Chaotek Thoughts

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.