough to ask for a moment alone outside. If you notice someone acting this way, you could invite them to step outside for a few to ‘cool off’ or invite the entire group to ‘take five’ so you won’t have to single that person out.

I’ve tried everything! I’m to the point of giving up!

Ahh yes, sometimes we all must admit when a situation is helpless.  And sometimes, it is hopeless. In this case, you NEED to stand up for your group and decide what is best for your game, sometimes we have personal ties to the person but as a DM you must stay neutral for your group. I’ve had this situation before where a member caused nothing but drama, we continued to confront him and tried various methods to make gaming better. It never ceased to be an issue, however, until finally we set a firm rule, one he disagreed so strongly against that he refused to show up and even cut the ties of friendship. This was hard, as I was helping another DM and this DM had been friends with him for nine years, and he allowed a game to interfere since he did not like the rules the DM set in place. He showed his ‘true colors’ and immaturity, and although it was no easy task to set and enforce a firm line, it had to be done for the sake of peace. This was no easy task and I’m not telling you to “break friendships” over the game, but sometimes it’s not the game that they have issues with. It’s often the people and the cooperation and the out-of-game experiences that they are fuming over. There comes a point where every DM must make a hard decision, and the other players are counting on you to make the right one. Staying neutral and logical is the best thing any DM can do when it comes to a troublesome player 99% of the time. Do not get emotionally involved in their temper tantrums or their head games — that’s all it is.

So, I hope this helps a little bit and remember there are even more tips and tricks in the DM’s guides specified before. Just remember you are the DM, you make the rules, you decide the end result; and remember to be fair, just, and work with your players, not against them. Clearly establish any additional rules before beginning the game, and if the entire group disagrees, perhaps you should reconsider what you are putting into play.

Let me preface this article by saying that usually I am the DM. I am the guy who is responsible for the care and feeding of monsters and other nastiness. I have recently had the pleasure of being on the other side of the DM’s screen as a player. Let me say it is quite refreshing.

I am running a fighter and a wizard in the campaign. Last session we had an encounter with a large green dragon. Having 4^th level characters this was potentially lethal. As we approached the lair we prepared to fight. Alchemical fires were passed out and mage armor was cast. The entrance to the dragon’s domicile was a long tunnel leading into the main chamber. The first thing when dealing with a creature with an area attack weapon is spread out. There should be at least five feet, one square, between each character. Our party was hit first off with the chlorine gas breath weapon. Only three of our seven party members were hit, luckily two of them made their saving throws. My fighter failed his throw but soaked the damage anyway. The dragon was already aloft in his lair which is a very dangerous thing.

The next thing to do was immobilize and bring the dragon down to our swords. My wizard cast web upon the beast. Despite making his save, the dragon was entangled.  After that he was set upon by our fighters and the rogue. They went to the flanks and made their attacks. The alchemical fires were thrown setting alight the web. This was a tactical error in hindsight. While we did damage the dragon with the fire and the burning web, we released the wings of the serpent allowing him to fly. While he was on the ground lucky critical hits scored massive damage on it.

In the second round the dragon knocked out one of our fighters and scored a solid hit on the rogue. More damage was done and the over one hundred point dragon was taken out. We really surprised the DM by how quickly we killed the dragon.

The technique here is a basic military tactic. Find, fix, and destroy the enemy. First one has to find the enemy. We did this by finding him in his lair easy right. Next fix, keep your enemy from maneuvering. No matter what, do not allow your foe to maneuver on you. This is a tactical maxim that has allowed smaller forces throughout the centuries to defeat larger ones. Such as the battle of Thermopoly, were the Persians could not envelope the Greeks with their mass number of troops. This also applies to where you choose to fight. If you can; choose where you engage the enemy, make it your battlefield. Lastly, destroy the enemy. Most of you are thinking “duh”, but seriously throw your hardest, baddest stuff at your enemy and don’t let up. Be creative and really get into the roleplay. Remember, when swinging swords swing for the fence. Backend spell blasters need to consider the placement of area effects. Think in three dimensions, a fireball explodes in a sphere so if you need a smaller effect aim high. Front end casters, move in close enough to pound the baddies.

And always remember to grab the loot!

How can I be original with a set amount of classes and races? Or How can I play the same classes, and make a more exciting character?

Anyone can drip creativity from the maw of mediocrity, but the drips come from a shining personality. It’s just like real life, when you meet a total stranger, which ones stick out to you? Is it the charming wise guy? Or the quiet, slinky guy with the weird eye you saw at the supermarket? Think of these traits and apply them into a fantasy world situation. Now, I’d love to go more into detail, but this time I’d like to talk specifically about the Drow.

Now the name Drow is derived from Orcadian and Shetlandic word “Trow” (meaning ‘troll’! Go figure!) Evil sprites were often refered to as Drow or Trow, though Gary Gygax swooped in with all his glory and invented the lovable dark skinned creatures we now know today as The Drow, dwellers of the Underdark. These malicious creatures go back to First Edition AD&D Monster manual under the guise of “Elf” and Black Elves being simply that of a legend we now know them as possible player characters as the spawned like hell bats through out 3^rd edition campaign settings, monster manuals, and other various books such as Drow of the Underdark. Forgotten Realms 3^rd Edition The Underdark states the Drow as being in an age of chaos as Lotlh the Spider Queen, their Diety, has fallen silent. In this Matriarchal society, (women being dominant leaders) clans of Drow are separated into ‘Houses’ where they war among each other, biding for Lolths favor, with such treachery, one can imagine the hysteria going on in the Underdark. Within opposition we seek opportunity, for any DM’s this is the perfect excuse for Drow to be surfacing above land (thus giving a more realistic reason to integrate Drow into parties without being the new Drizzt.).

4e Forgotten Realms mentions “Play a drow if you want…” and goes on to list three different aspects such as skulking, striking quickly, employing variety of dirty tactics, playing a hero in search of redemption, or on who struggles to rise above the wickedness of his or her people — and lastly ‘to be a member of a race that favors the ranger, rogue, and warlock classes.’ They also have special racial abilities such as Lolthtouched. These such abilities provide little extras to help build onto the feel of your Drow character, as well as describing a few characteristic guidelines; Arrogant, cold, haunted, pragmatic, rebellious, ruthless, skeptical, sophisticate, urbane. When playing your new Drow character keep a few of these in mind, as well as discarding or adding whatever characteristics according to the personality of your choice.

With all this in mind, you now get the chance to choose a class. Any will do, whatever suits you best. Playing your Drow doesn’t mean you have to constantly back stab the party or be a “lone wolf”, there are ways to play a group-friendly Drow and still be cold and collected. For example, lets say the party is going on an adventure, you know if you go with them you can seek out treasure, glory, fame, etc. in ways you couldn’t have on your own. Perhaps after you finally get an amount of fame, you are all traveling in a dungeon and you attempt to off the party or leave them somewhere trapped and take all their goods…now this isn’t group friendly and you do have a chance of dieing, but you get to feel like a Drow. Maybe it’s too beneficial to lose this group, and you become accustomed to them. You don’t have to hate them forever, if you are stuck in a group with a ton of people you hate and they are your battling buddies you learn to give an amount of respect or tolerance, people do it daily- Ask the army!

Take into account other personalities, and interact with each other PC differently, perhaps your favorite thing is to Darkness the annoying guy every time he bothers you, or one of the characters is more intelligent then the rest so you would rather ‘suffer their company’ than someone else’s. When coming up with a character past, think about the Underdark, what drove you up from it, or were your parents already above land since they were driven up? In that case, you’d be more accustomed to the light and it wouldn’t bother you as much as it would if you came up from the Underdark, remember to take things like that into account. Being Drow doesn’t mean you can see all the time, it means you are sensitive to light but are a god when nothing is lit. The character builder for 4e gives a small debriefing on Drow and their character, before playing a Drow I suggest reading such things.

For those of you following along get out your players handbook and turn to page 88 (3.0 handbook, for 3.5 please turn to the “Description” area, and for 4.0 page 19 will do.). Now before we go reading into this, I know a lot of us are lazy so let me sum up the first part: You are what you do! If a guard comes up to you and inquires about your person, and you attack him at first level with ill regard to your life; you are chaotic. If you attack him and you are Epic lvl (20+), and slaughter him easily. You are evil. If you politely tell him what he wants to know, and don’t question his reasoning, you are lawful.  If you grumble under your breath and know he’ll throw you away if you don’t tell him so you do it anyways! — You are likely neutral or “Unaligned.” Defining the lines is a tricky aspect, if I kill a guard because I believe he is raping children — am I evil? No. But chances are, if you had no proof & only allegation,s you are Chaotic Good (Or “Good” for 4e).

But my character believes he’s good. So, should I put Good on my character sheet?

No. Your character sheet is a reference for you and your DM, the personality of your character is only for you that you get to explore and exhibit to other people at the table. If you, the player, understands your character is Chaotic Evil psychopathic killer who believes he is killing in the name of Pelor he is not considered good.

Well, in that case my character is Chaotic Evil, can I touch good aligned items since he thinks he’s good?

Every DM runs this differently, some do a Will save to see if you can trick the item into believing the way you do (I.e. I killed that family to protect the land.), sometimes they do a Will save vs. the items intelligence, or, they just do an intelligence check for the items. Some DM’s say No is no, you are not a good character you can not wield the Holy Avenger of awesomeness. And some DM’s will just give it to you cause it’s in the script. How do you decide which one, if you are a DM? Compare the item to the character, and how they will interact together. Perhaps the item believes he is doing goodly things and goes a long with it, until later on realizing that all is done in evil then the item turns on them. Again, this is more user your imagination, it’s your world. But as a confusing aligned character, be wary of your choices and DO NOT get angry at the DM because you were stupid enough to try and take something you can’t have. “I was playing in character.” yeah, well the DM was doing that as well. Remember, his character is everything you are not playing.

Another aspect to remember is use alignment to sum up your character, NOT to define it or as guidelines. Instead of choosing an alignment first, CHOOSE a personality, sum up the areas in that personality with an alignment. Remember, it is a reference sheet for you and your DM! I’ve seen DM’s go in and change alignments when people weren’t playing accordingly, or lose favor of God’s because of their misguidance. One thing I allow my players to do is to leave the alignment area blank for the first few sessions to get a feel for their character (and I try not to throw any aligned weapons or things of the sort) while they are getting to know their character. Refer to those pages for further alignment question and enjoy your turn!

Stop! I have a better way! Let’s spice up combat! How do you do that? Details, details, details! The more details you give someone the more it helps them visualize, the more it helps them get into character. The further you pull a person away from this world, the better the game is! So let’s get ready to ruuummbbllee!

What can I do as a DM to help put more depth into the game?

Add puzzles! Someone is behind a rock and only ducks out to shoot at you, so you have to find a more advantageous spot. High ground, low ground, terrain, allies, put little props here in there such as describing earlier on in the scenario that there was a rope tied to a crate in the air holding it up, and later on (see if your players remember!) maybe the bad guy “conveniently” steps under it, but shh! Don’t give it away entirely, just give hints. The first one to figure it out gets extra experience! Make your players actively LOOK for creative ways to get an extra experience drop, sometimes there is no way, sometimes there is! Be creative, and be discrete! If a person can play more in depth in game, they get more into character.

Another thing you can do is describe certain blows, such as if a npc hit’s a player than describe where it hit, and maybe it chipped the armor. So now they have to get their armor repaired; adding more depth into the game. Or if a player swings at a stone golem with a long sword; long sword has been dented! I mean, what do you have whetstones for it not to use them?

Remember, BE CREATIVE! This is your world!

But, I’m the player. What can I do?

You are an important part of this game, too! As a player, make sure to look for these little hints your DM leaves you, and don’t be afraid to try and out smart your DM! Challenge your DM just as much as he challenges you. If something is too easy, tell him! And make sure to describe what you are doing in enough detail, but not too much. Instead of “I hit it,” and rolling try to find some clever alternatives to just shooting a bow or swinging your sword. Set places on fire, or lighting bolt a pool of water with several bad guys inside of it. Make your DM think, too. They don’t want to just sit around with a pre-made adventure and read out of it, sometimes they need a good challenge to get into the game too!

If you can make your turn exciting, it helps the other players pay more attention as well. Work WITH your party, fight back to back so it’s harder for npc’s to get any bonuses.

These are all a few steps that can help turn based combat or even the whole game a lot better. You’ll get players wandering from the table less, and less multitasking because they will be too involved with their characters actions and mindsets to get into the game.