DM Notes: Running the Game - by Matt Colville

https://www.youtube.com/user/mcolville

Episode #1 - Starting
(Pre-generated characters and free rule links
4-7 players
3-4 hrs of play
4-5 encounters - an encounter is battles, traps, puzzles, riddle
Maps for the dungeon graph/hex paper
Graph paper - Dungeonographer online tool

Episode #2 - starting the first session

Meeting at the Tavern? Cliche but effective.
Rip off other material that you like! Nothing wrong with that. LOTR, Novels, stories,
movies, Harry Potter, any good story can be used in even The Godfather!
Ask the players to describe themselves. Clothes, looks, class, background
Show don't tell when possible.
Have NPC’s to interact with.
Ask the players what they want to do, it's an easy way to get things moving.
Greed is more than likely the primary motivation to help out someone.
Wanted Poster: Kill these guys and get some cash. Written by a town leader. Use an
NPC to volunteer himself who is old to motivate the players to speak.
Don't always show the map, it keeps the world mysterious and more in the minds eye.
Use NPC’s to provide info the players.

Episode #3 - Running your First Dungeon

Verisimilitude - real and straightforward story and details
Enemies - What do the bad guys want?
What will motivate your players in terms of their enemies’ victim choice? Who will they
kill, kidnap, swindle, or torture?
Enemies always have the choice to leave a fight, which will tell the PC’s they are
dealing with an intelligent enemy.
Who notices who first? Element of surprise.
Remember to be flexible with actions.
Roll initiative means combat begins.
Enemies will think tactically and it will challenge the players and make it feel real.
Describe the details of what PC see, hear, and smell to add atmosphere.
Players need to learn they can affect change on the scenario not just accept what you
tell them leaving them feeling as if they have no choice.
Don't let resting become too easy for players or they will always use it to stay safe.
Use Random Encounters at your discretion if they rest, and make sure they are fairly
nasty, this will discourage them only wanting to use it too often.
The more they find horrible circumstances surrounding victims the more empathy it
creates. Be aware of unexpected ways to create atmosphere (cage, bloody,
unconscious, tortured, chained, covered in ooze, crying). Be aware of sexist imagery
unless it fits your narrative logically.
SECRET: Players like to win. That's how they have fun. Keep this in mind.
Enemies who start to win might change strategy. Perhaps instead of killing the enemy
leader will say I'll save your friend if you leave now, or make some other deal to give
players creative tactical challenges.
It's okay to use a riddle or puzzle and not have the players get it right. They'll wonder
what would have happened if they had gotten it right, DON’T TELL THEM. This creates
more real feeling of a world where your decisions are final and you can't try again.
Adjust difficulty based on player actions, if they rest before a fight make the fight
tougher.
Consumable magic is a good way to reward players without screwing up the power
balance. (Scroll, Potion)
Players loot an item that triggers an enemy encounter fitting of the situation.
Create specific condition that would allow them to avoid the triggered enemy, but
something very unique and detailed. (A Paladin in the party recited the oath on a wall
earlier in the dungeon)
Be ready to improvise.

Episode #4 - Making Characters

4d6 rolls to generate stats and drop the lowest score
Decide how you want to attribute the rolls to the ability category (in order, pick, need at
least two above a certain number)
You don't have to have a balanced party. You can augment the party with and NPC or
you can reward them with magic items helping in the area they are deficient.

Episode #6 - Your Town

Gives you the chance to make your own world and cater to your own tastes.
You can use races, spells, gods, etc and make them all unique in your specific world.
A town is small enough to know all the goods, services, leaders, politics, and
personalities in each part of it. A city is much bigger and might be a ton of initial work to
create and know all things about it right away.
List of NPC’s who may available to the players for help.
Links for examples of letters and plot hooks in this video.
Use other peoples content if you need to and customize it to your own tastes to it helps
save time. Or you can add it to your campaign if you are having a writers block.

Episode #7 Dead Ends

Don't have critical plot points be in a language or by means they won't be able to get the
information. You have to build multiple ways they can get the information so the can
still carry on with the story.
Making your players wonder “ what if” is huge! Make it feel very dynamic.

Episode #8 - Sociology of the game

If they have fun you have fun.
Try to be inclusive in terms of ideas and character choices.
Cut out bizarre sexual shit.

Episode #9 - The DM screen

Made to hide your screw ups.
Customize it to your needs, ignore what you don't need.
Having the players numbers in front of you can be helpful, but some consider it
cheating. It helps you attack while taking into account PC’s roles and where their
weaknesses lie and strengths are. This can increase or decrease the drama of an
encounter.

Episode #10 - Deck of Many Things

The Deck of Many Things: Artifact Magic Item that's really crazy and can be fun for
players and your campaign.
You can adjust the amount of bad cards and good cards and can customize the deck
with other benefits that aren't in the DMG.
What's the point of running the game without having some magic items get into the
hands of the players which make the game so unpredictable and fun for them.
Tip the odds in their favor by changing how they pick the card. Or setting it up how the
card gets picked.
Set of tarot cards and a box for an interesting prop to present the cards.

Episode #11 - Types of Players

It's not a problem if they aren't playing the way you want. What matters is are having
fun.
Players vs Audience Members :
-Players - Think about the game outside the game.
-Aud. Members - happy to watch the story unfold and are less engaged.
Both of these players are okay, the audience members are having fun too.
Power Gamer - wants to use his cool abilities
Butt Kicker - Just wants to kill
Tactician - get frustrated when others don't do what they think is optimal. They want
their plan to succeed more than anything else. They think you are out to thwart them.
The enemies are trying to kill you.
Specialist - want to play the only character ever and only that character.
Actor - they had a good idea and they hate when the dice thwart them. Let them role
play and have that effect some of their outcomes.
DBag - uncooperative selfish jerky character. Take on the problem head on.
Storyteller - needs drama, like a cinematic narrative play or movie.
Casual - just their to have fun with the story as it unfolds
Mad Scientist - play characters in unrealistic ways (usually younger people)

Episode #12 - Sandbox vs Railroad

SANDBOX - Made a campaign and let the players create their own goals and ideas of
where they'd like to go. This allows them to play in a defined world but they write the
story.
RAILROAD - a preset story where the players choices aren't as important. It's okay but
just because your prepared doesn't mean it shouldn't deviate from what you planned.
Maybe it will come up later on after unpredictable player choices.

Episode #13 - Catastrophic Failure

Never jail your players and force surrender, because they will fight their way out every
time. It's an interesting beginning to a story but not a good idea mid game.
They will feel railroaded and it will be struggle instead of epic fun battle…even if
someone died.
Explain your perspective when important or bad things happen.
Don't bring someone back just because they are upset they died. Instead make sure
you understand why they situation led to their death.
Don't put a gun to their head and say surrender, this will definitely make them fight
because they feel like have no choice.
Remind them of what they know sometimes if they don't seem to remember.
Be open to complaints and why things went the way they did.

Episode # 14 - Alignment
Lawful Good - Superman/Commissioner Gordon
Chaotic Good - Robin Hood
Neutral Good - Luke Skywalker/Spider-Man
Chaotic Neutral - Han Solo
Lawful Evil - Darth Vader
Neutral Evil - Count Rugan in Princess Bride
Chaotic Evil - The Joker
Neutral - Equally suspicious of any of it…very cynical
Lawful Neutral - samurai, one who serves and doesn't care about Good or evil
Don't let alignment get in the way of your character. It's meant to be a loose guide for
behavior and more important for NPC's than PC’s in the end.

Episode #15 - Bad Guys

Early introduction of the powerful villain makes him alluring to the PC’s.
Having low level heroes interact with a villain when he's much more powerful than them
helps create some tension at a time when they can't really stop him.
What does the bad guy want? What is his motivation?
Hologram technique - has a bad guy talking to another bad guy who's not actually
present, and does something terrible to his minions
Retreat - have a bad guy retreat that they fight on more than one occasion creates a
chase and makes it personal to try to stop him.
Discovered letter - helps add information to the players impression of the bad role or
motivations
Resurrection - have a bad guy resurrect a dead player character, players hate that
makes it very personal
Have friends run a bad guy in your game and let them make suggestions as to what
they might do. It will add to the unpredictability of the evil characters
Make the Villain more of a title rather than an an individual.
Remember it's okay to steal, especially from obscure sources or non-fantasy characters
from other sources. Comics, movies, gangsters, books, video games, plays, old
modules etc

Episode #16 - Random Encounters

Remind PC that the world is dangerous and unpredictable
d12 roll an 11 or 12 there's an encounter. 11 = Easy 12 = Hard
After a random encounter don't roll another, let them get to their destination.
A monster will likely retreat once it's takes enough damage. However when they
encounter a creature in its lair, the monster won't retreat. They have element of
surprise.
Also outgrowing by level random encounters helps the PC feel like they've grown more
powerful.
A wide variety of random monsters make the world seem more real.
In the dungeon random encounters will be nastier than normal to motivate the players to
keep going rather than rest.
If they want to play it safe, this is a way to put tension back in the game.
You can always fudge the numbers if you feel the players have had a particularly rough
time with the primary monster encounter.
Random Encounter Generator for 5e http://tools.goblinist.com/5enc

Episode #17 - Miniatures

Look up links in video.

Episode #18 - story vs adventure

Memorable games happen when the DM cater the game to the players choices goals
and plans.
When the DM’s story dominates the game it's tends to make the players have less fun.
An adventure is more of a framework than a story like a novel or movie. A story tends
feel like a prison to players if you make them stay on it and make their choices seem
trivial in the bigger picture.
You won't know what's gonna happen next, but that's okay. The major bad guy will
eventually show himself and it should rely on what the players decide not what the DM
wants to do.
Talk to the players as they plan. Correct their misunderstandings if they start to make
weird plans based on mistakes.
DnD happens AT the table. Let the players fill the empty spaces.

Episode #19 - Information

Saying “no one knows” means the people in the world don't know. Whereas if you say
you don't know it seems like the world is fake.
Tell the players what the people in the world think, not necessarily what YOU know to
be true in the world. That's how culture works.
Maybe they believe the rumors of the Medusa in the cave, but it's really a pile of sticks.
Point is they don't know, and neither do the people who inhabit the world.
Point of view has a lot to do with how information is handed out to the players. It's not
literal truth when you use the NPC’s speak.
If the information is profoundly obvious to the character, it needs to be obvious to the
player.
Your job isn't to beat the players, it's to make sure things unfold in a interesting and
dramatic fashion.
Use descriptions of how they look and seem so the players can make their own
conclusions.
Let them know the amount of damage done by using descriptive language. Let them
know that the enemy is near death, this heightens the drama of that impending kill.
If they roll successfully give them a good piece of info that could be useful to them.
Let them read the monster manual for a few seconds it simulates the imperfect
knowledge they might have.
It's okay to say you can't roll because your character wouldn't know anything about an
obscure part of the world. Especially at low level.
Make characters backgrounds influence what the player can do or have knowledge of in
the wider world. An intelligent mage might know more about maps, books, geography,
history, etc.
Don't tell them what to think and feel. Make them think and feel. Show them they are in
the Blacksmiths work room. Show them they are in the guard weapon storage area.
Show them they are standing in ruin that was a church.

Episode #20 - Terrain

Links in video

Episode #21 - Skill Challenges

Use a skill challenge to do something fast and somewhat dramatic which will mimic a
montage scene from a movie.
Have them roll for successes and failures on appropriate skills that will help them get
out of the challenge.
Get the players to think creatively about how to use their skills to beat the challenge.
They can only use skills they are proficient in during challenges.
Once you've tried a skill, you can't use that skill again. This avoids having the best
player roll 5 times and get out of the challenge too easily.
Multiple ways to have successes and failures during the challenge, even ways to
mitigate the failures depending on how critical the outcomes might be.
Have to have a certain amount of success rolls based on how hard the challenge is,
versus 3 failures.
You beat that challenge when you have the number of successes needed.
The players have to use their skills in creative ways and convince you their skills will
help or enhance their ability to beat the challenge.
Use an hourglass to time the challenge and build tension.

Episode #22 - NPC

Use mannerisms to make them memorable.
Use accents to make them more memorable.
Use their abilities to create their personality. Ex: High Int. lotsa of fancy vocab. High
Dex. juggles his fruit that he eats. Low CHA means he only uses one word answers.
What do they want/motivation?
What's their status? Noble? Peasant? Innkeeper? How does that influence their
motivations?
What context did they meet the players?
Background story can be fine but unnecessary work.
Sometimes you discover things about an NPC as you play them. This might make NPC
more important than you originally planned them to be. It can help make the players
see how they are perceived. It might also make the NPC become more important or
take on a more significant role than you expected after they interact.

Episode #23 - Politics 101 Central Tension

Civil war example: north vs south, slavery vs freedom, money to be made, fighting as
their job, fighting because they love it, duty of being a solider…point being, not
everyone cares about the issues.
Political tensions are usually multifaceted and have numerous points of view.
There's two sides but tons of people who either don't care, or have mutually exclusive
motivations in relation to the central tension.
Legend of the 5 Rings clan war story

Episode #24 - Politics, Central Tension, War, Peace

Are the nations in your campaign at War? Why? Why Not?
Why is there Peace?
People are usually working hard to keep peace. When those people stop or fail, war is
inevitable.
Groups, Nations, or Guilds war over irrational ideas based on their motivations just like
individuals.
The Steady State World - the general state of things as the world exists before your
characters arrive in it. It's what was normal in this world.
The Inciting Incident - the thing that when found or realized, changes the state of the
world as it exists.
The simple Wizard NPC might care more about his relationship to the town ruler than
being a wizard and identifying your magic items.
From first to third level you can find out what your players are interested in doing and
help steer the game towards the things.

Episode #25 - NPC’s, Followers, DMPC’s

Good high level NPC's who aren't solving the problems are retired from adventuring for
a variety of reasons but are still in the towns and areas of the world.
Use people outside your game to run high level NPC’s and ask them what they would
do in regards to what the players are up to. It might surprise you how they play the NPC
and come up with fun alternatives in your game. Additionally your friend might have fun
playing that NPC for you saving you from a lot of work.
You can use a high level NPC to save the players if necessary. Can't happen often and
usually fun if it comes out of the blue. But use them only if the players have proven their
worth personally to that NPC.
Followers: As you gain fame people start to take notice of you and perhaps they want to
do something mundane for you. They live their own lives but they can deliver local
news, learn from you, scribe a book for you, etc…
DMPC - Dungeon master player character. Bad idea. The players will feel like the story
is geared toward you. No fun.
Don't let the high level NPC's steal the thunder from players.
Hirelings are something you can include in your game to aid players when needed.

Episode #26 - Sandbox

A world where the players can do whatever they want to do.
Use modular ideas and incorporate them into your game.
If there's and obvious first thing to do, you may make your players feel like your putting
the players on rails. Try to avoid this if you can.
4th Edition Dungeon Delve, Village of Hommlet, 3rd Edition Book of Challenges, Keep
on the Borderlands (caves of chaos), Crucible of Freya (town), Keep on the Shadowfell.
All of the above are low level adventures that have towns or areas they can explore and
you can incorporate into your world as separate things to do. It can save you from
coming up with a lot of content that you don't have ready when you don't know which
they'll choose.
You want to make sure the clock is ticking on the other areas of the world depending on
what the players choose to do. Meaning things may change if bad guys are left to their
own devices while the players go solve other problems.
In a sandbox game maybe the players should feel like they can't do everything, other
storylines might end due to their focus on other things.
You only need two or three threads for the players to choose from. One game consists
of 3-5 encounters anyway.
If they ask about another adventure they didn't take just say sorry the clock is always
ticking.
This give the world realism.

Episode #27 - 4e to make 5e combat more fun

If you aren’t excited about a monsters ability to challenge the players, use some ideas
from 4E.
Alter an ability - ie Dragon sheds fire/heat and does damage to anyone within 20ft.
Maybe the dragons’ breath negates fire resistance if it hits and it fails your save.
(maybe if you fail by more than 5 etc..)
Frightful Presence - if you fail the save, you are shaken for a round in which you attack
with disadvantage.
Instead of breathing in an area, it uses focused breath and immolates one person, does
damage and lights them on fire.
At half hit points it automatically and instantly recharges on a reaction.
-Monster Manual for 4E could be a good guide to add some custom abilites to your
monster.
Amount of actions one side has makes a difference in 5E, so add minions to make a
battle more interesting. Lower their HP, as they are low-level minions.
Medusa turn to stone mechanic - make first save, if you fail, you are slowed, if you fail
again, you turn to stone...and are dead. Fun to draw out the mechanic of turning to
stone.
Adding spells or abilities to a character, Fast Friends Bard spell/ability, Warlord’s
Fearless Rescue ability,

Episode #28 - Fantasy vs Fiction

In a fiction game, the DM runs the game in a way where the players determines how to
affect the world. What do the people in the world want? How do the players impose
themselves on it? Their decisions will have an impact on the world.
In a fantasy game, the game they encounter is a manifestation of their own backstories
and challenges them. It's a reflection of themselves. Know the players and take their
central tension and represent that in the world. It's more psychological.

Episode #29 - Engaging vs Explaining

You don't have to explain things.
You need to engage the audience.
Confusion is different than not knowing.
Players may not be able to explain it they get it. So you don't need to explain it.
Throw them right into the middle of it.
The players feeling like they have figured something out, will make them fall in love with
the world you have them in. If they put it together themselves they will be immensely
engaged.
If they feel like they missed something, they will figure it out and realize they did it to
themselves, and think you are a great DM.

Episode #30 - The West Marches

It's a style of play that solves the problem of players becoming passive and a bit
mechanical in their approach after a few months of dnd.
The players decide when they play and who to play with from the larger group. No set
night and not always the same players.
Instead of meeting each week you allow the players to organize and adventure together
when they can but you include a larger pool of players to pick from. 8-30 characters
depending on level and when they can get together to play. You don't even need to shy
away from high level area with low level characters, because they will report to the
group what they saw and a different group will try and conquer it.
Treasure Map - Lots of different things that the players can go investigate based on a
found treasure map or them to pick from.
You give them the map and say, where do you want to explore? They choose what and
where they want to go.
No adventure in the town, it's a safe zone. Otherwise the players won't leave the town
and go where the adventure is.
Things around the town are relatively low level but as they get further it's much more
dangerous. You can make zones of the map for specific levels.
They never get an omniscient view of the map.
The map fills in as groups adventure in the wilderness of the world.
Encourage everyone to share what they find out about the world. This makes other
players get curious about what's going on in other areas of the world. Reward players
with tokens for special rewards for their next adventure if they write the best story about
their previous adventure. This also ensures that everyone plays with different members
of the larger group.
Limit how many adventures they can go on together consecutively.
You can even have two DM’s handling different areas of the world and can some with
interesting ideas.
Ben Robbins authored the West Marches
He also made Microscope and Kindgom. One is a world history game, Kingdom is a
town oriented.

Episode #31 - Time

You as the DM control time.
Use a pause to delay a moment long enough to let another player think or react to
another players decision. Particularly if you are predicting a disagreement.
Episode #32 - Slog
The game gets frustrating or boring.
Despite you picking interesting enemies and setting up a good adventure, it's just not
fun.
DnD isn't chess, it's not a winner or loser situation. It's an experience, good or bad. You
just deal with it.
It's not always fixable, and not your fault.
Let go of the frustration. It happens. Ride it out.
Don't blame the players, it's usually so easy that you'll see the could just blame you.

Episode #33 - Losing

Failing is not achieving an objective.
Losing is when the party dies or a few do, or get captured.
Losing always sucks. Some is dramatic (fun) the other is sometimes stupid.
“Why are we doing this?” - For XP and treasure. That's okay. At least you know you
don't have to die for it. It's not worth dying for. But when a super difficult enemy happens
to be there, retreat time.
“Wait…was our plan again?” - Confusion with how a plan was used to attack and enemy
or situation. No time taken to gain intelligence, information, or prepare for a situation.
Retreat - run so you can live! Don't talk about retreating, DO IT. Say “I’m leaving!” And
get outta there.
Fights in DnD aren't always fair fights. The players have to decide when they need to do
this. They won't be ready to do it, so often, someone will die and then they only start to
take the idea of running seriously.
When you have a clear goal you most certainly will try to meet it and enjoy doing so.
Even if their is a dramatic death, they will enjoy it as players.
However, when something stupid happens, and seems accidental or not related to a
clear goal, it won't be fun.
Complaining is natural, losing sucks. Goes with the territory.
Don't defend yourself, move on. New characters will be exciting.
It's not the end of the world.

Episode #34 - Time and Calendars

Keep track of time in the larger sense.
Hexes on a larger world map is one hex = a day of travel. Hills and plains two days.
Mountains and forest three days. You can use different spans of time for different
terrain if you want to get very detailed about it.
The passage of time make it feel real. It add to the verisimilitude of the world.
The reality of the secondary world helps the players feel more immersed in a true world
that goes forward while they are busy doing other things.
Track time by using a calendar. It's very interesting and adds to the cultural reality of the
world you create. Weather/Holidays/Names/ all add depth to the world.
Maybe rename holidays and the names of some obvious holidays that correspond to
things within the DnD canon that might be a part of the game. Christmas, Halloween,
Thanksgiving, but try renaming them. Or even specific world holidays that only exist in
this world, a certain god died, ruler was overthrown, or geographic disaster. These
would be important days.
Find your own names. How many moons are there? How many days a week? Names?
How long is a year? How many months? What does the sky look like? Constellations?
Traps and Puzzles - Grim Tooths, Book of Challenges, Riddle Book, Brain Teasers

Episode #36 - Funhouse Dungeons

A great way to play DnD and not take it too seriously.
More for the people who are murdering hobos rather than the role player style of game.
White Plume Mountain is an example of this type of dungeon.
There are ways to incorporate this style of play into your world. You can use it and not
totally alienate your story.

Episode #37 - Prepping an Adventure

You don't have to read the entire adventure before your begin running.
Skim through it and get enough prep to do the first session of the adventure.
Scale down enemies who might be too strong for the characters level.
If the history of a module you borrow doesn't fit into your campaign skip it.
List of NPC’s: skim and find the ones that you think are important that the players might
need to talk too.
Import maps into photo shop and clean it up and shrink it down. When possible run the
adventure from the map with annotations and white space around the map so you can
make notes on things during the adventure.
Make a page of notes about the adventure that organizes it for yourself. The general
townsfolk responses. The voices of important NPC's. What they know and will say in
response to the players. Only use the notes you need to the session you run, don't
overwhelm yourself with things your know the players won't get to.
Example of map and example of notes
Don't be afraid to edit out NPC’s you don't need.
When the NPC’s are suspicious of players it makes the players feel like they need to
earn their trust. If they complete some quests and help the locals, then the NPC’s will
change their behavior towards the players because of their deeds.
Rename things to make your adventure fit your themes or names. The inn, or NPC’s,
streets, guild names.
Find ways to hook the players backgrounds into the mysteries surrounding the town or
area so it motivates the player to want to follow that thread.

Episode #38 - Alternative Initiative Rules

Roll each round.
D4 = Ranged
D8 = Melee
D12 = Spell
D6 = Any other
+D8 = swap gear
+D8 = bonus action
+D6 = Move and do something
Lowest goes first

Episode #39 - Cinematics

Like a video game when they switch to only narrative.
It's a non-gameplay moment.
It's one of the times when your take agency away from the players.
One capture = ransom Second capture = death
Use a cinematic to give them a scenario where when you drop them out of it, they will
have the best chance of escape, or to change the current situation.
Don't use this too much because players will feel like you took choice away from them.
Episode #40 - Diplomacy
Power and its influence on why certain leaders do what they do.

Episode #43 - Monkeying with Monsters

How to lower a monsters power to fight lower level party or characters?
Ex. - Medusa
What's their AC? How hard is she to hit?
Check Good vs. Bad Saving Throws - to know weaknesses she has
Petrification - unless you avert your gaze, you make a save to avoid petrification each
turn
She has multi attack per round
She's not a strong melee monster
Lower her hit points to adjust her for a 3rd level party.
Lower her constitution to weaken her HP modifier
Have the players walk through statues of people before they fight a Medusa
Don't be afraid to turn players to stone, allow them to be able un-stone them if you
gather Medusa saliva, blood, or other one snake from her head
Change the save number for the players to successfully save from turning to stone
How would you make her stronger for higher level party?
Don't let her fight the PC’s alone
Use a lieutenant of hers who can absorb some melee damage
Your can give her more armor to up her AC, or perhaps a Shield. Describe how she
looks so you can tip the players she's gonna be tough to hit
She can animate the statutes of victims around the room with her. Remember this is a
special ability that this queen Medusa would have that lowers wouldn't
Up her HP
Be careful how much you change the saving throw on her gaze. Do resesarch on what
the PC’s constitution save stats are. That will seriously impact this particular battle.
Give her legendary actions that make her unique. If she has none, use other monsters
legendary actions to find something you think fits. Maybe she can summon snakes?
This makes her harder to battle and can challenge a higher level party.

Episode #44 - Challenge Rating

Basically not needed to run an encounter.
You don't need to be an accountant to give the players challenges in game.
Players know the rules and will use it against you if it's a numbers game.
You won't know exactly where your at when the players encounter the enemies you had
in mind in the first place.
Doing it on the fly is more fun than using accounting for every single battle.
Using it on the fly helps you get practice for not having to worry about it too much as
you go through future games.

Episode #45 - Undead

Undead can be used at all levels in D&D because every creature dies
Necromancers can make undead in ways PC’s cannot
Incorporeal Undead - serious immunites to damage and conditions, keep this in mind
when you unleash them on PC’s. They may be much more dangerous than they seem
or you realize when you use them against your players’ characters. Be aware of how
many you use
Skeletons and Zombies - great low level undead enemies to use. But you can adjust
them to be tougher at higher levels if necessary. Using lots of them, or armoring them,
exploding skeletons, etc.
Shadows - can get under doorways and keyholes, twice as nasty as a skeleton, be
careful when the party doesn’t have a magic weapon. Sunlight is the spell that hurts
these guys, not daylight.
Spectres - twice as tough as shadows, they drain hit points, no saves when you die, so
be careful
Wraiths - Quite tough CR5, life drain, but if a life drain reduces you to zero, you become
a spectre. It changes the fight because it adds another enemy, quite tough.

Episode 46 - Let’s Start in a Tavern

While traditional, it's doesn't have to be boring. It's a microcosm of the larger world.
Find ways to create tension among the world and your characters, this is the general job
of the DM.
Be ready to start a minor fight in the Tavern, why not? Maybe they caught up in a
dramatic confrontation between a confusing situation where they have to pick a side
and get caught up in the story.
Tavern is a good setting to show the local people, temperature of the local politics, a
few notable NPC’s present, racial biases, in town services, recent rumors and
happenings.
Perhaps a mistaken identity accusation against someone in the party or a character in
the tavern?
Adventurers are not always welcome if the locals have encountered some previously.
because its fair to say they usually stir up some kind of trouble.
Run the scene very real, have a menu, have a server that ask what they want, have
someone interact with them innocently. Chance to foreshadow things for later in the
game.
This is a chance to introduce themes or foreshadow things in your world that may lie a
few adventures off in the future.
However, don’t exaggerate it too much as to not fit the logical beginning point in the
game. Most of the people are locals, but there should be one or two NPC’s who are
unusual and can be more powerful or important to the story arcs.
Have NPC’s take sides during the process of a confrontation and use it as a way to
introduce themselves and take sides in something your players may not yet understand.

Episode 47 - Undead Again

Using lots of low level minions of undead, though easily killed, can make higher level
characters feel powerful when they kill a lot of them easily.
Ghouls - paralyzing claw, low level undead, bite and claw
Ghasts - higher AC than Ghouls, more HP, they can poison, resistant to the turn undead
ability, and can make Ghouls resistant within 30’ of them too. This makes for a fun
tactical challenge for players
Wights - CR3 tough infantry undead type, life drain, can turn you into zombie when they
kill you, wear armor, use weapons
Banshees - need magic weapons to hit them, can frighten the target, they wail once per
day and its death if you don’t save so USE SPARINGLY
Ghosts - same as banshees except they have the ability to possess creatures, this is a
huge narrative opportunity for you and your party, great roleplaying opportunity, a ghost
shouldn’t be a random monster, they need backstory and should have depth
Bodaks - a minion of Orcus, you can use them for anyone evil, great special abilities like
death gaze that damages and can kill, an aura that damages you just for being near
him, resistant to everything.
Episode 48 - Dice Math

How likely are my players to hit a monster? Know AC of monster and know the
modifiers for your players stats.
Most likely your players are +5 or better to hit another creature on an attack roll even at
low levels of the game.
Each number on the d20 has a 5% chance of being rolled.
Increasing the AC by 2 can make the enemy significantly more difficult to hit.
Be aware when your players are under in a 45% to 55% chance to hit, that means they
will miss more often than not. This can be frustrating for players even if there’s only a
few tough enemies in the battle. Especially if you have alot of players at your table.
When the players concludes they can’t hit, it will lessen the fun of the game. Your
players missing consistently won’t make them feel very heroic.
A +1 magic weapon, increases your players chances to hit by 5% on attack rolls.
Rolling two d20 dice to attack rolls almost (not always of course) guarantees them to hit.
Additionally, on advantage, you have a higher chance of getting a critical hit, which is
double the damage dice.
An alternate rule you may try, is on an advantage roll, you get to add a d4 rather than
roll an extra d20.

Episode #49 - Mistakes

Be aware of the rules. Know them.
But know that getting something wrong in the moment isn’t a mistake.
The only real mistake is when you know how something works and have explained it wo
the players, and everyone forgets to apply it correctly.
Rules mistakes made shouldn’t overshadow the importance of having a fun or engaging
experience at the game table as your collaborative story is told.

Episode #50 -