Ten Monsters I Love (But Rarely Use)
I thought I’d chip in on the latest subject to be making its way around the RPG blogs. Instead of just my favorite ten monsters, which would include common reliables like kobolds, dragons, and vampires, though, I thought I’d list the ones that are favorites of mine but that I rarely find myself using. They might be too specialized, or might not fit the flavor of my plots often enough, or might just be obscure, but I love the concepts anyway.
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Zero Level
Fourth-edition Dungeons & Dragons is scaled to a higher starting level of power than third — or, for that matter, than any previous edition. First-level characters are no longer fresh off the farm — they’re already skilled adventurers and even heroes in their own right.
Personally, I like this. I enjoy a more heroic style of play in fantasy, even when I’m running with a low-magic setting. I like proactive characters who aren’t afraid to take risks and try cool things, and who’ve learned a couple of tricks, and who won’t die of a scratch. I used to start most of my campaigns at third level. In fourth edition, first level feels good to me.
But some people enjoy playing at a lower power level, and watching those farmboys — the ones who survive, at least — develop into heroes. This can be a fine idea for a game, but it’s not something that 4e as-written really serves. 4e is a flexible system, though, and by borrowing a little from the game’s past, it can be made to suit.
Categories: Original Game Content | Comments (9)
Adventure Design 101: Dungeons That Live
It’s a little delayed thanks to the self-destruction of my network card a few days ago, but now that I’m back online, it’s time to wrap up my thoughts on dungeon design. My previous article covered some important questions that I like to ask when stocking my dungeons. There are other questions you can ask yourself, most of which spring from those. The main question that remains, though, is: What are the inhabitants doing?
I don’t mean in the long run. That, we’ve already covered. I mean, what are they doing right now?
I think that answering this question is one of the easiest ways of making your game world seem more real to your player. It’s one of the main differences between monsters who are just there as opponents and monsters that inhabit your world.
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Adventure Design 101: Dungeons That Make Sense
Dungeon of the Chateau de Chillon, Switzerland. Photograph by Ioan Sameli via Wikimedia Commons.
I recently wrote about making your setting work for you. Today’s topic is related: How do you make all of these dungeons feel like a realistic part of your game world?
Say you’ve got a dungeon with goblins in one complex of rooms, a dwarf necromancer and his ghouls down the hall, and a colony of giant ants around the corner. What the heck are they all doing there?
You could just present all of that and answer, “They’re there for the players to outwit, outfight, and make off with their loot.” I think most gamemasters probably started with games that ran like that, and I know many who still do, at least once in a while. It can be a lot of fun to just kick in the door and face whatever’s behind it without worrying about a greater backstory. But let’s say you and your group want that backstory.
That’s where you get into the history and ecology of the dungeon. A lot has been written on these topics, but I’m going to try to break it down to make it as easy to use as possible. Important questions you should ask regarding your dungeon include:
Categories: Adventure Design 101 | Comments (0)
100 Medieval Careers
Taking a brief break from adventure design, I present a related topic: 100 jobs NPCs in your game-world might have. Helps with creating those random NPCs — pick a job, then add a name, race, gender, and a quirk or two.
I’ve broken them down into some broad categories, in case you want to go old school and turn it into multiple subtables to randomly roll on. If you’re taking that approach, note that the “Working Class” and “Scoundrels and the Underclass” categories should be most common in the typical medieval-European-style game worlds, followed by Professionals, Entertainers, and Martial, with Learned and Lesser Nobility being least common.
100 jobs, after the jump.
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