The Public DM: A New Season Starts Strong

Searching for the Lost Crown of Neverwinter at Red Castle Games: Session 1

Season Six of Dungeons and Dragons Encounters started off strong.  More and more people kept coming in the door.  I believe we had 11 players when all was said and done.  Luckily my own DM, Robtheman, stopped by the shop and stepped into the breach just as I was about to be overwhelmed!  We made two tables, I with my regulars and Rob with a bunch of new kids and a dad.  From what I could overhear I could tell he ran a great session.

It's really gratifying to see the turnout increasing, and I hope we continue to have strong attendance and get people excited about this game.  I like seeing folks buy dice after an Encounters session.  D&D is rad!

Red Castle didn't do the Game Day last weekend, and no one is using the new Heroes of Neverwinter book, but most of my players brought their own characters to the table anyways.  This had it's pros and cons.  On one hand I'm stoked the players were into it and are dreaming up their own heroes, but on the other hand they made somewhat complicated characters.  The casual players in the group were quite slow to grok their multi-page character sheets.  This should smooth out in future sessions as people familiarize themselves with their new options, but combat felt slow to me.  There was also a bit of horsing around between players, grabbing dice and sheets that I need to clamp down on next week.  Just kids being kids, but I'll be bringing my "Guidelines for a Polite Gaming Society" next time.

The heroes consisted of a Shifter Barbarian, a Dragonborn Warlock, a Dragonborn Druid, an Avenger, a Duergar Barbarian(conceived as a dwarf undergoing a punk rock mid-life crisis, tattoos and liberty spikes etc), and an Eladrin Cleric.

The party began in the market by the docks, new to town.  They spent some time talking to various vendors of armors and meat pies, learning a bit about the town, its history of cataclysm and the locals ambivalence about the civic improvements brought by the current Lord Protector.  The Druid helped a man with his broken wagon wheel and received 10 gold coins for his troubles.

Then all hell broke loose.  Spellplagued men came pouring out of the sewers grates.  They were mutants with distended limbs, yawning mouths and claws that burned with a blue fire.  If these were once Men of Neverwinter, they had long since lost their souls.  The spellplagued maniacs were joined by three lizards the size of small ponys, with dagger teeth and eyes of blue flame.  The barbarians and avenger engaged the lizards toe to toe, all three of them going down beneath the iron jaws of the beasts during the fight.  It was all the Cleric could do to keep the warriors on their feet.  The mutants came in waves and threatened to overwhelm the party until the timely appearance of a helmed knight, wearing a crown that sparkled with blue flame, his purple cloak billowing about him as he cut a swath through the melee to lend a helping hand to the fallen dwarf.  "For Neverwinter!" he cried with a voice like gravel bouncing down a cobbled road.  With the help of this mystery knight the attackers were driven off and surviving townsfolk began to cry out in shock and disbelief, "The King! The King has returned!  It is as foretold, the Heir that Was Lost has returned!"

All talk died as the knight pointed his sword into the air and spoke, "Hark!  The leader approaches to do battle!"  All turned their eyes to the sky and beheld a white winged figure that passed across the sun and swooped low toward the dock, it was a mighty beast, a dragon!  White of scale, its eyes burned with a blue flame...

Guidelines for Polite Gaming Society

Below is a one page document I whipped up to bring to my Encounters table to help new folks who sit down at the table and to foster a civilized gaming culture. 

Guidelines for a Polite Gaming Society
Welcome to the table!  We are all here to be creative, roll dice and have fun.  To help everyone have a fun and satisfying game please keep this advice in mind!  Thanks!

    •   When the Dungeon Master speaks, listen.
    •    Have your dice ready to roll when your turn comes up.  Have a plan of action and be ready with the numbers you will add to that d20.
    •    Players make their own decisions on their turn.  Don’t offer advice unless they ask.
    •    Allow players to do their own math, unless they ask for help.
    •    Be respectful of other people's stuff (dice, papers, beverages etc)
    •    Make notes on your character sheet, (Healing Surges, Action Points etc) for the next session.

If this is your first time playing this role-playing game, your are in the right place.
  The game of Dungeons & Dragons takes place in the collective imagination of the group sitting around the table.  Based on your choices your character will explore the world described by the Dungeon Master, facing fantastic challenges and reaping fabulous rewards!



The core mechanic of the game is simple: Roll a 20 sided die.  The higher you roll, the better.


This is how Combat works:

• Each player rolls a d20 for Initiative to see who goes first.

• Characters and monsters act in initiative order.

• Attacks are resolved by rolling the d20, adding modifiers, and comparing the result to the defender’s Armor Class.  (Declare the total to the Dungeon Master.)
• Your character sheet has a variety of Powers that are available on your turn.  You may use Green powers every turn(At-Will), Red powers once per Encounter, and Black powers once per game day(Daily).  Make sure to make a note when resources are used.
• Look carefully at your Powers.  Find the line with the math in it.  
• For example the “Basic Melee Attack” might say :   d20+5 vs. AC; 1d8+1 damage   
• This means you roll the d20 and add 5.  Declare your total to the Dungeon Master.  If the number is equal or greater than your opponent’s AC, roll the d8 and add 1 for damage.  “Effects” occur automatically, whether you hit or not.

The Public Dungeon Master: Encounters at the Red Castle #13

My final session of the "Dark Legacy of Evard" was strong on players, but the adventure fizzled from this DM's perspective.

Once again I had a table of eight.  This time there were two new players, a father and son team, and the rest were veterans of the last few sessions.  When the characters were sorted we had a Cavalier, a Binder Warlock, a Rangers Hunter, a PHB1 Ranger, a Slayer, a Cleric, a Thief and a Knight.  Whew!  A full table.  I need a backup DM if these numbers continue.

I opted to move the plot right along and had the ghost of Nathaire speak to the party, even as he left his body for good.  He told them how to use the ritual as his last act of repentance for the misery he had caused.  We then proceeded with skill challenge.  It didn't make alot of sense to me, this skill challenge, and the players rolled horribly. After giving the narrative a chance to move a bit, they failed and were all blasted as the graveyard erupted with Zombies and the ghost of Vontarin freaked out.  A couple of heroes fell and all were bloodied in the end.  The cleric was down at the last round, so we ruled that she died.  Someone had to.

For me, this was an anticlimactic ending.  The last encounter was nearly identical to the one before though with a less interesting dynamic.  The villain was basically the same.  I changed it around to make the Wizard a close bursting banshee type monster, but they piled on it in classic solo fight style.  This battle really should have been a set piece to remember, with some sort of terrain or mechanic to make it memorable, but it was more or less a repeat of the week before.

I think the similarity of the last to fights points to the major problem of the season, which is that it featured two villains who were literally indistinguishable.  Its hard enough for people to keep track of fantasy names and mysterious plots in these games without twining them all together in a mush.  It was very apparent to me every time I recapped the story, that this was a narrative particularly lacking in clarity.

"So a long time ago there were two wizards, but now there's two wizards though one is different, and one's possessing the other so they're kinda the same, but you fight them so it doesn't matter really, and they have the same stats too."

 
Here's hoping next season has clearer goals and benchmarks.

Of course everyone had fun and it really felt like enthusiasm is building for next season.  I have enjoyed this stint of public DMing and I will continue for now.  The interaction with the younger players particularly reminds me of why I have been trying to break into the teaching profession.

The Public Dungeon Master: Encounters at the Red Castle #12

Tonight I had a full house for the penultimate encounter of the Dark Legacy of Evard.  There were eight players at the table, the largest group yet.  Any more and we'll need another Dungeon Master.  Once again, people brought their friends, people new to the game but who picked it up quickly enough.

The battle took place as the world once more fell into shadow, and a dark library appeared.  The players went ahead and knocked on the front door.  They were answered by a butler who refused to open the door at first, but soon succumbed to the authority of a Suggestion spell cast by the new Wizard player. 

Entering the library, the heroes bantered a bit with the possessed wizard Vontarin/Nathaire.  He claimed that he would break the curse himself, that he didn't need their help, but they saw through the lies and the battle was joined. 

This was a neat little two tiered battle, made all the more fun by the precarious book shelves and the bookshelf models I brought along to fall down on the minis.  The books did a lot of damage!  We ended with the spirit of Vontarin whispering from his dark prison, offering undreamt of wealth and power in exchange for a new bodily vessel.  What will the heroes do?

Even with 8 heroes, I only added a second Dark Butler on the second floor and it was still a close fight.  One player went down, and many were worried at various points.  I spread the hurt around and did a lot of public rolling to determine which character I would attack.  No one has died this encounter season, so I think I had better be merciless next session.

A couple notes:
I need to establish a quick primer for new players:

• How to read a the character sheet
• How to read a "power"
• The basics of combat tactics etc.  

Along the way it wouldn't hurt to establish some table rules as well:

• Don't tell people what to do on their turn
• Try to describe your actions narratively 
• Make sure you know your basic attack bonus 
• Do your own math and tell me the total number etc

A single "Welcome to the Dungeon" page might go a long way.

It feels like this is gaining a bit of popularity, but I know attendance will still fluctuate wildly.  Nevertheless, I love it that people are bringing their friends.  I dig that there's a group of ladies who are ditching happy hour to roll the dice.  Soon they'll be painting their own minis.

I do have some critiques of the adventure itself, but I will save them for next week.

The Public Dungeon Master: Encounters at the Red Castle #11

In which I encounter an entirely new table, and conquer it!

Tonight I arrived at the game store to pick up my specially ordered Dire Boar mini, and to run a D&D Encounter, the 11th of the current season, nearly the end of the line.  I had been quite smug about my returning player ratio but that began to fall apart last week.  This week I took a call at the store from a trio of players who were late but promised to arrive.  They never did.

Instead, a young lad of 14 or so was waiting for me, a neophyte to the Dungeons and Dragons, though he had his own dice.  He was soon joined by an even younger lad with his mother in tow.  Mom sat in the corner with her Kingsolver book while her son bellied up to the table for his first D&D experience.  Both chose fighters.  Then the ladies arrived from last week, with a third friend as well.  Suddenly we had five players, potentially eight if the others showed, and I was scrambling for enough characters and minis.  Luckily I had enough stuff floating around my traveling kit.  The third gal was also a first timer.  That made the most experienced player a veteran of 5 sessions.  They were all figuring their d20 from their d12.

The characters were an Elven Thief, an Eladrin Cleric, a Drow Hunter, a Dragonborn Knight, and a Dwarf Slayer.

I explained the game a bit, but didn't sweat it too much.  "Roll your d20 and add the number.  Use your red powers!  Here's a damage die.  Ok let's go!"  I certainly didn't try to explain how an rpg works, rather I threw them right into it.  I recapped the story a bit and asked for the players to describe their character's actions as they explored the ruined monastery in the last rays of the setting sun.  They eased into it.  I took a skill check from each and moved the narrative right into the fight.  Who needs a skill challenge?  This is just storytelling guided by dice.  The dice were not particularly strong and so the heroes were ambushed.

As they entered the abbey, the Dark Elf Hunter was shot in the throat with a poisoned dart.  Suddenly there were goblin-like Dark Ones with their goaty hooves, living Shadows grasping, and fiery Tar Devils attacking from all sides!  The ambush was brutal, and although the cleric was attentive to her duties, handing out healing and extra saves, there were still a couple of near casualties.

Everyone had a great time and looks forward to the next week as we near the finale.

As a public DM, this was a particularly satisfying game for me, seeing the quiet excitement on the faces of the young boys, and the sort of silly fun the ladies were having was a real treat.  The youngest kid just said, "I hit it with my axe," every time, but he said it with great enthusiasm.  The older boy took his role as protector quite seriously and saved the thief with a natural 20 on a First Aid check.  (I made them do their addition each time the rolled.)  The ladies came up with rude names for their foes and cursed the dice that brought their side of the table a steady stream of 3 and 4s. 

It was very different from playing with experienced gamers, less attention to rules, but a keen sense of that wonderment we all search for in these games of fantasy.  This kind of experience may be closest to what I am personally looking for in D&D.  It is like the best days teaching in a classroom, holding court with an enthusiastic and engaged audience, guiding the discussion towards it's logical conclusion.  Fun times.

The Public Dungeon Master: Encounters at the Red Castle #10

"Another statue in the shape of a harsh angelic guardian watches over this room~ which also contains a well brimming with dark water."

I walked into the store today and got to rapping with the owner.  He asked how Encounters has been going.  I said, "Oh yeah it's been great.  A couple of kids have been at every session.  Good regular group."  Of course they didn't show up this time.  Luckily, one of my regulars did, about five minutes late finding me sitting at an empty table with battle-mat and dice at the ready.
We waited for a bit and finally her friend showed up, another newbie to the D&D.  Usually I call three players a quorum, but for Encounters, two was fine.  There I was, playing Dungeons and Dragons with two girls, a first in my long gaming career!  I tried to drag the cashier into the mix, but he had to catalog Magic cards, so I just added a Knight to the Thief and Cleric party.  The Knight's tag line was "Don't you DARE ignore me!" which is fitting for an NPC.  After a quick recap, the heroes entered the Crypt below the Monastery.
I didn't mod the encounter for the 3 PCs.  This made for a tense fight, with all the heroes bloodied by the end, and some close calls along the way.  This was a "connected room dungeon" battle.  My goal was to get the players to explore a bit of it as the battle progressed and keep it from getting static.  I was able to guide it in that direction and I 'm glad I did.  These are the little DM lessons to be learned from Encounters.
There were some memorable moments.  The thief, on fire thanks to a Blazing Skeleton, jumped into a Holy Well to find that this holy water gave her a blessing as well!  The cleric had to make some decisions about healing herself or the knight, and finally there was a bit of discussion about whether to desecrate a coffin to get some treasure.  Pragmatism won.
On reflection, I've been really lucky with the continuity of the player group so far.  Today was the first time I sat down and wondered if anyone would show up.  I'm sure glad that didn't happen the first week I showed up to DM Encounters.
Tonight I won at D&D because one player on her fourth week of  brought in another new recruit, so the Encounters plan is working.  Huzzah!

The Public Dungeon Master: Encounters at the Red Castle

This Encounters season has been humming along.  I'm proud to say I've  had a majority of returning players for the last couple months.  We  must be having fun!

At the end of Chapter 2 the heroes have been  investigating the Curse of Evard that has been laid upon the town and now the must defend the populace from the depredations of a second night in the  netherworld known as the Shadowfell.  This night the townsfolk have barricaded themselves into the Armory, and other safehouses, but rumour stirs (confirmed by the interrogation of a grey goblin with cloven  hoofs) that an army of the dead is marching upon the town.

The  group for the last few weeks has consisted of Miranna, a Shade Binder(Warlock); Belgos, a  Drow Hunter (Ranger); Brandis, a Paladin (who has willingly been corrupted by a devil's sword to become a Blackguard); Valinnae, a Cleric of Pelor; and Keira, an Elven  Thief.

During their patrols the heroes felt a malaise and deep  despondency drag at them, and though they shook it off, they were  obliged to help prop up the moral of the local militia, who seemed ready  to pack it in.  The Cleric showed them the light of Pelor, while the  Blackguard, Drow and Warlock told of much worse tales than theirs, and  that combined with a whiff of rum perked them and they had a small army of their own to command!  Each player received a small card with  Militia Minion stats and got to choose a mini fig.  I suggested they name them but nobody did.

The band of defenders returned to the  Armory to discover it was under attack!  Swarms of skeletons with spears  battered the Armory doors, and two blazing pyrotechnic skeletons  orchestrated the events.  A lurking shadow stalker waited for an opportunity to strike.

The ranged abilities of the monsters  combined with the big building made for a different sort of fight.  The  heroes were hurt and very vulnerable to being in a fire corridor,  especially when the fire skeletons started lobbing mortars.  However, the army was mostly minions and the militia's firepower was quite effective against them.  The thief ended up defeating the shadow stalker upon the roof, while the Cleric unleashed Aspect of Wrath to slay all  skeletons who approached, and take down both Blazing Bones as well (I  think).  The Blackguard caught on fire and jumped in the river.

The army was defeated, no heroes died, and dawn broke over the town.  Just another night in the Shadowfell.  Everyone made 3rd level and everyone got a random Fortune Card.