Chaotek Thoughts

I am currently working on finishing the campaign log for a recently ended Dark Sun game I ran. As I’m writing it, I’m reminded that this campaign included one of my favorite moments as a dungeon master. This moment was a massive plot twist, that had caught the players completely by surprise.

In the game, the heroes learned that there was an artifact called the Chrono Rod, which could allow them to travel in time. The group planned to travel back in time, and kill Rajaat, the man most responsible for the post-apocalyptic setting of Dark Sun. The group was fired up to activate the rod and do this great deed. To activate the rod, the rod had to be placed in the hand of a certain statue. As the rod was activated, the group was ready to charge through the portal to kill Rajaat. Well, it didn’t quite go that way. Time had taken its toll on prophesy, and what the rod really did was awaken a champion of Rajaat who was still very loyal to his master. Instead of stopping Rajaat in the past, they were now looking at the possibility of bringing Rajaat back into the current world so that he could finish the job.

There was a moment as the champion of Rajaat was awakening, where I was looking at the players and you could see the brimming excitement suddenly get crushed by the reality of what was really occurring. This might sound a little sadistic, but the point is that the game completely changed direction in an instant. Sure, the players were pissed, though not at me. They were fired up by the situation.

What makes the story one of my favorites is that the players had become so deeply invested in the story. This wasn’t a plot twist, it was a reality twist. As a game master, the most you can hope for is to develop a plot deep enough that the players immerse themselves in the story–and this game was a great example. It is a rare game where I get that kind of energy from the players, making the experience of this campaign one of my best experiences behind the DM screen.

Now, I don’t expect that every campaign should have such a big plot twist. But I definitely encourage other game masters to develop stories and worlds which draw in players. In other games it’s been a reoccurring villain that the players hate with a passion, or an NPC that the players love to interact with. I’m specifically referencing the difference between an in-character reaction and a player reaction. If the players are not invested in the story, then you’re not much better than a video game. The goal of role playing is to develop stories and characters which allow the gamers to suspend their disbelief and feel like a part of that world.

I’ve noticed that my PCs and party NPCs more often than not tend to be be anti-heroes, rather than heroes.  Some of my favorite characters in games have been patriotic necromancers, vigilantes, addicts, grey Jedi, and a plethora of characters who barely have a handle on their sanity.  For the most part, these characters do not result in intra-party conflicts–despite their evil leanings.  The characters are always loyal to the party, and have an “ends justify the means” mentality.  The characters are always shades of grey (more like a Christmas light in a dark gymnasium).

I don’t think it’s because I’m incapable of playing a truly heroic character, because I have.  However when I do, the games tend to be less enjoyable.  Sure, this might be because I feel constrained by the limitations of being a “good guy.”  However that seems too simple to explain the entire story.

When making a character, I want the character to be interesting.  Interesting might include the shininess of being a little tasteless, but it also includes conflict.  I’m talking about internal conflict and external conflict.  It’s hard to play a conflicted character when you’re toeing the line of goodliness.  To me, a righteous character shouldn’t be conflicted by wanting to do something and not being able to because it’s bad–dark thoughts are just as evil as dark deeds.  The only conflict I come up with for truly good characters is being a lawful stupid paladin, which means your conflict is being a cop for other player characters.

Outside of gaming, some of my favorite characters are anti-heroes, my favorite comics include Punisher, Ghost Rider, Deadpool, Iron Man, Wolverine, etc.  I’m not a fan of true heroes like Superman or Captain America, not that I dislike them but I just don’t enjoy the stories as much because there is far less conflict.

I think the best way for me to play a good character, is to be faced with an enemy who is the dark mirror.  It has been said that heroes are defined by their villains.  Without a truly vile villain to measure up to, I don’t think I have the ability to play a completely heroic character.  Maybe I just have an unfair standard for my heroes…

After many years of gaming, there is one aspect of traditional D&D which I can’t stand more than anything else—dungeons. It may seem odd, as half of the title of the game I play the most is dungeons, but I just can’t stand them.

I understand why dungeons are often the core of published adventures; they are easy to write. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to design an adventure for others to use without a dungeon. With a dungeon there is a limitation on possible player choices and solid rewards for accomplishing the dungeon. This is why video games utilize the concept as well. It is a very simple, easy to document, and easy to understand method of covering adventure material.

However I feel like dungeons, and published adventures in general, are not very much fun. I like using a published adventure for inspiration, but every time I use a published adventure the game becomes very stale and boring. Sure, 5 rooms of cutting down enemies might be fun, but any more than that and I think me and my fellow players stop trying to enjoy the story and just ignore everything to just finish the dungeon. Its where dungeon crawling becomes a chore.

I do think there is a way to apply the benefits of dungeons to published adventures which do not include dungeons at all. For an example of this, check of the 3.5 book Heroes of Battle. This book includes a good example of how to design an adventure like a dungeon without including a dungeon. Heroes of Battle uses the example of an overland adventure, where player choices affect the next phase of a battle in the midst of a war. The example provided is a D-Day style invasion, where the party arrives on a beach. After stopping the initial defenses, the heroes can continue down the breach to support another landing party, or move up the cliff-side to take out an enemy fortification, and so on. There is a very good diagram of how this can be defined using a flowchart. Even better, there is a time-based flowchart which defines what the enemy forces will do, and how it could react if the players interfere.

The point here is that I believe that published adventures can be much more interesting and immersive if dungeons became a thing of the past. For those who are designing their own adventures, using these ideas for adventure design can provide a robust pre-planned adventure, without the need for a boring dungeon crawl.

Last night we started a new campaign, using a new system, and a first-time game master. That’s a lot of new, suggesting the session would turn out to be an all-around train wreck. As it turns out, the session was very smooth, with the issues primarily around learning a new system. Afterwards, we discussed some tips for the first time GM. The primary issue I’ve seen with first time game masters is a strong desire to tell a story-at the cost of the players’ fun. We call this railroading, where the players feel like they have to control or input into the story. The players become glorified dice-rollers at best, bored story listeners, or at worst angry ex-players. So here are some thoughts on how a first-time GM can avoid railroading:

Be a minimalist in describing the situation. I’m not saying that description isn’t important; in fact it is very important for story immersion. What I’m recommending is restricting your description to the minimum required to set the scene. Then allow the players to interact with that environment, thereby allowing for more description. If you completely describe the pub that the players walked in to, down to every detail of the inhabitants, then there is very little for the players delve deeper. By being a little vague about the description, you’ve created an air of mystery that the players will want to solve.

Don’t over think the adventure. In a given adventure, simplify your story idea into 2-3 plot points with huge gaping holes between them. Don’t spend a lot of time deciding how the players are going to get from one plot point to the next. If you plan too much, you’ll quickly lose your entire plan as the players go a different direction. Allow the players to decide how to get from one plot to the next. For example, if the players need to find out information about a nasty relic they are looking for, don’t plan on how they will learn that information. Allow the players to decide, such as they might consult a library, ask around town, or seek divine inspiration. All you need to do is plan the end result (in this case you might have the location of the relic), and let the players get there by whatever creative means they think of.

Start off small. For your first game, consider not planning a grand campaign plot at first. A first time GM will kill themselves planning an intricate, multi-month plot only to have the players destroy the possibility of that plot in the first session. Instead, focus on a single adventure at a time, and then incorporate reoccurring themes. It will seem like you planned it all out in the end. Long term campaign ideas lead to railroading more often than anything else in my view, because the game master wants to get to the end-plot and is less concerned with the current plot and the chaotic players. Once you get some experience, use the adventure advice above to develop a campaign story arc.

Don’t do anything on the players’ behalf. I heard a great bit of advice on the Fear The Boot podcast, the GM has control over the entire world, whereas the players only have control of a single character–don’t take that away from them. Try to stay away from changing character backgrounds or personalities. Don’t tell the characters as they walk into the pub that they move up to the bar and order a drink–let them say that they are moving up the bar to order a drink. Even if you can accurately predict the players’ actions, let them do it anyways.

Your plot is not set in stone, and that’s a good thing. If your plot revolves around the players getting ambushed on the way to village X but the players decide to go to village Y, who says that the ambushers are not on the road to village Y instead? If the players decided not to leave town, let the ambushers come to them or save that plot point for when they do–next session. If your plot points are vague enough, as suggested above, they can occur almost anywhere and for any reason. The players have no idea what you planned, and will think that their actions (or inaction) let to the plot progression. If the players kill someone you were going to use as a reoccurring villain, then use someone else to fill that role in future plots (it doesn’t mean the entire plot collapses).

Unless you are making up the entire game as you go along, which I don’t recommend for first-time game masters, and then you have developed some sort of plot for your game. The key is to let the players believe that they are in control. In a way this suggests that it’s just an illusion of control, but a most important illusion. Freewill in the real world can be considered an illusion of control. The players feel like they are in complete control, and yet you are doing an awesome job keeping up with them. When in reality, you always knew that a platoon of bad guys was going to find them–no matter what they did.

Sure, you can and should take the player’s actions into account. The most important part of being a game master is to facilitate the player’s fun, so allow them to have fun. Make them feel like their actions and personalities matter. Oh, and never use a published adventure for your first time in the GM chair, as a published adventure will go against every suggestion here.

I found a blog post awhile back called How to Awesome-Up Your Players. Ever since I read the article, from time to time I think about this as a basic theory of gaming. The entire point of roleplaying games, unlike any other type of gaming such as video games, is that the players get to be the hero. Sure, a video game might let them play a hero, but it doesn’t let them be the hero. The theory is almost like the service industry’s motto of “the customer is always right (even when they’re wrong).” If you are a game master, your players are your customers. If they don’t like what you’re selling them, they’ll get a new GM or decide they don’t want to game at all.

Now this doesn’t mean that the rules system goes out the window. Sure, if they want to kill the BBEG or burn down the inn, they still have to accomplish the task within the confines of the rules system. The point it, you are letting them try. I think that the biggest failing of any game masters is when they tell a player no, the player can’t do something. Saying no is very different from saying that something is really hard, but is possible (however remote). At this point even if the player’s action fails it’s a failure of a bad roll, not a mean GM who doesn’t allow players to play the game. The blog post encourages the use of GM caveat in favor of players as well, suggesting that even if the action should be near impossible rules-wise, that the GM should help the action succeed. This is a good idea as well, within limits.

At the end of the day, try to say yes to your players, and avoid saying no at all costs. It’s not about giving the players anything they want, but allowing them to try.

I was reading an article which examines how Lovecraft saved roleplaying games. It’s an interesting read which posits an important thought, what modern roleplaying games would be like without Call of Cthulhu. Sure, Lovecraftian monsters are great an all, but the investigation side of roleplaying I think was very under-valued in early RPGs. For example, despite the claim of roleplaying, most roleplaying games are nothing of the sort. Early D&D, and even D&D 4th edition, are primarily tactics and strategy games with a little “motivation” wrapping as written.

Out of the box, many RPGs focus on combat resolution rules, which is a necessary component of any game where combat will occur. However I do think that roleplaying gets glossed over in many game systems, left to the Game Master’s discretion. I can hardly think of an RPG book I own that features a solid roleplaying instruction guide. I’m not saying that you can’t roleplay with D&D and other RPGs, but it just doesn’t seem to be a focus of the written material. Even guides for adventure and campaign design seem to focus on linking combat encounters, rather than developing a story and environment.

I don’t know if I have good advice on this topic, as there is a great deal of interpretation on how roleplaying should work. I also don’t think that you have to LARP to play an RPG with good roleplaying. I just think that game publishers could use to add a little more information on the mechanics of roleplaying alongside the mechanics of the system. The material exists, if you look in any creative writing book, so I don’t think this is an unreasonable request. I would recommend starting off with spending as much time developing your story as you do designing combat encounters. You don’t want to write an unbreakable storyline, because that’s not roleplaying either, but make sure your story is more than just filling to get PCs between encounters.

I’ve noticed that I am a really bad backseat Game Master. While I don’t consider myself to be a rules-lawyer or a setting-lawyer, I do find myself providing answers when I am not the GM a lot. Worse yet, I may be fielding answers for unasked questions. I am a GM more than I am a player, however I think this means that I am GM-ing when I am a player as well. This is ironic, because I really look forward to being a player, then I seem to be screwing it up by backseat GM-ing.

So as for the advice, which I am going to try an use as well, is to allow the GM of the game to do their job. Try not to answer questions, until the GM has had an opportunity to do so. Only answer questions if the GM asks for your input. Even in a situation where you might know the rules or setting better, it’s not your game. Maybe the GM is making a ruling that is contrary to the canon setting or rules system, but it’s their game to do so. That’s what house rules are. Never argue about setting, consider each game’s setting to be an alternate universe from canon and things might be different. If the GM makes a system ruling that you disagree with, try to bring it up outside of the game. If the ruling might drastically impact the game, consider bringing up your alternate opinion immediately, but let it go quickly if the GM disagrees. However these immediate questions should rare if ever necessary.

Gaming is supposed to be fun. If having 1.5 GMs is fun for your group, then ignore my suggestions. If keeping your gaming knowledge to yourself is not fun for you, and being a backseat GM is not fun for others, then consider not being a player as that’s not what you seem to enjoy.

Create unique and memorable characters

One way to create a memorable character is to create a unique character by breaking the standard mold. We’ve seen this in novels, namely Drizzt Do’Urden the goodly drow, and Olive Ruskettle who was a halfling bard when halflings couldn’t be bards (in 2nd edition statted as a thief with music instrument proficiency). These characters followed standard rules for character generation, just taking the rules and spinning a good background story. Without house rules, you can break the mold very easily by changing the “power source” of the character. Here are some ideas to get you started on breaking the mold for your next PC:

• Two Minds – Instead of a barbarian flying into a wild rage because of their less civilized culture, rather they become a different person while raging. Imagine a barbarian who is possessed by a demon (real or imagined), and that demon takes over whenever the person uses their rage ability. While not in a rage the character is cowardly or otherwise passive, but turns into an aggressive monster when threatened or hurt. Alternatives: might be multiple personality instead of possession or any use a non-rage character like a fighter and use the same personality change.
• Culture Shock – Many character concepts have a stereotype based on culture. Try using an alternative culture which results in the same game effect. Try a wild bard, like a Viking war-chanter (skald), who has all of the same skills as a typical bard but acts like a barbarian or druid. Another example is a barbarian from the city. Maybe they grew up on the streets, lacking formal education and harnessing anger as a street brawler or thug. Alternatives: consider a character who is not typically found in a given culture, like a sorcerer from Thay (Realms), a paladin from Neraka (Dragonlance), or a dwarven druid (Pikel Bouldershoulder).
• Monster Race – Like everyone’s favorite drow, using a monster race as a PC can definitely make for a unique and memorable character. Now I’m not encouraging the creation of more dual scimitar wielding drow, or an absurd monster race. Consider something weak, like a kobold, goblin, etc. This will allow the PC to avoid that ridiculous level adjustment and still have a special character. Alternatives: consider using a character, who like Drizzt, has abandoned his race or culture but instead comes from a normal race. For example, a human who has abandoned humanity to live underground with dwarves or a half-orc who yearns to live as an elf.
• Poor Training – How about a character who did not receive the normal training for their abilities. Imagine a martial artist (monk) who did not receive standard training and instead learned their superior fighting skills fighting on the streets of a city. Or a wizard who is self-taught, maybe from a culture which looks down on magic. Alternatives: maybe consider a character who was trained, but in something else. Maybe they spent years training to become a wizard, but it never sunk in.
• Retirement – Perhaps instead of being a spirited youth seeking adventure, your character could be an older, retired person before their started their adventuring career. In the modern world, this would be akin to a mid-life crisis. Something mundane like a blacksmith who took to the road after closing up shop, keeping his trusty hammer retooled as a weapon. Or a career soldier who never saw any action, so after retirement he’s set out to find it. Or a librarian who grew tired of 20 years of reading others’ tales and wants one of her own. Older characters benefit from lots of experience, even if indirect, which could be a lot of fun. Alternatives: Obviously the alternative to old age is youth, perhaps the character is a child or teen (or equivalent for their race). The youth could make them fearless, yet naïve. This could be a very good character concept for character growth, as the realities of the world start to sink in.
• Divine Power – A common concept in RPGs is divine influence. This is obvious for religious characters like priests and paladins. However this doesn’t mean that a character from another character type can be divinely powered (or believe that they are). For example, a bard could be an evangelist instead of a common storyteller. In a modern game, imagine a vampire who is a devout catholic (the self-loathing would be immense, I know), however this vampire might believe that God made them this way for a reason. Maybe the character believes that their magic is not arcane at all, but divinely granted and requires prayer like a priest to accomplish. Alternatives: instead of using divine power, maybe the character thinks their abilities are a display of their own divinity. This delusion could be quite entertaining. Additionally, any character can be highly religious, regardless of character type. Even a fighter can have a lot of interesting flair if they are devoutly religious. On the opposite grain, perhaps the character is an atheist, or doesn’t believe the deities are really gods at all, powerful yes but not divine.

I hope these ideas get you started on creating unique and memorable characters. Like I said above, I’m not encouraging more dual wielding good drow, as that’s not unique anymore. Create a character who stands out, with a lot of personality. It doesn’t require house rules or major rules “interpretations” to have a character break the mold. Just take a character’s abilities and apply a different source for those abilities other than what is provided in the text

When running a large gaming group, things slow down. Every round of combat takes longer, and on average each player has less time in the spotlight. An entire game session can revolve around a single encounter. While certainly entertaining, the story will progress very slowly this way. Speeding up combat also balances the time in the spotlight, giving all players an equal amount of focus. To get through combat faster, here are some tips to get your large group game moving faster:

1. Avoid out-of-game discussions during the game, especially during combat. While gaming is a hobby, not a job, it feels good to be productive nonetheless. Try to save out of character/game discussions for breaks, as well as before and after the game.
2. Plan you actions before your turn. A single player’s turn can take a very long time if the player waits until their turn arrives to decide what to do. Try to plan what actions you are going to take during your turn during others’ turns. If necessary, plan 2 possible actions for your turn, to allow for the changing battlefield. For example if you are playing a spell caster, plan an offensive and defensive spell, so if the fight changes before your next turn, you can react accordingly—and quickly.
3. Pay attention when it isn’t your turn. This may seem contrary to the preceding suggestion, but it is important to know what is going on during others’ turns. This speeds up combat simply by limiting the time it takes to re-describe the current battlefield situation. This will still occur, especially if there are rapid/dramatic changes, but limiting the unnecessary re-description can allow you to better plan you actions as well as speed up your turn.
4. Limit breaks, take breaks as a group. Whenever possible, try to wait until after an encounter to take a break rather than interrupting an encounter. Also try to take breaks as a group, if one or two people leave the table while the others are still playing, the entire game can be held up while the group waits for the person to return. If this occurs, assume the player is delaying their action, even if it means losing a turn if the round ends.
5. Have the spell/ability description ready. It can consume a lot of time looking up spell or feat descriptions in the middle of a fight, especially if you don’t decide to look it up until a question arises. This also includes having the DC, casting time, range, effect, etc. ready to answer questions.
6. Roll multiple dice at the same time. You can greatly speed up your turn if you roll all the necessary dice for an action at the same time, rather than one roll at a time. For example, an attack action might include the attack roll, concealment, damage, caster level check, etc. Rolling all of the dice at the same time can greatly reduce the time it takes to do such actions. Please note that if you are rolling more than one of the same die for different purposes, please specify this ahead of time. For example if you roll two d20s for touch attack and caster level, please state which is which before the roll to avoid confusion or cheating accusations. If you are consistent in die selection, you might only have to state this once or twice and it will be assumed thereafter. If you are unsure about if you need to roll certain dice, like concealment or spell resistance, do your best to judge based on previous encounters or scaling combat.
7. Avoid splitting the group. Aside from the survival reasons for not splitting the group, few things slow down a large group game than splitting the group. This requires running multiple encounters, which actually takes longer than if you had run the two encounters back to back. Sometimes splitting the group is unavoidable or story-driven, but these are planned for ahead of time. It doesn’t take long for the group to wait until everyone is ready before moving on to the next room/encounter.
8. Don’t argue DM decisions during the game session. Many arguments can be avoided by having a book open to the necessary rules before you take your action, but some situations cannot be foreseen. To keep the game moving forward, it becomes necessary for the DM to judge a situation as best they can off the cuff. Let the ruling stand for the current situation, but feel free to look up the rule during breaks or between sessions. Thereafter the ruling can be reversed or changed for all future cases.
9. Share/assume initiative rolls when appropriate. If the group is walking down a narrow corridor, consider assuming that the initiative order is the same as the marching order. This saves a lot of time and effort if the people in the back can’t act because everyone in front of them is in the way. If the PC has a henchmen or pet, have them share initiative order. NPCs should also share initiative, either all going at the same time, or group them into initiative groups. For example, two foes might have the same initiative order; or a boss might have an initiative and all of his minions share another initiative position.
10. Use index cards for initiative. This helps ensure that all players and foes get their turn every round and reduces time in looking up and remembering who is next. If a player is not ready when their turn arrives, consider allowing them a free delay action of one or two other players to allow them time to decide what to do, rather than have everyone wait for the player to decide.

While it’s important for combat to occur smoothly, it’s still important to have fun. Don’t be afraid of limiting your actions out of simplicity or speed; just try to be timely. You are playing a role-playing game, not a roll-playing game; so don’t let the mechanics of the game or combat speed restrict your role-playing opportunities. For example, feel free to describe the nature of an action while you are rolling all of your dice. You can say “My barbarian roars in anger as he slashes his great axe at the wretched troll’s maw” while you roll your attack, damage, and concealment checks in the same throw. Or say “Alice calls out to her goddess to smite the infidels” while you roll the ranged touch attack, concealment check, caster level check, cast defensively check, and damage dice at the same time. Flavor text like this can make even the most mundane actions fun and exciting for all.

One of the differences between D&D and non-interactive entertainment like novels and movies is that D&D is generally only shown from a single point of view—that of the players. In movies and novels, you get to see the villain when the heroes are not around, you get the “BeforeIKillYou,I’llExplainEverything” villain speech, the flashback to all of the clues sequence, and other plot explaining devices. As a DM, one of the most exciting and frustrating things about role-playing games is conveying the meta-plot. Purchased adventures provide beautiful back stories, character motivations, and side plots which are what make DMs drool as they imagine how the adventure will play out and the excitement of the players as the plot is revealed. This is even more the case with adventures cooked up by your DM; he/she thought of a story that they think is awesome and put in a lot of work developing a complex web of historical and motivational background information.

But alas, most of this will never see the light of day (or the game table) as the DM can’t force the players to do what is necessary to be able to explain the plot. This is just something you have to accept as a DM, but in some ways it also robs the players of the extra enjoyment of a good plot. Sure, the DM could blab this information after the adventure is over, but that can cheapen the players’ victory by making them feel like they failed even if they beat the adventure. DMs can use devices like cut scenes to try and expose the plot, but more often then not they seem to be shallow in order to protect the mystery, or they give away too much and ruin the story. But a DM can’t just tell you the plot, or can he? Yes, in fact the DM likely really wants to explain the plot and motivations, but needs a little help in order to do so. Here are a few tips that players can use to help the DM expose the plot for the enjoyment of all:

• Always search desks and bookshelves. These places serve as incredible sources for background information of the plot. If you see a desk covered in papers, or a disorganized bookshelf, you have found the mother load for understanding the plot background. In particular, look for journals, letters, and maps. If you state that you are looking for these types of things when you roll your search, the DM is likely more inclined to at least give you a circumstance bonus to your search if he doesn’t just give the goods to you for being specific. This search in particular will often have the most potential for adding future adventure hooks, not just this adventure’s plot.
• Always search bodies. One of the most common gripes among players is the lack of LEWT. Why not, even if you can’t use it, you might be able to sell it to buy exactly what you want. Everyone wants to have a badass character, and equipment certainly helps. Booked adventures always contain lots of good loot, almost always sufficient for the encounter level. And yet, in the same session that someone complains that they don’t have enough equipment, they don’t search bodies. Alright, enough about that rant because searching bodies isn’t just about getting the good loot, its also about plot devices. Like desks and bookshelves, you can find letters and journals which help explain the plot, as well as major plot devices which can impact the outcome of the adventure. And don’t just search the bad guys; search other corpses along the way. Sometimes the bad guys leave clues on their other victims.
• Use detect magic liberally. Let’s face it, 0 level spells are mostly useless. Why not memorize detect magic few more times. This always helps you find the good loot, but it can also help you find critical plot devices. But don’t let the lack of a magical aura stop you from rolling a search. Sure, you can see the glowing stuff and pick it off, but why not dig around to look for other non-magical stuff like coins and evil business plans.
• Interrogate enemies. Unless you are a paladin, there’s nothing wrong with cutting off a few fingers to get to the plot. Well, you don’t necessarily have to torture fallen foes to get them to talk (though sometimes it helps), a kind gesture, the opportunity to continue living, or a mind-affecting spell can get a captured enemy to spill the beans. Don’t just finish off every unconscious bad guy; take a break from battle to beat some information out of him first. If you are so inclined, you can still kill the bad guy once you’re done with him. Though letting a helpful blabber-mouth go once in awhile will help you justify that goodly alignment on your character sheet. You might not let the fanatical maniac go free, but loose-lipped minion with a good eye for details isn’t likely to cause too much harm if set free.
• Ask first, slaughter second. If your enemy doesn’t attack you outright when you encounter them, use this as an opportunity to get some information out of them. It might even be possible to get one of those “I’llExplainEverthingToProveHowCleverIAm” monologues if you give the villain a chance. When given a chance, use social skills like diplomacy and intimidate to get the big bad guy to make an Ego save against good sense and tell all.
• Don’t fight the plot, fight the villain. You are NOT being railroaded; you are being given an opportunity. If you don’t want an adventure, why are you playing? Sometimes its important to step back and ask yourself, am I helping the adventure progress or am I hindering it? If your character’s RP is anti-plot, perhaps its time to adjust that. You’ve dedicating a whole evening to the game; why not make the most of your time. Be active, follow clues, and talk to people. Don’t expect the story to always come to you; sometimes you have to go find it. Sure, there are going to some red herrings, but even an intentionally bad plot hook can be fun to play out and it will help narrow down to the real plot.
• My name is… Everyone has a name; well at least 99% of people do. But when an NPC introduces themselves, pay attention. While not every named person is important; more often than not they are. Better DMs than me might have a full name and history for every person that you run into, but even those DMs try to highlight the important people. If the person doesn’t introduce themselves, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Here’s a hint, watch the DM. If they start digging through notes before giving an elaborate (impossible to spell phonetically) name, then it’s likely an important person. If the DM makes a quick note after giving you a name (no matter how clever the name is), then they are likely making a note of it for their own memory and the person isn’t as critical. Taking notes or looking up are not sure clues, as the DM might have a stock list of generic names that they are referencing, or the name is so unimportant that they don’t care to write it down. Paying attention to your DM will help you determine which are the important NPCs and which aren’t. But even a un-named NPC minion might be useful for information, so don’t completely ignore them just because the DM doesn’t have a name ready.
• Gather information. Taverns, inns, marketplaces, etc. are great places to get clues and adventure hooks. You can also get that a lot of useful background information useful to the plot. Why would people be talking about an ancient ruin just outside of town (or other random reference) over a beer unless it is important for you to overhear? Odds are the two drunks should be complaining about their old-lady giving them a hard time for not taking out the trash or coming home drunk every night, not about some evil wizard who died 200 years ago. Sure, people get things wrong. It wasn’t a wizard, rather it was a demon that some cultists are now trying to set free, but the clue is important. Many purchased adventures include a table of “random information” full of plot clues and red herrings, but even the completely wrong rumors can be entertaining and might have some useful value.
• Knowledge (Anything) is useful. It doesn’t hurt to have a couple skill points in knowledge skills, even if they are cross-class skills. Don’t depend on general knowledge rolls to get you all of the plot hooks and background information. Knowledge (history), or knowledge (local) if you’re in that area, are perhaps the most effective knowledge skills for uncovering the plot and background information. Even knowledge (nobility and royalty) can provide useful information more often than you might think. Work with your party. It doesn’t make sense to have 5 people with knowledge (arcana) with no other skills. Try to diversify with your group. If you know two other people have knowledge (religion), maybe take something like knowledge (engineering) instead. You never know when it might help you.
• Watch for DM tells. Don’t let your mad poker skills go to waste, use them against the DM. I already mentioned how you can use tells to help understand when NPC names are important, but you can also watch for other tells. In fact, most of the tells are intentional because the DM wants you to follow up on something. For example: when describing a rather ordinary room, the DM might give a little extra description to something. Ding, ding, it might be important! If you say you are searching a room, and the DM never once looks at her notes, then likely there is nothing to be found. But if the DM seems to take a moment looking at her notes, then there might be something in that room that is worth finding. Or another party member rolls a horrific roll when searching (or anything similar), maybe you can try searching it too. “But isn’t that meta-game information that I can’t use in-character?” Maybe, but you can easily justify it in RP. If you know that your teammate rolled a 1 on a search, in character that person thinks that they did a great job searching. But another character in the room can use sense motive (or similar skill) to see that the party member just walked around staring at the ceiling and said that they didn’t find anything on the floor. After you, in character, noticed that they did a crappy job searching you now have the RP justification to search again.

It’s not just about the plot. This article focused on trying to uncover the adventure background and overall plot mostly from an entertainment point of view. Without this information, the adventure can seem random and haphazard, which is not nearly as exciting as knowing that you just stopped a complex plot which had been in the works for centuries. But knowing the meta-story of the adventure isn’t the only reason for wanting to get all of the clues and background. In many cases, this information can be very useful to your party. It can include clues to get things moving, hooks to future adventures, and even ways to make the adventure more successful. For example, a certain vampire might be powerless when confronted with a relic of his pre-undeath life. Without the relic, your party may have to fight a powerful vampire lord at a much higher risk of death and expensive limited use items. With the relic, you can completely PWN him. Sure, some of the excitement of D&D is the risk and easy fights are less exciting. But an easy fight is not less exciting if you know that you made it that way through your hard work and preparation.