Sarah Darkmagic's blog

I love giving to my players whether it's working with them to tell great stories or providing challenging encounters that let them shine. There are few things I hate more than asking them to give up something. Unfortunately, I found myself asking one of my players to do just that. Like many groups, I allow character builds as long as they count as legal. This means all of the books and Dungeon and Dragon magazines are allowed. For the most part, this has worked really well. However, we recently found a build/feat combination that made my job really hard.

Our group had gone defender-less for awhile. When it became clear that the gnome artificer wasn't working well with the party, the player decided to switch to a Shadar-kai swordmage. Eventually, he asked if he could use the White Lotus Riposte feat from Dragon 374. Not knowing any better, I gave it a cursory look and agreed.

I didn't notice the problem immediately, but over time I found the battles less fun for me. It took me a while to figure out the source. Large encounter groups can be hard to run at the table and often take a bit longer. To help with this problem, I focused on using fewer monsters in general and no more than 2 or 3 monster types in a particular battle. Also, the story required that they be introduced to a couple long-term villains, so I used a fair number of elite and solos. The problem became the combination of the Aegis of Assault [DDI] and White Lotus Riposte [DDI], which sets up a bit of a "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. I felt this particularly hard when the swordmage went after the ranged controller rather than the melee monsters. However, it wasn't purely the double "mark" that was the issue, but rather the amount of damage and the fact that it was not limited to once per round. His attack bonus was 5 which meant that any time White Lotus Riposte was in play (and it often was) and the creature attacked him, it had to take 5 points of damage. And if it had an attack it could do as a minor or an action point and it chose to attack him again, it would take 5 points of damage for any additional attacks. Unlike the Aegis power, the damage was automatic and, well, added up pretty quickly.

For a while, I was at a bit of a loss about what to do. I know this particular player enjoys finding the special combo that makes for particularly devastating characters but designing encounters was becoming less and less fun for me. I didn't want to take the passive-aggressive way out and design every encounter to make it so this particular character would fail or have rocks fall or any of those DM tricks we joke about. So I took the advice from the Save My Game panel at PAX East and talked to my player. We worked out a couple of options on how we could modify the feat in case he still wanted to use it, but, in the end, he decided to go with a free retrain. While I can't say he was ecstatic about the change, he did admit that it was a bit broken. He was doing more damage, more often, with the white lotus feat than his similar encounter power.

Since my players just made level 8, I know that there are a whole bunch of adjustments I'll have to make to my encounter design habits. For now, I'm really looking forward to going up against the new swordmage. Hopefully my monsters can take it, at least for a few rounds.

I'll state up front, this post has little to do with D&D or role-playing or even geek affairs in general. It's just something I felt compelled to write after Chatty made me cry for the second time this week. Both times it had to do with the subjects of intolerance and hatred. If you haven't had the chance to read his latest blog entry, Full-Spectrum Thoughts: The Traitors Among Us, I urge you to go read it now.

Like many geeks, and most people in general, my childhood was not always an easy one. I couldn't accept what society wanted from me, a girl. Part rebellion, part love, I wanted to play sports. This desire was particularly hard on my parents as I had been born with a hole in my heart and playing sports could be quite dangerous for me. Of course, this made me want to play all the more.

While I was eventually able to win them over, the rest of my town was much more difficult. At least two of my elementary school teachers told me that playing sports was just a phase I was going through. They told me that I would be happier when I realized this and stopped playing. Not only that, they told me it was the only way the boys would like me.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the recess aides weren't much better. Once, when I expressed my desire to play basketball during recess, I was told that since the boys didn't want me to play, my choices were to be a cheerleader or go elsewhere. This just led me to get my work done earlier so I could be the first to get the classroom ball and insured a chance to play, or so I thought. A year later, the boys again did not want me to play even though I had brought out the ball. They tried to grab it from my hands and, when I would not let go, dragged me all over the school yard. Instead of yelling at them, I was told that as a girl, I should have known better.

Unfortunately, middle school was not much better. There were constant comments about my orientation, often made by my current crush. And two-hand touch football often became tackle football, at least when the aides weren't around. For me, they made it into a game of seeing who could drive me into the ground, perhaps making me bleed or even cry. Not fun stuff.

So you may be wondering at this point why I am sharing this. Well there are a few reasons. First, as soul crushing as these things could be, I had a lot of really good people out there serving as my points of light. Obviously, my parents and brother were big supporters. Then, there were the people who talked my parents into letting me join the town softball league. And the coaches who made sure I had everything I needed to play even though my parents didn't have a ton of money to spend on sports accessories. And there were friends who let me be my crazy self around them and accepted me for who I was. The one thing these people all had in common was their ability to see what is most important in life, do what makes you happy. It's way more important than money or power or fitting in.

In addition, these events shaped who I am today. They informed most, if not all of the decisions regarding the type of person I want to be. And sometimes, you just need to share that part of your soul in hopes of making the world a better place. I long ago came to conclusion that even when there is nothing I can do to help my lot, being strong might help others. Also if you ever wonder why I can be so shy in public, you now have your answer. You'll also know why I don't back down from a fight.

It's too easy to tear each other down. Even worse, it leads to scars that would take generations to heal. I've seen too many people I love and admire feel the need to retreat from a world they love because there are some people out there who refuse to just by happy or, even worse, find their happiness in inflicting pain on others. I hope you'll read Chatty's blog and join him in his endeavor. Let's stop tearing down and start building up.

You have memorized every detail of the map. You know that the floor is made of blue-green stone with the slightest grade towards the drain in the center, the intricacies of the stained glass windows above and all the corners with dim light where your lurkers can hide. Heck, you can even describe, in vivid detail, the tapestry of the gnome and dwarf getting it on and, behind it, the bugbear [im]patiently waiting to kill the PCs. Now all you need is for the players to open the door.

Your most detail-oriented player turns to you and points to the door. You anticipate a question about the door's description so you queue up that information in your brain. Then he asks, "So, Mr. DM, which way does the door open?"

Success, he asked about the door. You start describing the door, its time-worn wood, well-oiled iron fittings and even how one of the knots resembles Gandalf on a bad hair day.

He persists, "That's great but which way does it open?"

It takes a moment but you realize you don't have an answer. It's not in your game notes or on the map. Panic sets in. You're flustered and you can no longer think clearly. It takes a few moments, but you decide that the door opens towards the PCs. The player who asked looks a little sad, he was really hoping to kick in the door. Losing confidence, you race through the rest of the description, worried about the next question the players ask.

If this happens to you, take a breather and think about a few things.

Does it matter to you?

Is it important to your monsters that the door open a certain way? Do they have a bucket of acid perched carefully above the door? Is an enemy waiting behind the door, hoping to use it to stay hidden? Have the monsters gathered themselves into the basement, scared of the blood-thirsty PCs and waiting for the shadow of the door as it swings in? If having the door open a certain way will make running your monsters more fun, have it open that way.

Does it matter to your players?

If your monsters could care less about which way the door swings, find out if it matters to your players. Maybe they really want to kick in the door or, perhaps, they want to seal it shut. If their story idea is cool enough, go with it. They may just be telling this story for years to come.

Roll some dice or make up a rule

Rolling some dice buys you time to think. You can even use the result to decide the answer for you. It may also help increase the tension a bit. Another solution is to come up with a rule beforehand about how to handle which way doors open. Maybe they are all swinging doors or all doors in hallways open inwards. Whatever you decide, make sure it's something you can remember the next time the pressure is on.

In case you are in need of a diversion this fine Monday.

I borrow from older modules to add interest to my game. One of my favorites is L2 The Assassin's Knot. In addition to having a lot of great description and fluff for a small to medium sized city, it contains a few nice, highly-detailed items. These are concepts one could use in any campaign either as they are or modified to fit your world better.

Top on my list is the "racist" doorknocker. The front door to the castle has a carved lion face holding a door knocker in its mouth. When certain races approach, namely dwarves, elves, or halflings, the magical spell activates and the door starts crying out, "What are you doing here? Guards! Guards!" When the door first did this, my players were pretty surprised. They had a good laugh when the lord of the castle apologized and explained that the door was made during a different time and place. They are trying to fix it, but just haven't had time yet. It set the tone of the campaign area as one where the characters have gotten past most of those sorts of superficial issues even though there was real strife over limited resources.

Another great item is the Statue of Kord. Inscribed into the base of the statue are the following words, "Bring not might of arms to the door of the fortress lest I strike you down." The statue means what it says. Passing by this statue with weapons drawn means chancing an encounter with a watcher. Characters get one warning to put away their arms or they risk getting hit by a bolt of fire. None of my characters caused the statue to arm, so I didn't get to use it in the current adventure.

Besides physical items, the detail of the town's social scene is quite intricate. One nice element is the existence of a "retired" adventuring party in town. This group gave me a lot of tools to use in helping my players accomplish their goals without taking the spotlight off of the PCs. The PCs didn't have to go and convince every member of the group to help them with their quest. Once they had one or two members on their side, getting the others to help was easy. Members of this group also could be sent off to perform more mundane tasks which would otherwise require splitting the party and might seem boring to the players.

These types of details make all the difference in giving players what they need to role play. Even a few minor items can provide a fair number of cues in social interactions.