Dungeon Master: When to Roll

Knowing when to make players roll and when not to roll is a skill for a Dungeon Master. The scope of the roll is important as well. Do you roll for every jump when crossing containing a long fall and floating disks? Or do you roll once for the entire trip across? I hope to give my advice in this situation as well as provide my argument for why I like the method I use. I'll need to go into a bit of math: you have been warned. It's also partially a brainstorming of my thoughts on the subject matter.

The Problem with Rolling Too Much

In the example of the floating disks, each jump needs to be accomplished in order to reach the end. However, the odds of reaching the end will be the probability of succeeding all of the jumps multiplied together. This means that if you have a 45% chance of success (roll 10 or higher) and you need to succeed on three jumps, the odds of reaching the other side is just under 10%. These odds can slowly sneak up on you and for that reason you need to be careful when rolling a lot (I've seen this occur quite often for persuasion checks). Even if the odds of success of an individual jump are 80%, there is a 51% chance of succeeding on 3 jumps in row (0.8 * 0.8 * 0.8 * 100 to make it into a percent). This means that if a player does enough trivial tasks in a row, they will eventually most likely fail at least once. Depending on how trivial it is, I would say it isn't even worth the roll.

How to Think About Rolling

I tend to think of an activity that is being performed and thinking about the odds of success. What should the odds of making it across the room be? Let's say we decide on a DC 12 acrobatics (DEX) check. This means that the party member with a modifier of 0 has a 45% chance of success and others most likely a bit more (I'm assuming a level 1 party). If it's supposed to be dangerous, I'd be perfectly fine with those odds.

However, the odds of the entire party of 4 making it across are much worse. For simplicity's sake, let's assume everyone has a modifier of +0 for the roll. This will give us odds of 0.45 * 0.45 * 0.45 * 0.45 for a final of 4% chance of everyone making it across. This would be much better if a DC 12 acrobatics check also let a player that misses the jump to grab the edge and pull themselves up. Doing the math we get 0.45 + (0.55 * 0.45) for a total of 69.75% or roughly 70%. The 0.55 * 0.45 part calculates the odds of failing the jump check but succeeding the check to grab the edge. For four players, we get a final of 24% for everyone to make it across which is much better but still a bit too low. Redoing the calculation using a DC of 10 (55% chance of success) we get (0.55 + (0.45 * 0.55))^4 since each player has 0.55 + (0.45 * 0.55) odds of success, which is about 41% odds of success. This is close to that 45% chance I thought was fine earlier.

The above example is meant to show a few things. Even a change of a couple of points of DC can make a huge difference in the odds, especially when the modifier of the character is low. Having a backup option, such as grabbing the ledge, greatly increases the odds of success as well.

How Big a Task?

I personally would not try to make players roll for every jump. It's a lot of rolling and even one failure means a bad outcome. Instead, I'd base the result on the one roll (a really bad roll means they didn't even land on the first platform though they can try to grab the ledge, really close means they only ruined the final jump, etc.) or just describe it without worrying which jump they missed since they still failed. It's also harder to determine the odds of success for 4 consecutive checks compared to a single roll and as a result easier to accidentally make the room harder than intended (“it's easy, I'll use DC10” results in 9% odds of success).

What Results?

The fall in the previous example has been deliberately left ambiguous. A 10 foot fall (1d10 of damage) is more tolerable than a 100 foot fall (10d10 or 55 average damage) for a level one party. The reason is because the result is a setback and less health in the next combat instead of outright death. It also means that the odds of a character dying from the situation is far lower since they can climb back up and try again (or have a party member drop a rope on the other side and climb up). The odds are bad for EVERYONE to make it across on their first attempt. You could also make the odds much lower and expect that your players will do something else (make a bridge from disk to disk, have someone try to grab the falling characters hand, tie everyone together with rope in case they fall, use a rope to drop to the floor and then have the person who made it across drop a rope, etc.). In this kind of situation, it is typically best if your players realize it is dangerous, failure will result in death (being 100 feet above the ground has that effect) and/or that they realize odds of success are low.

When Players Almost Always Succeed

Don't bother rolling when success is almost guaranteed. A 1 still has a 5% chance of occurring on a d20 which means that even an absurdly low DC has a chance of failing. A reasonable exception to this is if the situation is abnormally stressful, such as in combat, since there is a chance of failure that normally is not present. It can also result in some very funny situation in comedy games. Like all things, consider your group. However, I feel usually it's best to just let the player succeed and move on. It can get annoying quite quickly even in a comedy game.

Conclussion

Be aware of stringing together rolls and needing them all to succeed since the odds of success quickly become low. Don't forget to consider the results of failure and what your players know (it will influence their decisions). If the task is so easy that it'll almost always succeed in normal circumstances, don't roll unless in an abnormally stressful situation such as combat (a situation where failure normally nearly impossible becomes possible).  

Dungeon Master: Roll Half Health

A bit of randomness helps spice things up and make things different. The Dungeon Master has many tools to incorporate randomness such as rolling health. However, keeping things balanced and fair is important as well. For this reason, I hope to share a little trick I use when rolling health for combat encounters.

Roll Half Health

To add a bit of randomness but to ensure that the combat encounter doesn't become much more difficult, roll for only half of the enemies of the same type (rounding down in the case of odd numbers). Then match up the rolled enemies with unrolled enemies and make the health of the unrolled enemy to be 2 * average health – rolled health. This way, the overall amount of health in the encounter remains the same. However, some creatures will have more health and some will have less. In the worst case scenario, half will have really low health and half will have really high. The number of enemies rolled for can be reduced if less randomness is desired (if there are 6 kobolds, roll for one and match it with one).

Example

4 kobolds are going to be used (using 5^th edition Dungeons & Dragons rules). Rolled 3 and 4. Final health is 3, 4, 7 (2 * 5 – 3 = 7), 6 (2 * 5 – 4 = 6). Average health for a kobold is 5.

Used as Guideline

Even without rolling, the basic idea can be used. If you know you'd like to keep the same amount of health but have one of the NPCs to be weaker than the others, you can decide that one of the kobolds will have 4 health (meaning that another will have 6).  

Dungeon Master: Long Distance Travel

Travel is part of tabletop role-playing games. In some cases traveling may take quite a while but in others it may take almost no time at all. This refers to both how long it takes to travel in the world of the RPG as well as the real world. However, handling long distance traveling in particular can be tough to handle for a Dungeon Master. For this reason, I'll be offering tips I hope will be helpful.

Glossing Over It

The easiest way to get around the long distance travel is to gloss over it and get to the good parts. In order to make it mean something, however, resources like food and rations will need to still be accounted for. After that, it's very simple. Just go from one source of action to the next. Doing so too often, however, can make traveling long distances meaningless. Easy access to magic transportation can help make this easier. I'd also recommend reading the travel rules in Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition and preparing some house rules if mounts are used (speeds and mounts are a bit oddly written).

Glossing Over Most of It

There will be parts that the Dungeon Master may want to emphasize. This is particularly true for details of the environment or for building atmosphere. It could be pretty routine stop at an inn for the night, but something should make it memorable, special, and ideally it should be related to where the players are going. Keeping in mind some memorable sights, sounds, and rumours is where I tend to start.

Bumps in the Road

Unexpected events can occur as the party travels. Dangers occur along travels, especially when the players are going towards danger. In those cases, being attacked by creatures or being pursued can add something extra. If long distance travel happens often, I find having that special moment every now and then helps keep everyone on their toes and the tension going. One that is worth thinking about is being pursued. It forces the players to compromise between their safety of being ambushed along their way, possibly getting caught, and also trying to maximize their time at the location they are going to before they have to flee. Forcing the players to choose between helping someone while on their way and their main goal can also create some truly heartbreaking moments if used correctly and sparingly (don't overuse this). The bumps should be special, add something or attempt to slow down the players so that negative consequences occur later. Wandering monsters can also be used, but I find it helps to make sure they are not their just for lengthening travel time. Instead, say something about the environment, give players a reason to push until daylight or give players a reason to stop at an inn (or similar safe place) at night.

Choices

The players will want to move quickly towards their location. However, is going safely more important than speed? The current travel rules in Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition already give the players some choices about how fast they go through the environment. However, as the Dungeon Master you can give even more choices. Remember, there can be more than one way towards their goal. Each way will have its own risks and rewards and keeping these in mind can help make travel more engaging. Things may also not go as planned once the players choose their path and the players may be forced to alter their course. I've lightly touched on what choices wandering monsters may force in the “Bumps in the Road Section” already. The choices should have some impact on something such as travel time, or story.

Dungeon Master: Improvising Adventures

I've devoted a lot of time so far to planning. However, there will be times things go off the rails. Some groups prefer more open ended games as well where the focus is on exploration instead of narrative. Some people just find it easier to improvise as they go along. Still, thinking on this topic I've come up with a few things that I hope will be helpful.

Wandering Monster Tables

These guys are very useful. I don't roll on them very much but they are a great source for inspiration. Think of them as representing what threats the local area contains and how frequent they are. If you don't have one, making a quick one before the session is easy and generally beneficial. That way, you know which creates are most likely in the area. You can also easily put something not on the table to mix things up.

Tactical Maps and Dungeon Tiles

It's much easier to use theatre of mind on the fly compared to using a map or dungeon tiles. Still, dungeon tiles and maps can be easily used with some practice. Maps can be simply thrown down on the table and traversed (might want some blank sheets to cover up where players haven't been yet). Dungeon tiles take a bit more time to set up and as such are harder to use on the fly, but you can think of quick designs, design tables for yourself, or use the tables from the Dungeon Master's Guide. Outside of rolling tables, dungeon tiles will require quicker thinking and also more set up time. With some practice, it can make for an enjoyable dungeon delve.

What Kind of Situations?

Dungeon delves are easiest for me to improvise on, especially when you already have a bunch of maps you could run through. More story focused things are harder, but with a bit of practice it can be done. I typically find that focusing on a few characters and having everything fall out from that is easiest for me and also gets the best results (easy to keep in mind at once). Also, don't forget the calm before the storm and mood when improvising. It's was very easy for me to skip on the details when I first started doing serious improvisation. Don't forget the signs, the sounds and other aspects of the environment that help contribute to the theme and feeling.

Pitfalls

Not forgetting details is a big pitfall that can happen when improvising for the first time. However, this is also true for combat. The details are important for tactical considerations such as flanking, good archer positions (where archers can keep out of melee), hiding and many others. Maps, again, remedy this a little bit but not completely. Many times, you'll be forced to populate maps with objects as they are empty otherwise. Keeping a little pile of objects for this purpose helps remind me. Generally, it is easier to respond to what players do instead of throwing something brand new their way. As a result, if the players don't know where to go, it can be hard to think of something interesting to throw their way. As you improvise, keep a piece of paper to write down ideas that you can use later in such situations.

It's Not Easy

It's not easy, but it can be very rewarding to think on your feet. It also means you won't be railroading players since there is very little investment into preparation. Getting good at it also helps cut down on preparation time, which can be a plus if you are busy. It's also much better than missing sessions if you can do it well. Good luck to everyone running games this way and I'd love to hear of any other tips people are willing to share.

Dungeon Master: Player Income

Income plays a big role in tabletop role-playing games. The options and assets available to a player are partially dependent on the money they have available to spend. In some cases, the assets they have also force a certain amount of income towards the players. In some campaigns, this plays more of a role since there are bigger expenses. For these kinds of situations, I hope to outline some tips.

Expenses Needing More Income

If you plan to have your characters managing a kingdom, they will need access to far more money and resources than a typical dungeon delving campaign. This will also be true if they will need to craft expensive one-of-a-kind items. If the players will be outmatched (see my previous article), they may also need more money to help hire help, bodyguards and to buy items to help tip the odds. There could also be role-playing reasons for doing so. Instead of raiding shiny things for their income, they may be getting paid a salary in order to serve an organization. A portion of their income may be taken to pay off a debt or something similar.

Spending Money

Though it may seem apparent, it's important to keep in mind the different ways players can spend money. If you want your players to spend money for role-play reasons, they need to have the money available and spending money should create results that are beneficial enough. If not, they'll take the best option and ignore the rest. If they have too much money to spend, money won't matter anymore. Summarized, if you want to make the players rich, they should still have reasons to spend money and things to spend money on.

Guides Are Suggestions

Dungeon Master Guides tend to have tables for rolling general things like treasure. It's good to remember that these are suggestions and can be easily manipulated or changed by the Dungeon Master. If more money needs to be sent towards the players, you can either increase it however you want or just take the maximum value from the table depending on the needs. A particularly rich dragon could have much more than the tables say. Make sure it makes sense in the narrative, including consequences that result.

Making Money Outside Combat

In my opinion, the section of the Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition Dungeon Master's Guide on running a business isn't very good. Instead, thinking about how much an enterprise (or castle, etc.) should cost and how much it should take to break even (I'd imagine most people wouldn't want an enterprise that takes 3 lifetimes to break even). After that, decide on possible consequences of good time period versus a bad one to use as a modifier on income. People tend to be fine with these kinds of things if they make of them themselves.  

Dungeon Master: Fighting Above Level

Sometimes, it makes sense that a party will be fighting a challenge that is beyond their normal means. Proper tactics can also turn an impossible battle into a winnable, even if extremely difficult, one. However, a lot of the time I've seen this occur, it did not end well. For this reason, I hope to go over some tips that can help make situations that are winnable, enjoyable and make sense.

Players Shouldn't Always Win

I don't think players should always win. If they go out of their way to find and proceed to pick a fight with an ancient dragon at level 1, I don't feel bad if they die. There will probably be ways out and there could be good reason to end up on bad terms with an ancient dragon (trying to steal something from its hoard), but these are different than picking an unwinnable fight. Clearly stupid actions can lead to death and should in a serious game (comedy games are a different story). What I'm talking about here is different. If the intention from the start is to let the players fight above their level and triumph in a difficult situation, this when what I'm suggesting should be used.

Magic and Other Items

Magic items present a very effective way to let a party hit above their level. For example, a sun blade gives a party a much better chance against a vampire spawn. Mathematically, it would allow a level 4-5 character (if they have a high armor class and didn't roll hit points poorly) to take on a challenge rating 5 vampire spawn. The item needs to either specifically target a weakness or give a significant enough effect that it can make up for a level difference. Failing that, multiple items can be given to the party but care needs to be taken. Depending on the magic items given, future situations may be made easier as well. This can be adjusted by giving tougher enemies, but this should be considered ahead of time.

Godly Intervention

Fighting a powerful enemy, the players may find themselves with a powerful godly ally. In the most basic case, such a godly being can bestow benefits similar to a magic item. However, there are also many other effects a godly being can grant. They can also give connections, locations, and access to allies that otherwise would not be accessible. In the most dire of circumstances, they may even intervene themselves (make sure the players still play an important role if this happens).

External Help

The number of players is not necessarily the size of the party. If the party is facing a true threat, it makes sense that other people will be willing to help since their own livelihood depends on it. Even if the threat is smaller, there are potential allies out there that can help. Having 8 people instead of 4 can greatly even out the odds, even if the additional 4 people are weaker than the player characters. Also, tools and weapons like ballistas, canons, battlements, alchemist's fire, and the like can be used to improve the odds of an extremely difficult situation. A young black dragon is going to be too much for a level 5 party. It's a different situation if the level 5 party has 4 ballistas and can lure the dragon into range by using the egg they stole.

Situation

Some situations favour the party. Even if they are outmatched normally, they can take advantage of a situation to give them the edge. Since the Dungeon Master controls the scene and chose to pit the players against something difficult to kill, it is also partly their job to think of situations that will allow the party to win. Against a vampire, the day time can be exploited to great effect. 

Consider Escape

Even in a perfectly balanced encounter, die rolls may go poorly and tactics can unexpectedly backfire. In cases where players are fighting something normally out of their league, such a situation is even worse. In these cases, retreat may be the only option left. Since the odds are already weighed against the players and only brought back to a similar level due to the above techniques, the group will most likely lack tools available to a party of the right level for the encounter (most noticeably hit points and class abilities). The result is that escape will probably be taken more often. Expecting this, consider what ways a party can use to escape and leave such opportunities open. There will be some situations where escape will be less feasible, but in these cases the choice of when to strike can be left up to the players. It is then their responsibility to choose the option with the best odds of success and the best odds of escape if things go wrong.  

Dungeon Master: Fear in Games

I, like many others in my group, appreciate a good horror movie. However, movies and tabletop role-playing games are two different kinds of media and as such the methods available are different. Though I by no means will claim to be a master of tabletop horror, I've seen what works for the games I've run and hope that someone else can benefit.

Jump Scares and Reveals

Short of paying someone to dress up in a monster costume and scare people while they are lost in the game (that sounds a little tempting now...), a Dungeon Master can't really use jump scares. If a Dungeon Master is really sneaky, they can slip some creepy sound effects. I've seen it have some really good reactions if the players didn't see it coming. Otherwise, the appearance of a miniature doesn't have that same reaction as a jump scare in a film (I'm not a very big fan of them in movies either). For it to inspire some kind of reaction, the players needed to have some kind of experience in the past. If they run into the creature unprepared after having seen the damage it can do, it creates the sense of danger that makes them fear for their character's lives. As a result, it is more based on the build up to the reveal.

Properly describing a particularly monstrous creature can create a reaction, but that fear of death is generally more powerful to creating horror in my experience. If a player has a character they don't care about and they run across a particularly nasty sounding creature, they might think it sounds cool but they probably won't be afraid.

Unease and Dread

Creating suspense, dread and good environments is where the main meat of the horror is. Doing this isn't easy, but it can become fairly natural with some practice. There tend to be certain kinds of creepy and unsettling that Dungeon Master's like. I generally liked the unexpected detail under the seemingly normal. In order to do this, you try to make something appear as normal as possible from a distance and in passing. However, as the players spend more time at the location and interacting with the inhabitants, strange details start coming up. It can also be directed at people instead of a location. The seemingly reliable ally can slowly start looking more and more sinister and suspicious as time goes on.

A major thing I found that generally works is the breaking of a norm or rule. A door broken off its hinges isn't unsettling because of what is seen. It's unsettling because the party heard it moments ago and even the 20 strength fighter would struggle to match such a feat. The implication that something not normal is now close by and capable of damage is what makes it unsettling. The reasonable expectations of discovering the source also factors in.

Cornering the Party

If the players are trying to accomplish a goal after they got something scary mad at them, losing their options one by one creates suspense and builds that tension before the reveal (wizards they can consult keep showing up missing or dead). It also helps to foster that reveal of the unknown and the feeling of powerless-ness. However, this needs to be done extremely carefully. Because they are playing a tabletop role-playing game, players need to continue to have some choice over their actions. You want to make them feel like they are running out of options and desperate but that there may be some kind of hope out there as well as choices to make. It also partially depends on your party, since some people/characters may be optimistic even in the face of impossible odds. It may even give them reason to try harder (they want to prove they can survive). As always, consider your audience.

The Details

Properly describing the environment in a way that builds a feeling of creepiness is a necessity. You want that uneasiness. However, the details can vary depending on the players you have. If in the door example there are also claw marks, it helps give some information about the threat that may be present. For some people, this might make it less scary because it takes away some of the unknown. For others, knowing that the creature also has sharp claws adds to the danger. Regardless, details are important. Even if there are no claw marks, you can describe the way the wood or other material broke to hammer in the oddness and the threat without ever saying it.