Following hot on the heels of last week’s post, which featured best-selling author Jeff C. Stevens introducing his Encounters in the Savage Cities (perfect if you’re about to run Dragon Heist!), is the second post in what I hope will be a regular series of articles.
This time I’ve invited DMs Guild newbie Jimmy Meritt onto the blog, to talk about his tantalisingly-titled new book Here’s To Crime: A Guide to Capers and Heists… another perfect publication for those about to enter the cosmopolitan, crime-rich environs of Waterdeep.
Within two weeks of publication it’s already become a Platinum best seller, so let’s stop beating around the block and lend our ears to its devious mastermind.
Dear Jimmy…
Tell us about your book: Here’s To Crime: A Guide to Capers and Heists
We all love watching caper films, but it can be hard to capture that same excitement at the gaming table. We want the characters to be pulling off clockwork cons, but in practice the sessions devolve into dull planning session, and a heist that doesn’t feel too different than the
average dungeon crawl.
“Here’s to Crime” introduces a variant rule hack (influenced by the brilliant game “Blades in the Dark”) that captures the energy and mood of films like “Ocean’s 11”, to let DMs and players have high energy, slick, and fast heist sessions.
I actually wrote this for my home game! I love heists and capers, so I was originally working on this as a house rule system for my players. I posted an early version of this to Facebook and Reddit, and instantly received feedback that it was cool enough that people were willing to pay for it. So, I finessed it and tossed it up on the guild!
I think this is especially helpful right now, as many tables are getting to run the new “Dragon Heist” campaign. This rules supplement will really give “Dragon Heist” games a shot in the arm, and help it feel REALLY different from previous campaigns.
How about a little taster then?
I break a “Heist” into essentially a three phase mini-game.
Phase One, the Plan, walks you through how to run a short, crisp planning session. It gets enough information to let players influence the narrative, but also stays loose enough to keep room for surprises during the heist itself. A “Character First” focus keeps players involved, even
if they don’t have a lot of interest in tactics.
Phase Two, the Heist, has players overcome obstacles using skill checks, combat, and a special “Flashback” mechanic that lets the characters be one step ahead of the game.
Then, in Phase Three, a narrative heavy skill challenge lets it all come together.
Who the hell are you by the way?
My first game of D&D was played at my best friends sleepover – his dad insisted that he run a game for us [ed. the tyrannical power of fatherhood being put to great use!]. And I’m still playing with the same group, 26 years later!
When I’m not playing Dungeons and Dragons, I make my living as a raconteur. I’ve lived on the road as a touring stand-up comedian, I’ve starred in low budget horror films, I’ve run Dungeons and Dragons campaigns for middle schoolers at a summer camp, I’ve performed and written for a medieval dinner theater, I’ve slogged through performing in store live infomercials… now my
focus is on stand-up comedy, and Ghost Story telling.
What else have you written?
“Here’s to Crime” is my first piece for the DMs Guild, but I’ve got more on the way! I’m hard at work on my second piece, which will be a collection of short heists and cons set in the city of Waterdeep. Stay tuned to my author page.
And just for fun…
Please answer the following questions, with as much or little detail as you wish…
Your current PC
I’m the DM! Right now I’m running a Viking themed game, where my players are questing to kill the Norns to break a cycle of predestination and fate, so they can stop Ragnarok.
Your favourite character class
I play super rarely, but whenever I’m at the table I tend to lean towards a bard.
Your favourite monster
The Mind Flayer! One of my favorite things about D&D is that it’s not just a generic fantasy setting, there’s all these weird elements around the edges. Mind Flayers really hit that home by bringing in a 50s pulp/horror feel.
Your favourite official D&D adventure
Curse of Strahd! Reading the second edition “Ravenloft” stuff was a huge influence on me – it’s “Horror” tone showed that you can tell a lot of different kind of stories within a D&D context. Trying to capture different feels/genres is part of what lead to “Here’s to Crime”.
Your favourite unofficial D&D adventure
Enworld publishing put out a work called “To Slay a Dragon”, which they also converted for 5e with “The Holdenshire Chronicles”. I often like stories that sort of change the genre of what you can do with D&D, but this is a work that’s exactly what it says on the box – a party is assembled
to go to a mountain and slay a dragon! It’s incredibly well executed, and just has a classic feeling to it- I feel you could run it for any table and they’d have a blast.
Your D&D alter ego
I’m the tavern bard giving out quest hooks with stories of ancient lore.
Thanks Jimmy, it was great getting to know you. Where can we stay in touch on the multiwebs?
I’m a man of mystery! But you’ll often find me chatting on D&D forums.
You’ve probably heard me mention the DMs Guild one or two times on the blog by now. It’s an amazing marketplace where Dungeons and Dragons lovers can publish and sell their own homebrew content… including myself!
I often check by to gaze at the latest releases, looking for inspiration, but I rarely have time to read many of the enticing-looking titles cover to cover and review them (something I’d love to do in an ideal world where my job was to live and breath D&D every day! Sadly it’s not, although writing about Barcelona is hardly the worst 9-to-5 in the world either…).
That’s when I had the bright idea of inviting the authors of the Guild to introduce their own work, in their own words, and as well to find out a little more about these men and women at the creative coalface of the homebrew industry.
First to step up to the plate is Jeff C. Stevens, who introduces us to his favourite work within his Savage Encounters series of publications…
Tell us all about your book: Encounters in the Savage Cities…
Encounters in the Savage Cities is a collection of 26 short, urban-themed encounters / adventures written by some of the best-selling writers on the Dungeon Masters Guild.
The encounters are fully-developed and most include challenge rating scaling suggestions, which makes it easy for a Dungeon Master to drop them into their own game.
Maps are also included, both in the PDF and as separate downloadable files.
I like short encounters and adventures. There are times when a DM may need more time to prepare for a session, when only a little bit more experience is needed before the party levels up, when not everyone can make the game night, or times when the party turned left instead of right, and these short encounters really help in those situations. They also help inspire current campaigns, adding to and building off what is written, making it your own or expanding on what occurred when you ran the encounter.
I also wanted to showcase the great writers on the Dungeon Masters Guild. It’s tough establishing your name and products in this industry, I thought this would be a good way to give consumers a sample of writing from many different writers and styles. 23 writers contributed to Encounters in the Savage Cities, and each writer did an incredible job.
How about a little taster then?
Certainly! Here’s a snippet from ‘Trouble in the Docks’, an encounter MT Black wrote for the supplement:
The docks smell of saltwater, tar, and rotting fish. Above the din of the crowded streets, you can hear the slap of water against sodden piers, the clank of chains, and the rustle of canvas. The sky is shrouded in dark, heavy clouds, and the odd spot of rain begins to appear on the dirt road you are walking on.
A halfling pushes through the crowd, coming directly toward you. She holds a clipboard in one hand and has a pencil behind her ear. “Please,” she says. “Can you help me? I just need a few minutes.”
The halfling tells them her name is Seraphina Redport, and that she is a planner employed by the city council. She is currently trying to interview a broad selection of people in the area. Assuming the party talk to her, she will ask several questions…
Who the hell are you by the way?
I’m Jeff C. Stevens – a 47-year-old dude from Missouri living his childhood dream of writing D&D adventures. I started playing in the early 1980’s and I can still remember the all-night games we played over the weekends at a buddy’s house, living off soda, chips, and pizza while we rolled dice and slayed bad guys. It was fantastic! I took a long break from the game, but I came back when 5th edition was released. I’m glad I did!
Unless I’m at a gaming convention, those marathon D&D sessions don’t happen anymore. Now, I’m lucky to get in two games a month, even one game a month can be difficult with all the adulting we have to do. Plus, being a creator takes a lot of time. I wish I could be a full-time writer/producer but it’s tough to do in the RPG industry. I love writing, it’s been one of my life goals for a very long time. I wish I had studied writing in college, but I chose to instead learn about Criminal Justice – a field in which I do not work (LOL).
And what else have you written?
I have an entire product line built around the Savage Encounters idea. The first Savage Encounters product was Encounters in the Savage Frontier, which was inspired by the Storm King’s Thunder campaign. Then came Savage Cities, Savage Jungles, The Mines of Chult, and most recently, Savage Wilderness. Each time I use a mix of writers to provide writing for the books. Very soon, there will be a new Savage Encounters supplement available – Villains & Lairs. You can find my entire catalogue here, on the DMs Guilds.
I have a couple PCs I use. My favorite is Gruntog the Half-Orc Bard.
Your favourite character class?
Bard. I’m a drummer and I love roleplaying. It’s a good fit for me.
Your favourite monster?
Mimic. There are just too many cool ways a party can encounter a mimic!
Your favourite official D&D adventure?
I’m running Tomb of Annihilation for my group. I like the jungle setting, the lost ruins, and the zombified creatures. It’s a great area to explore even if you aren’t running the official campaign as it’s written.
Your D&D alter ego if you were beamed into the Forgotten Realms?
I would be Finnian Brushrunner – halfling Paladin to Tymora. He’s my character from the Curse of Strahd campaign I played in. He survived that campaign, so I think I’ll stick with him!
Thanks Jeff, it was great getting to know you. How can we find you on the multi-webs?
One thing he didn’t cover though was specific terrain features that can turn a drab, barren grid into a dynamic combat environment, so I felt inspired to do just that.
…the most memorable moments in a fight often come through a PC interacting with their environment in a creative way.
Apart from creating additional obstacles and interests, terrain features – be they humble bushes or a series of a crate of ripe melons ready to be tipped over – can be used, by the resourceful player, as cover, to hide, or for some other tactical advantage. In my experience, the most memorable moments in a fight often come through a PC interacting with their environment in a creative way.
Winning initiative is key when you’re fighting on a log bridge…
Let’s create two lists… wilderness terrain features and indoors terrain features.
Wilderness Terrain Features
Bushes
Trees
Fallen tree
Boulders or rocks (some massive, others that could double as weapons)
Ditch
Brook
River
Bridge
River ford
Stepping stones or giant lillypads
Slippery log bridge
Lake (with jetty, and moored boats)
Waterfall
Drystone wall
Crumbling ruins of an ancient temple
Hut, shed or barn
Farmhouse
Windmill or watermill
Crate of ripe melons
Long grass, meadow or wheat field
Scarecrow (not the monster… or is it?)
Quicksand
Vines (to swing on)
Erupting geysers
Beehives
Pack of wild dogs
Nest of poisonous vipers
Stampede of buffalo / elephants / dinosaurs
Bog (with bloodsucking leeches)
Campfire
Wagon
Burial mound
Tombstones
Gorge or canyon
Hill, slope or ravine
Landslide
Cave entrance
Moss-covered skeleton of a long-dead dragon
Pit
Well
Sundial
Bales of dry hay
Smoke
Animal snares
Tripwire
Plants that give off poisonous spores
A tree that is really a treant
A huge savage beast that doesn’t like you or your foes
Zone of slowness
Gallows
Weather Features
Since you’re outdoors, don’t forget to consider what the weather is like (as well as whether it’s night or day time). Some conditions that could seriously affect the outcome of any fight are…
An impenetrable mist (range attacks impossible)
Driving rain (range attacks with disadvantage, roll DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) every round not to fall prone on slippery ground)
Galeforce winds
Snowstorm or sandstorm
Freak hailstorm of small rocks which does 1d4 bludgeoning damage a round to anyone in it…
Solar or lunar eclipse
Dungeon or Indoor Terrain Features
Stalactites / stalagmites
Chasm
Pit
Bridge (natural stone or rope? Or broken?)
Underground river (is that water or acid?)
Underground lake (with a ravenous beast inside)
Lava flow
Tables and chairs
Steps and staircases (trapped?)
Ramp
Throne
Altar
Coffins or tombs
Crates
Barrels (full of oil)
Statues
Prisoners in hanging cages
Columns, pillars and plinths
Alcoves
Arches
Maze
Mirrors (…or mirror maze!)
Tapestries
Chandeliers
Slippery, polished marble floor
Portal
Firepit
Fountain
Arrow slits (from which baddies pepper you with crossbow bolts)
Walls that start to close in
Water that starts to rise
Gas that starts to fill the room
Skylight
Murder holes
Trapdoor
Floortiles that randomly give way to spiked pits
Levers that set off various traps
Portcullis
Exploding fungi
Swarm of plague-carrying rats
Lots of confusing illusions
Wind tunnel
Animated armour and weapons
Lift / elevator
Mining cart and tracks
Ladder
Strategically placed glyphs of warding
Giant moving cogs
Giant spiderwebs
Sewers
Bookshelves
Curtains
Magical darkness
Jets of hot steam
Vacuum
Huge bell
Clock
Narrow ledge
Cauldron of steaming liquid
Giant, swinging thurible
Zone of silence
Ropers hanging from the ceiling
What did I miss? Please pipe up in the comments. Damn, pipes.
Of course pimping the terrain is just one way to make combat more interesting, and hopefully this got the juices flowing, but there are plenty more tricks the wily DM can pull out of their toolbox to spice things up when the d20s start a’rollin’. No doubt I’ll return to this topic in due course.
Whilst those paragons of roleplaying virtuosity may be drawn to the table by the chance to breathe life into their complex three dimensional character, in what they intend to be as much an improv theatre session as an RPG, there’s a large number of gamers who, if you’ll forgive the language, just want to fuck some shit up.
And so without further apologies or explanations, let’s spoil ourselves with a little powergaming. Today’s topic is all about how to maximise your use of bonus actions and reactions in order to optimise your PC’s ability to whoop some ass.
Now, as you know, once initiative is rolled and combat has started, time is delineated into rounds, with each PC having their turn within the round. But have you ever noticed how some players manage to pack way more into their turn than others? No one ever forgets to use their main attack(s) or cast a spell, but actually you can often sneak in several more activities if you’re playing smart.
…have you ever noticed how some players manage to pack way more into their turn than others?
Let’s break things down.
Action
Your main opportunity to influence the tide of battle, most likely you will choose to either Attack or Cast a Spell, but it’s worth remembering that other actions you can take are Dash, Disengage (a powerful getaway tool), Dodge (a powerful defence tool that also gives you advantage on Dexterity saving throws), Help, Hide, Ready (useful for when someone keeps using their move to duck back under cover, in between peppering you with arrows), Search or Use An Object (drinking a magic potion being a common example).
Move
Every round you can move up to your speed (for 90% of characters this is 30 feet), and it’s nearly always worth considering what you can do with your move to gain a strategic advantage. Obviously if you’re engaged with an enemy you need to consider whether you want to move out of their reach and provoke an opportunity attack, however it’s possible you could gain an advantage in battle by using 5, 10 or 20 feet of movement (depending on the size of the creature!) to outmanoeuvre the creature without ever leaving their reach.
Bonus Action
Technically you only get one of these if an ability says you do, but a good player will find a way of using a bonus action on most of their turns. Typical things you can do using a bonus action are: make an attack with a second weapon (you have to have selected the Attack action to be able to do so, meaning you can’t Cast A Spell and then sneak in an offhand attack); attack with your shield or butt of your polearm (requires feat); cast a spell that has a casting time of bonus action; take advantage of your Cunning Action ability (Rogues only!) to Dash, Disengage or Hide.
Free Action
On p.190 of the PH it reads: “In combat, characters and monsters are in constant motion, often using movement and position to gain the upper hand…. Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action:”
It then gives a long list of examples of things you could do as a “free action” (unofficial title!), from which I’ll choose a few that could easily come in handy…
Draw or sheathe a sword
Open or close a door
Withdraw a potion from your backpack
Pick up a dropped axe
Fish a few coins from your belt pouch
Pull a torch from a sconce
Turn a key in a lock
Hand an item to another character.
Reaction
Reactions are actions that you can take in response to a trigger, the most common being opportunity attacks, which you can take as a response to the trigger of someone moving out of your reach (the logic being that this leaves themselves vulnerable to attack for a split second). Most of the time they don’t take place during your turn, but as a reaction to what another creature did during their turn in the round. Whilst you might feel that it’s hard to bank on being able to use your reaction each round (you only get one), I usually find a way to do so. In fact I often find myself ‘saving my reaction’ because I have so many options on how to use them. Typical things you can do with your reaction include: casting a spell, such as shield or counterspell, using Defensive Duelist feat, using Uncanny Dodge ability (Rogues only), making an opportunity attack, making an attack using the Sentinel feat.
So there you go, far from using just an Action each turn you can actually use an Action, Move, Bonus Action, Free Action and Reaction!
Action Packed vs. Dull
Let’s imagine a scenario where (low level) Fighter 1 is locked in combat with Orc A, whilst Orc B is running for the door to summon more stinky green back up. Fighter 1 swings his longsword, hits Orc A but doesn’t kill him. Not wanting to provoke an opportunity attack, he is stuck engaged with the enemy.
Now let’s imagine the same scenario with Fighter 2, who is identical to Fighter 1 except that he chose the Shieldmaster feat. Fighter 2 first uses a Bonus Action to attempt to shove Orc A to the ground with his shield. He is successful, after which can attack the orc with advantage using his Action. He hits but also doesn’t kill Orc A, but as the orc is now prone it either wouldn’t be able to make an opportunity attack (common sense!), or would do so at disadvantage as he is prone (p. 292, PH). Therefore Fighter 2 is able to safely use his Move action to cut off Orc B before he reaches the door – and on the way he uses a Free Action to knock a flask of oil off the table in front of Orc B, potentially causing him to slip on his turn. By positioning himself between Orc B and the door, Fighter 2 ensures that if Orc B were to pass him he would get an opportunity attack against him using his Reaction…
I think it’s fair to say the guy (or girl) playing Fighter 2 is exerting way more influence on the combat, as well as having a lot more fun in doing so, by using each of the potential actions available to them during the round.
Maximising Bonus Actions and Reactions
Ok, so we’ve looked at how effective the extra actions in Dungeons and Dragons can prove in battle, now let’s look at how to better take advantage of them. The key here is choosing abilities and spells that allow you to use bonus actions and reactions on a regular basis.
Whenever I play a caster the first thing I do is look for spells that I can cast without using a full action. Here are all the ones I found in the Player’s Handbook. (There are a few more in Xanathar’s Guide).
Spells You Can Cast with A Bonus Action
Banishing Smite
Blinding Smite
Branding Smite
Compelled Duel
Divine Favor
Divine Word
Ensnaring Strike
Expeditious Retreat (not just for retreating!)
Flame Blade
Grasping Vine
Hail of Thorns
Healing Word
Hex
Hunter’s Mark
Lightning Arrow
Magic Weapon
Mass Healing Word
Misty Step
Sanctuary
Searing Smite
Shield of Faith
Shillelagh
Spiritual Weapon
Staggering Smite
Swift Quiver
Thunderous Smite
Wrathful Smite
Spells You Cast with a Reaction
Counterspell
Feather Fall
Hellish Rebuke
Shield
Having some of these up your sleeve will give you a lot of extra versatility when combat starts.
Second Attack
For anyone that wields a weapon, the obvious way of getting more bang for your buck every single round is to fight with two weapons instead. This way you get to make an extra attack on your turn, using a bonus action.
Failing that feats are the best way to get a regular and potent use from your bonus actions and reactions, as well as giving you other extra powers…
Feats That Grant You a Bonus Action
Charger
Crossbow Expert
Great Weapon Master
Martial Adept (depending on the manoeuvres you choose)
Polearm Master
Shieldmaster
Tavern Brawler
Feats That Use Your Reaction
Defensive Duelist (uses your proficiency bonus so a great feat to grab at a higher level)
Mage Slayer
Martial Adept (depending on the manoeuvres you choose… Riposte is cool)
Polearm Master
Sentinel
War Caster
Of these feats a few stand out for me. Shieldmaster for example lets you use a bonus action every time you take the attack action, whilst Polearm Master feat is probably the best out there as it allows you to use a bonus action every round AND often a reaction too. Sentinel allows you to use your reaction on a frequent basis, although intelligent monsters (and/or metagaming DMs) will target you a lot. Defensive Duelist is underrated and a brilliant one to pick up at a later level as it uses your proficiency bonus as a basis, and allows you to use your reaction every time you are attacked with a melee weapon.
I won’t bother repeating exactly what each does, but do delve back into your Player’s Handbook and consider them for your next PC, or next time you get to pick up a feat (always more fun than taking a +2 modifier to an ability, and usually more effective too).
Plan A Strategy
One thing I like to do is think about how I can put together all my actions in a round into a coherent strategy or gameplan.
For example when playing with Estelle, (5th level paladin of devotion / 3rd level battlemaster fighter), one common tactic was to start my turn by casting thunderous smite (bonus action), then make my first melee attack doing extra 2d6 thunder damage. If my target failed their saving throw and was knocked prone, then I would make my second attack with advantage and use my Greater Weapon Master feat to take the -5 to hit penalty (with advantage I would still normally hit!) and do +10 damage. If my opponent was still standing after this (potentially 6d6 +10 damage plus modifiers), I could use up some divine smite or even my action surge to finish them off. Against a large number of weaker foes I relied on the fact I would reduce an enemy to 0 hit points most round to get a bonus action attack with Great Weapon Master (so I wouldn’t bother with thunderous smite).
With Jaxx Storm, a combat-loving cleric of the Tempest (1st-3rd level), I chose the Shieldmaster feat, which together with proficiency in Athletics, allowed me to regularly knock foes prone with my bonus action – giving me and my buddies advantage on our attack rolls against them. The Wrath of the Storm ability allowed me to use my reaction to good effect on occasion too.
Xenia Zanetti was my first ever 5th edition character and versatile as hell (5th level Rogue Assassin, 5th level Wizard, 3rd level Battlemaster Fighter). She could use a bonus action to Dash, Disengage or Hide, to cast misty step, or to make a second attack, or use a battlemaster manoeuvre such as feinting attack to gain advantage (which meant she could do sneak attack damage even in a one on one situation). Whilst for her reaction she often cast shield, or for less dangerous foes took advantage of the rogue’s uncanny dodge ability.
My 5th level rogue swashbuckler, Drake Leopold Florentine Griffinheart III (it’s always the third!), fights with two weapons, meaning he nearly always uses a bonus action. I also gave him the Martial Adept feat and chose the Riposte manoeuvre (as well as the Disarming Attack) meaning he can use a Reaction to make an additional attack (once per short rest only, sadly), and this actually allows him to deal his sneak attack damage twice in one round (once on his turn, once on someone else’s), making him pretty deadly. At 8th level I plan to take the Defensive Duelist feat, which will help cover his main weakness… his mediocre AC. Being a rogue with proficiency in acrobatics also gives you plenty of scope for interacting with your environment in a creative way, either for dramatic effect or for a tactical advantage, using either a free action or bonus action.
Hipster’s Takeaway Tip
One great tip is to write down everything your PC can do with their action, bonus action, reaction on your character sheet, and then, when it’s your turn, you can quickly remind yourself of your options in combat. This way you’ll rarely miss an opportunity to take full advantage of your character’s powers.
Some potential combat options for my Rogue swashbuckler PC…
Now, how about things you actively should be doing? It’s been a while in coming, but finally here is my list of exemplary roleplaying behavioural traits to ensure you’re the first to be invited to any session.
Don’t expect anything here about optimisation or rules mastery, because being a great Dungeons and Dragons player is not about creating powerful PCs, devising smart-ass strategies or completing manifold quests – it’s about contributing positively to how much fun everyone has at the table.
10 Ways To Be An Awesome D&D Player
1. Make a Memorable Character…
Whilst combat and puzzles abound in Dungeons & Dragons, despite these strategic elements, at its heart D&D remains a roleplaying game. The game’s great players walk the worlds of the multiverse in the boots of unforgettable characters, heroes that we can visualise and believe in – often, by the way, more through their flaws and weaknesses than their actual heroic traits. Take the time to really think about who your character is and how they behave, fashioning a credible backstory that explains their nature and their values. Fifth edition is brilliant at encouraging this, and simply using the backgrounds in the Player’s Handbook, and the readymade traits, ideals, bonds and flaws, will give you loads of amazing material to work with; while considering your character’s childhood, education, employment, love life, as well as any key defining moments, will help you flesh out a truly 3d personality. This in turn brings flavour to the game, gives the DM plenty of adventure hooks to work with, and makes it easier for other players to understand and interact with your character.
The Hipsters are all smiles at the start of the session
2. …That Fits Into the Party
When starting a new campaign I like to get in contact with the other players on the table and check what character class they intend to play. I then usually choose a class that gives some balance to the party. If we already have a wizard and a bard, do we really need a sorcerer as well? The four unofficial, but widely accepted, roles of D&D are ‘tanks’ (usually martial classes that soak up enemy hits), ‘casters’ (wizards etc who do mass damage), ‘healers/buffers’ (clerics and bards who support the party with healing magic and support spells) and ‘skills monkeys’ (rogues who disarm traps and pick locks). Whilst you can rarely have enough tanks, and no one complains about having extra healers, it can be frustrating when two or more players are competing in the caster or skills monkeys roles. In general you need at least one of each to make a well-rounded party that will fare well in most classic D&D adventures.
3. …And Doesn’t Steal (All) the Limelight
I am a bit of power gamer, I have to admit, plus I like to play flamboyant, over-confident assholes (they have all the best lines)… BUT it’s really important, whoever you play, that you don’t place yourself at the centre of every situation. Because when you do so you’re effectively stealing game time from your fellow players. Whilst there are naturally louder and quieter personalities at the table, just because one person shouts out at the first opportunity, whilst another patiently waits to hear the DM and the rest of the party out, doesn’t mean the quieter one doesn’t have anything to say at all. They nearly always have their own opinion, plan or course of action in any given situation, so if you’re a naturally gregarious person just be sure you’re giving the less boisterous party members plenty of space to express themselves.
Preparing to share the limelight
4. Ask Your Fellow PCs Their Opinion
Speaking of which, when was the last time you stopped to ask others for their thoughts, or their proposed course of action? Often we naturally get carried away and speak directly to the DM, telling them what our PC is going to do… without consulting anyone else. But D&D is a team sport, the ultimate goal of which is the involvement and enjoyment of everyone. So next time you’re at the table and a problem presents itself, ask a player who hasn’t said anything for a while, what they think, and go from there. (Note: DMs, you have even more opportunity to ensure that everyone is involved, by going around the table and asking everyone in turn what they are thinking, or what their PC is doing. Especially if you see some players are being left out and not getting involved enough).
5. Make Plans Based on Others’ Abilities
So you’ve tracked the hydra to its lair, discovered the back entrance and rolled a successful Nature check to recall that doing some fire damage each round will be key to winning the battle. Now it’s time to plan the great assault. Yes you could just go in there and smite the shit out of it because you’re playing an overpowered paladin, but you’ll prove a lot more popular if you not only canvass everyone else’s opinion on the best course of action (as per above point), but even better suggest ways of bringing other PCs’ skills and abilities to the fore within your battle strategy. Giving everyone an important job in the fight to come will make it an unforgettable encounter. Do note though, some players don’t like being told how to use their powers… make sure any suggestion is just that. Don’t make everyone else the pawns in your masterplan, without any free will or creative input.
I’ve got a cunning – team – plan!
6. Get Emotionally Invested in the Other PCs Too
Caring what happens to your character is what makes D&D such an emotional and tense game. You want them to succeed and to grow, and whilst you’re willing to throw them into some risky situations (they are heroes after all!), you really really don’t want them to die. You’ve got to know them so well that you care about them and will miss them if they’re gone. But what about if you start caring for other people’s characters as well? Then you feel even more tension and even more involvement in the game, as you’re not only waiting with nervous anticipation during your turn, but during others’ turns as well… will that rakish but loveable rogue pass their saving throw against the dragon’s breath weapon or is he about to become swashbuckler toast!? Not only that but caring about the other PCs in your party will foster a sense of teamwork and improve everyone’s enjoyment of the game. Some tips on how to get invested in the other PCs on the table would be a) ask them about their PC’s backstory (do this in character for even more effect!) b) create roleplaying opportunities that allow others to get in character c) thank a PC (in character) when they save your life, remember it, and make it part of their relationship. That’s the kind of thing that builds bonds, especially if you are roleplaying well and not just treating combat as a mechanical exercise of different entities reducing one another’s hit points to zero. One other cool thing I did recently was link my PC’s backstory with another’s (I should note here, this was my friend Mark’s idea!), so from the beginning of the campaign we had a tie and some mutual emotional investment that build extra interest in the game.
7. Be Prepared / Equipped
There’s nothing worse (there are in fact millions of things worse, but still…) than arriving for a much-anticipated D&D session and then wasting the first half an hour or more as people start to research the ramifications of levelling up their character. No they don’t have a Player’s Handbook, nor a pencil, nor an eraser. Similarly you reach the last PC in the initiative chain and they still haven’t figured out what they are going to do, and start canvassing the table for their opinions on various spells the mechanics of which they haven’t bothered to look up until now. Of course we all need a bit of thinking space from time to time, and a chance to refer to the rulebooks, and certainly newbies can be considered exempt from this point of etiquette, but when you’re an established player knowing your character’s main abilities and spells should be a given, and arriving with your character sheet, and your own pencil, eraser and preferably dice and Player’s Handbook, should not be too much to ask either. (When I turn up to football practice I bring my shorts and boots, and don’t turn up late and then hope someone else has a spare pair!).
This guy prepared for hours, and you didn’t even bring a pencil…!?
8. Concede the Point
It’s fine to argue with the DM, up to a point. When a ruling goes against you make your case, without getting angry or confrontational. Hopefully the DM will be flexible to your point of view. But understand as well, that in this abstract game of imagination what one person sees happening is quite different to what another might conceive… and ultimately the one thing that ruins the game for everyone is a lot of protracted arguments with the DM… so if the DM ain’t for changing their mind, just accept the decision (you don’t have to agree with it!) and get on with things. As a DM when I get in these situations I find a good compromise is a roll… if for example a player thinks he has line of sight through a dense forest to cast a spell, but you disagree, give them a Perception check with a tough DC, instead of a flat no.
9. Cut the DM Some Slack
Speaking with my DM hat on now, most of us are not Matt Mercer, and not even close. We make mistakes, get frustrated, make bad calls etc.. But we are also the guys and girls that make the game happen in the first place, and there’s a lot to be said for that. The hours and dedication it takes to be the DM often get taken for granted. You would never accept an invitation to a friend’s party and then complain the beers they provided weren’t cold enough, the company didn’t do it for you, and you didn’t agree with their music choice. Sometimes, what you thought was going to be a legendary party turns out to be few dudes drinking cheap beer around the kitchen table, but that’s life. You have to accept when the DM doesn’t manage to bring the A game, and be content with the fact that you’re still having fun with your friends, and that the next one will most likely be awesome.
Offering to host on your roof terrace with views of Sagrada Familia will win you many friends
10. Show Some Love & Manners
Related to the above, it never hurts to thank the DM for preparing and running the session – and often that alone is enough to motivate them to keep doing so. Bringing food and drinks to share, maybe even paying for the DM’s takeaway pizza between the players, as well as offering to host the session at your house occasionally are all examples of great etiquette amongst D&D players.
So there you are… follow these rules to become the most popular gamer in town. And if this list seems a bit intimidating, don’t worry, I’ve broken all these rules myself many times and haven’t been kicked out of my gaming group (yet!). But it behoves us all to keep on improving, so I hope this post inspires you to become the best possible roleplayer you can be.
And make sure you share it with the other people at your table, so it’s not just you upping your game!
As I mentioned earlier, I also wrote a post of things a D&D player should never do, which is also worth a read.
Recently the DM of our group has been insisting on us using the spell identify before we can use the magic items that we’ve been finding on our dungeon crawls.
Frustrating as hell, but it kind of makes sense. Just because you’ve turned up a fancy-looking wand, ring or weapon in a treasure chest, doesn’t mean you should be able to seamlessly brandish it in your next battle as if you crafted it yourself. Hell, why should you even know it’s magical in the first place?
Anyway, given that there are quite a few magic items in our current campaign, and I’m now carting around at least two that I don’t have the foggiest about, I thought I’d do some research on what the official rules say, and maybe as well homebrew some rules about how Arcana checks could be used in the identification process (and see if my DM agrees!).
Official Rules
On page 136 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide it states:
The identify spell is the fastest way to reveal an item’s properties. Alternatively, a character can focus on one magic item during a short rest, while being in physical contact with the item. At the end of the rest, the character learns the item’s properties, as well as how to use them. Potions are an exception; a little taste is enough to tell the taster what the potion does.
Sometimes a magic item carries a clue to its properties. The command word to activate a ring might be etched in tiny letters inside it, or a feathered design might suggest it’s a ring of feather falling.
Wearing or experimenting with an item can also offer hints about its properties. For example, if a character puts on a ring of jumping, you could say, “Your steps feel strangely springy.” Perhaps the character then jumps up and down to see what happens. You then say the character jumps unexpectedly high.
VARIANT: MORE DIFFICULT IDENTIFICATION
If you prefer magic items to have have a greater mystique consider removing the ability to identify the properties of a magic item during a short rest, and require the identify spell, experimentation, or both to reveal what a magic item does.
So there you go… on the one hand the “a character can focus on one magic item during a short rest… At the end of the rest, the character learns the item’s properties, as well as how to use them” does seem all a bit too convenient. A cop out for lazy game play. Whilst on the other hand, the official variant rule seems a bit too restrictive. What if no one in the party has identify for example?
Arcana Checks
For me the chance to identify a magical object with a successful Arcana check is the best compromise between the official rules and the official variant. Everyone loves a dice roll, whilst having to rely on the wizard, bard or cleric of divination (the only three classes to have access to identify, that I can see) to cast a spell can be tedious.
Identify is a ritual at least, meaning the caster doesn’t need to spend a spell slot, so there’s no issue with managing spell casting resources, but the scenario of not having one of those three classes in your party (as we currently don’t) is frustrating to say the least.
Regarding the use of Arcana, the Player’s Handbook (p.177) has the following to say…
Your Intelligence (Arcana) check measures your ability to recall lore about spells, magic items, eldritch symbols, magical traditions, the planes of existence, and the inhabitants for those planes.
So using this skill in these circumstances does seem a good fit.
Finally, a freaking label…
How might this work in practice? First I would say that a PC has to spend at least a minute carefully examining an object, and then I’d have them roll an Arcana check, and have a sliding scale of difficulty. Generally speaking I’d use the following scale, with each DC checkpoint passed garnering more information about the item.
DC 10 – the PC is confident the item is magical, but is unable to ascertain its nature.
DC 15 – the PC is able to guess the rough properties of the item, and may attempt to use it. However it does not know how many charges it has, and may not necessarily be able to work out the command word just yet, if it has one. More likely he or she knows what will happen when the command word is uttered, but will need another Arcana roll (once per rest) to correctly guess what it is.
DC 20 – the PC recognises the item and after a short period of experimentation (a short rest) is able to use its full powers.
Natural 20 or DC 25 and above – the PC recognises the item and can use its full powers immediately. You may even rule they are able to attune to the item straight away.
I’ve seen a couple of more rigid tables online, in various forums, and in fact I was originally planning on making my own, but given that there are different factors involved in identifying an item, such as its rarity (I’d make it easier to recognise common and legendary items, than rare and very rare for example), whether it has a command word, whether it requires attunement etc. etc., overall I think this scenario is always going to need a DM’s interpretation rather than a table to consult.
One thing I would do is confer disadvantage on the roll to those who don’t have Arcana as a proficiency, according to my principle that Arcana should be considered ‘a technical proficiency‘.
Using this mechanic, I would describe the process of discovering a magic item, with no recourse to detect magic or identify, in these stages.
1. PCs discover an item.
2. DM describes item
3. Any PC in the party may examine item and make an Arcana check (with disadvantage if they are not proficient in Arcana).
4. DM reveals knowledge about item in proportion of success of check.
5. In the case that the full properties of the item are not revealed, the DM rules if further examination and experimentation (backed up with further Arcana checks) can reveal more info, or if the PCs must wait until they can cast identify or find a NPC to do so for them, in order to make full use of the item.
What do you guys think? How are you handling this in your game at the moment?
If I tell you one of my favourite books of all time is The Three Musketeers, you won’t be too surprised to hear that I have been eagerly awaiting a chance to play the rogue archetype, the swashbuckler, ever since a copy of The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything landed on my lap this Christmas (thanks Santa).
Swashbucklers of film and legend include not only D’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis (the latter being my favourite), but also The Scarlet Pimpernel, Robin Hood, Zorro, and any number of pirates, such as the scurrilous Captain Jack Sparrow. They are typically brave and romantic fighters who favour finesse over brute force, and they can cut nearly as deep with their rapier-sharp wit as their actual rapiers.
Stylish, dashing and extravagant if you’re not considering the roleplaying opportunities that the swashbuckler archetype is going to afford you, then you’re missing half the fun. Having said that, the mechanics our friends at WoTC have rustled up also make it one of the most powerful archetypes in the game… especially if you know what you’re doing.
Such dashing fellows…
Let’s take a look at the mechanics then… they revolve around the two abilities you get at 3rd level, Fancy Footwork and Rakish Audacity.
Fancy Footwork
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you learn how to land a strike and then slip away without reprisal. During your turn, if you make a melee attack against a creature, that creature can’t make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn.
Rakish Audacity
Starting at 3rd level, your confidence propels you into battle. You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Charisma modifier. You also gain an additional way to use your Sneak Attack; you don’t need advantage on the attack roll to use your Sneak Attack against a creature if you are within 5 feet of it, no other creatures are within 5 feet of you, and you don’t have disadvantage on the attack roll. All the other rules for the Sneak Attack class feature still apply to you.
What does this mean? Basically put away your bow, because you kick ass at melee combat. Using these two features you can glide into battle, strike with two weapons, almost certainly deal your sneak attack damage (the only time you can’t is if you’re surrounded by enemies and/or miss with both attacks), and then glide out of danger. Possibly embellishing your movement with the odd cartwheel and backflip and taunting your hapless foes with some choice insults.
A bit more on your fighting tactics later, but now let’s see how I built my own swashbuckler: Drake Leopold Florentine Griffinheart III (…it’s always the third!).
Swashbuckler Build
Taking the standard starting block of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8, I chose the human feat variant (p.31 Player’s Handbook) and placed my stats as follows:
Dexterity is obviously going to be your key stat. Fighting with finesse weapons, it’s going to dictate your attack and damage bonuses, give you crucial bonuses to your AC and initiate, and also improve your modifiers on vital skills such as Stealth and Acrobatics.
Charisma is your next most important stat. If you’re not beguiling, deceiving and impressing the NPCs you meet on your adventures you’re playing a swashbuckler all wrong. You are the archetypal charming rogue… a loveable rascal who lives by the seat of their pants, and will need every bit of their dashing magnetism to get themselves out of the scrapes they find themselves in (often through the fault of that same dashing magnetism).
Next I went for Constitution because, even with your Fancy Footwork, you’re going to take some hits as your armour class is going to suck big time. At first level your leather armour (nerfed to AC 11 in 5th edition) plus your Dex. modifier will give you a suicidal AC of 14, and it’s not going to get much better. Studded leather will get you to AC 15, after that you have to wait til 4th level to boost your Dex. and get up to a still downright dangerous AC 16. So some extra hit points will be necessary if you’re going to live long enough to become a legend.
After that your other stats don’t matter too much. I normally use Strength as a dump stat for rogues but I wanted Drake to be at least a little bit macho so I stuck my 12 there. Wisdom is always useful for Perception checks and saving throws, so I prefer not to have a minus at least, hence the 10, and Intelligence is not going to be of much use at all… so 8 it is! (In fact Drake is a very smart and sharp-witted guy, however with a low concentration span and a complete disinterest in academia it makes sense that he sucks at the likes of Religion and Arcana. And by the way, just because a PC has a low Intelligence score doesn’t mean you have to roleplay them as a complete idiot).
Now for Skills…
As a Rogue you get four skills to choose from, your background gives you two more and because I chose the Human feat variant I get another one… that’s seven to choose from in total!
Persuasion and Deception are vital for anyone who wants to ham up the style and swagger of this archetype, Acrobatics and Athletics are key for performing the kind of chandelier-swinging stunts that you’ve seen on TV, Stealth is very handy if you want to perform some of the traditional activities of the classic D&D rogue (something I enjoy a lot), Perception is the most rolled skill check in the game, and finally I plucked Performance as I decided that Drake was not only a blade, philosopher and lover… but a poet and storyteller as well. The principle topics of his poems and stories being himself and his legendary heroic deeds (some real, many imagined).
If I could have had one more I’d go for Animal Handling, especially as Drake’s backstory places him as a descendent of the founder of Waterdeep’s Griffin Cavalry, plus The Three Musketeers certainly knew how to ride a horse… but in practice I wasn’t sure it would be much use.
I put my roguish expertise on Acrobatics and Persuasion.
The Perfect Feat for Flavour
For each of my last three characters (Jaxx Storm a Cleric of the Tempest, Estelle a Paladin of Devotion and now Drake) I have chosen to play a human using the feat variant as I freakin’ love feats. They offer a fantastic combination of fun, flavour and power.
The one I chose for Drake is in fact not the most powerful of feats, but for me it rounds off the perfect set of skills a swashbuckler needs. I chose the Martial Adept feat, which enables me to choose two manoeuvres of the fighter’s Battle Master archetype and gives me a single 1d6 superiority dice that I can use once between rests. (See if you can persuade your DM to give you two d4s instead! Having only one is so frustrating!). The manoeuvres I chose are Riposte and Disarming Attack. You can read about them on p.74 of the Player’s Handbook.
Riposte is pretty sick… when a creature misses you with a melee attack you can use your reaction to punish their mistake with a blow of your own. And not only do you get your weapon damage, plus superiority dice damage, but most times you’ll get your Sneak Attack damage dice as well thanks to your Rakish Audacity class feature.
Riposte is so cool I keep forgetting to use Disarming Attack (well, with only one superiority dice to burn, opportunities are rare), but I’m confident it will come in handy, especially if the DM offers some benefits for doing so, like advantage striking an unarmed foe, or an opportunity attack if the target has to bend down and pick up their weapon. Even if the DM refuses to acknowledge your swashbuckling swagger with any tangible benefits you could use it to disarm an enemy of a magic weapon or item and pick it up yourself, or use a free action to kick their weapon across the floor. In the latter case you (and possibly your buddies) would get an opportunity attack when they have to move out of your reach to pick it up.
Equipment
The rapier is of course the iconic weapon of the swashbuckler, which Drake pairs with a dagger to fight with two weapons. I’ve just realised in the course of researching this article that this is against the rules as written as the rapier doesn’t have the light quality necessary for fighting with two weapons, despite weighing only 2 lbs!!! This doesn’t make much sense, and I can only imagine it was not given this quality to prevent rules-abusing players from fighting with two rapiers, but given that you can fight with two scimitars (3 lbs each!) or two shortswords (2 lbs each), then in terms of realism there’s no reason for your DM to disallow a rapier and dagger dual-wield – especially as it is a historically accurate combination. In terms of damage the combo works out as exactly the same as the rules-legit two shortswords or two scimitars (1d8 +1d4, vs. 1d6 + 1d6), so in terms of game balance there’s no reason for your DM to disallow it either. Shame there’s nothing in the RAW to clear this up – especially as in the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide they have a box out encouraging swashbucklers to fight with two weapons – but I’m sure common sense will prevail on your table.
(Another option / solution would be to take the Dual Wielder feat, instead of Martial Adept, meaning you could fight with two rapiers and also get a +1 to your AC… however I am personally opposed to the aesthetic of fighting with two rapiers.).
After that you’ll want some studded leather (you start with basic leather but it shouldn’t take you long to upgrade), your thieves’ toolkit (from your roguish past) and a fair few daggers tend to come in handy. I also armed Drake with a sling and a blowgun (with a vial of poison) for those moments when there’s no chance to engage in melee. If you want to be that annoying rogue that pussies around at the back, sneak attacking with a short bow though you’re in the wrong archetype.
Being a resolute dandy, Drake also carries a vial of perfume and a spare change of the clothes, cut in the latest fashions of Waterdeep.
Tactics
Playing a swashbuckler involves swooping into attack and then getting out of trouble using your Fancy Footwork. This is particularly easy when the party is facing one large monster. You move in, attack twice, and then step back half your movement to avoid the repercussions… the tank(s) in your party can take the hits. Next round half your movement in, attack, and half out again. Against numerous foes things are trickier, but you should be able to pick off bad guys engaged with your buddies or else attack isolated targets, meaning you continually get your Sneak Attack damage. If you do find yourself outnumbered you can use disengage and then move across the battlefield to attack a different creature you can use Sneak Attack against. You are constantly moving basically, slipping out of danger and cropping up where you can deal the most damage – and usually having a lot of fun in the process.
Backstory
Given that the swashbuckler is a rogue archetype, no matter how heroic you intend your PC to be, I think it’s worth giving your swashbuckler a story that explains why they are so adept at slinking into the shadows, picking locks and conning wealthy widow(er)s into signing off their heirlooms and estates into your possession.
For Drake I decided that, after his father’s death, his scheming uncle convinced the rest of the family that he was in fact conceived before wedlock and therefore a bastard, not fit to inherit the name of Griffinheart, much less their grand country estate. Aged just 7-years-old, he and his mother were forced to relocate to Waterdeep, where Drake became something of a street urchin, growing up with the wrong crowd and getting mixed up with one of the local thieves’ guild for a short while. This explains his unique mix of both noble and criminal traits (as well as giving the DM plenty to work with in terms of material for future adventures).
Have a think about your PC’s backstory, and be sure to use the prompts in the backgrounds section of the Player’s Handbook. A good character is born of their backstory and you’ll start to get ideas and inspiration about how you want to play your PC when you start to answer questions about their family history, upbringing and education, and influential figures and events in their life up until now.
Heroic Nickname
Drake dresses all in black, with the odd flash of pink, and goes by the name of The Black Maverick. In his cups, he is wont to reel off any number of self-styled titles such as The Duke of Debonair, The Marquise of Mayhem, The Count of Class and the Prince of Panache.
Flair
A swashbuckler doesn’t defeat his enemies in the most efficient way possible… where would be the fun in that? He defeats them in the most stylish way possible, even if that means courting extra danger.
– Cool Manoeuvres
Try and come up with some cool manoeuvres for your swashbuckler to try out on the battlefield, like throwing their cloak over an opponent’s eyes, attempting to undo someone’s breeches instead of hurting them, slapping their backside with the flat of your blade before Fancy Footwork-ing to safety. Sometimes you’re creativity will gain you an advantage on the battlefield, other times it might earn you inspiration from your DM, but at all times it should lend your game a lot of fun additional flavour.
– Signature Insults
Landing a good insult can be more satisfying than landing a good blow… maybe pre-generate a few that you can use in your next session. A couple I came up with (but I keep forgetting to use!) are:
I’ve felt a kitten lick me harder than that (for when an opponent scores a particularly low hit point blow).
Your swordplay is shabby, but my God your breath could knock out all five heads of a hydra at a hundred yards
My moustache has had more pussy than you… and I only grew it last month
Archaic insults could also prove to be a fun source of merriment at the table. Bandying around scorchers like fustylugs, lobcock, unlicked cub, beard splitter and scobberlotcher is likely to be memorable at the very least!
A Touch of Poetry
I’ve wanted to play a poet for a while now but it didn’t fit any of my previous characters… but it’s perfect for the swashbuckler. To make things easy on myself I’ve take the classic limerick format and use that to spin amusing ditties, such as:
There once was a rogue named Drake
Who yearned for an ale and a steak
He was short on coins
But long in the loins
So a deal with the landlady he did make
There once was a courtesan named Diva
People said she had a very hairy beaver
To see it myself
I had to pay half my wealth
But, damm it, now I’m a believer
As the adventurer has worn on though I’ve started writing poems to describe the real deeds of the whole party (not the imagined deeds of Drake), and it’s become a fun informal reminder of what happened in last week’s session. The DM even writes them down for us next to his own session summary!
Examples:
There once was a druid called Mingan
There were vines only he could swing on
The others and Drake
Each got bit by a snake
Because they didn’t know how to cling on
There once was a bard with powers like Moses
– at least in very small doses
He parted the lake
For the heroes and Drake
We didn’t get wet… not even our toesies!
There once was a bard called Elandril
He wanted the scroll: Power Word Kill
But because he’s so greedy
We gave it to the needy
Now Tallulah can murder at will
And my personal favourite…
There once was a paladin called Tallulah
I really wanted to do her
I pretended to be a goner
So she’d lay her hands on my boner
Turns out it was easy to fool her!
Anyway I include this in case it inspires any poetic or storytelling leanings for your own PC.
A Flaw
Apart from being an egotistically prick, I decided to give Drake a pretty serious flaw. He’s scared of undead (which of course he doesn’t admit). I’m not sure the party have really noticed yet that he suddenly decides to switch to his sling whenever the dead come calling, and at one stage using some poor wenches as body shields… and whilst it can seem like you’re making an unnecessary rod for your back when you give your PC a flaw that the rules don’t call for, I think a character comes to life when you give them some weaknesses and can provide you with many more roleplaying opportunities than the all-conquering style of hero. Check out my phobias table for some inspiration on that front (although weaknesses needn’t be limited to phobias!).
Mike Mearls Speaks…
And to finish let’s see what Mike Mearls has to say about swashbucklers in 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons.
Have you played this archetype yourself? Please share your experiences and tips in the comments!
And, if you liked this, check out my guide on playing a rogue assassin, where I demonstrate some canny optimisation choices as well as introduce you to my beloved badass bitch Xenia ‘Nightsting’ Zanetti of the White Scorpions Guild. (Well technically ‘formerly badass bitch’ as she recently got reduced to a pile of dust by an undead Beholder… but who knows if powerful magic might one day raise her from the ashes).
I received an exciting email from a gentleman by the name of Travis Legge a few weeks ago. He was collaborating on new project with prodigious DMs Guild publisher M.T. Black called Dungeon Tales, the remit of which is to bring together some of the Guild’s finer, but lesser-known, adventures into one affordable volume. My own Gleaming Cloud Citadel had been selected for inclusion!
Naturally I was delighted. Aside from collecting a few extra coins in royalties, it means my adventure will be seen – and hopefully played – by many more worldwide gamers.
A major side bonus of being involved in the release was I received a complimentary copy of the anthology, ie. eight (not including my own) awesome adventures compiled by some seriously creative fantasy writers.
You can find, and read more about, Dungeon Tales volume 1 on the DMs Guild, but because I wanted to make it easier for people to understand what they’re (potentially) buying I’ve created this handy contents table / menu for you, which displays the adventures in order of levels, and has some handy additional data, like number of expected sessions to play, and individual price and rating. The individual price is worth knowing because, as you’ll see, bought individually the adventures would set you back close to 30 dollars, whereas the anthology is very reasonably priced at $9.95, saving you close to 20 of America’s finest.
Reviewing the anthology in general, I was first of all impressed with the level of presentation, writing and editing of all the adventures. Of course with different authors using different formatting programmes, layout techniques and artists, there is no overarching consistency to the anthology, but all of the volumes within model themselves on official Dungeons & Dragons products and offer a professional front. If you’ve had mixed experiences buying from the Guilds and you’re worried that you’re buying into some slip-shod two-bit products, I can assure you you’re not! One or two are actually better presented than the average WoTC product in terms of attractiveness and ease of use.
Thematically and there’s a very strong Fey presence indeed to Dungeon Tales, with Midnight Revelry, Ring Out, Wild Bells and The Sylvan Harp all containing Fey foes… whilst the Labyrinth of Thorns, also has a dreamy, fairytale feel to it.
Of the other inclusions, two are classic D&D adventures, with The Temple of the Opal Goddess inviting adventurers to steal into an orc stronghold to deal with a demonic presence, and my own The Gleaming Cloud Citadel challenging PCs to take on a classic wizard’s tower full of traps and guardians, with some politicking and intrigue thrown into the mix.
The three remaining volumes struck me as particularly original in terms of concept: Forget Me Not, where the party encounters a magically displaced band of gnolls and uncovers a plot of fiendish betrayal. Modrons, Mephits & Mayhem in which the party journeys to an abandoned modron research facility, only to find its elemental guardians still active and other hostile parties sniffing around, and Seized Fire for the Ceasefire, in which the PCs find themselves in an icy setting, where a wizard’s tower holds an enchanted staff and a village of whale-folk need saving from a pair of remorhazes.
I haven’t had time to read every word of each of these, so let me concentrate on reviewing those I’ve had the opportunity to look at in more depth.
Sylvan Harp
By Simon Collins
This is a well-constructed adventure, in which the PCs are asked to intervene in the case of missing magic harp and prove that a human village have nothing to do with its theft – before continuing to thwart the plans of a rather nasty Thorn Hag. It plays out like a mini-sandbox, and the PCs are given free rein to explore the region, but at the same time there is a clear timeline of events that rewards the party for acting swiftly and good investigation and decision making. It also makes excellent use of Volo’s Guide to Monsters, so if you bought that, but have not really had a chance to employ many of its beasties, look no further…
I am a big fan of Mr. Collin’s works and you can read more reviews of his adventures elsewhere on this very website.
Ring Out, Wild Bells
By Emmet Byrne
A malevolent spirit called Mr. Grin torments a local village in this adventure that has more than a touch fairytale about it, and would also be perfect as a Halloween one shot. What I like about this story is that the victims are not the innocent villagers they seem, leaving the PCs with something of a moral dilemma – at least if they bother to investigate the back story (for that reason I’d recommend this adventure for more inquisitive groups, as trigger happy parties will just wade through the combats without uncovering the story’s main charm. In addition to great story telling, awesome presentation and maps give a really high quality feel to Ring Out, Wild Bells.
By the way Emmet has also produced some massively popular character sheets, one specifically tailored for each class. I would highly recommend you check them out (I already started using them)! They are free to download, although I’m sure he’d appreciate a few coppers for his efforts.
Labyrinth of Thorns
By Ashley Warren
If I wanted to describe Labyrinth of Thorns in a phrase it would be “a St. Valentine’s one shot”. The adventure is in fact very simple in structure: the PCs must enter a mystical maze in order to retrieve the lost bride of a world-renowned baker, encountering a variety of obstacles en route (a mix of puzzles, riddles and combats). What makes it special is the atmosphere, details and deft touches the author has woven into the story that seems to have been heavily influenced by both the romance of Italy, with a slice of Pan’s Labyrinth as well. These two qualities – simplicity and atmosphere – make it a perfect one shot adventure to run, especially if it does happen to be February the 14th.
Modrons, Mephits & Mayhem
By Tim Bannock
I absolutely love the concept of this adventure in which several groups, including the PCs, converge on an abandoned and sinister modron research facility (it was once used to experiment on innocent flumphs) to try to tap into the arcane power that resides there. There’s plenty of backstory and flavour and the adventure plays out like a very intelligent dungeon crawl, in which the PCs are actually able to recalibrate parts of the dungeon using the various control stations that crop up. If this was a Hollywood film it would be pitched to producers as a “high concept” movie, and whilst I think it would trickier than average to run, it’s one I’m definitely considering fitting into my campaign, or at the very least plundering for ideas.
Overall I’ve been very impressed with the contents of this volume, and it provides great value for DMs, whilst also saving them a lot of time trying to source worthwhile material from the Guild. That’s perhaps the major draw of this product, in that it’s made up of adventures carefully selected by the hands of two experienced creators, giving buyers some much appreciated quality assurance.
Unless you’ve just swung into the multiverse swaddled in a stork’s napkin, you’ve no doubt heard of Matthew Mercer. He’s probably the world’s most famous Dungeon Master thanks to the popular Youtube gaming series Critical Role – although I personally discovered him taking charge of Wizards of the Coast’s own web series ‘Force Grey‘.
I never would have thought in a million years that watching other people play D&D could be entertaining, but I absolutely loved tuning into the first seasons of this series, where the PCs were played by some very amusing characters, particularly Utkarsh Ambudkar, Chris Hardwick and Jonah Ray. As the series has gone on both Chris and Jonah left, and with them went some of the charm of the early episodes, but nonetheless I found myself just as keen to switch on. That’s when I realised the draw for me was not watching the players’ smash foes and trade banter (amusing though it is), it was rather tuning in to watch Matt Mercer arbitrate the game.
Why? Because watching Matthew Mercer Dungeon Master is like watching Lionel Messi play football. You’re left captivated and fascinated by someone operating at the top of their game.
Watching Matthew Mercer Dungeon Master is like watching Lionel Messi play football. You’re left captivated and fascinated by someone operating at the top of their game.
And whilst, like watching Messi, I simply have to accept that I’m never going to be in the same league in terms of my own performances (be it on the soccer field or at the table), I am at least able to pick up some really cool tips on how I can improve my own Dungeon Master skills.
Force Grey hunt for the Lost City of Omu
After recently binge-viewing the whole Lost City of Omu series, here are some things I’ve learned from watching Matt Mercer DMing that I wanted to share with you…
1. More detail brings the game alive
Matthew has a talent for both imagining and describing the world his players inhabit, and not only every backdrop is depicted in detail, but every monster, spell and every swing of the sword is rendered in technicolour, so that you almost feel like you’re watching a movie as the action unfolds.
Before I watched Matt DM I played the game in a very much mechanical bare bones style. If a player told me, “I cast magic missile on the orc,” I would no doubt reply. “Ok roll 3d4+3 damage.” “10 hp of damage. Is he dead?” “Nope he’s still alive.”
Matt however would say something along the lines of: “Three fizzing white bolts of arcane energy shoot from your fingertips and speed towards the hapless orc with the accuracy of heat seeking missiles. Boof, boof, boof, they explode one by one on his chest, as he staggers back from the pain. Gritting his sharp animal-like teeth, he shouts a war cry in his native tongue and charges towards you.”
I don’t think I really have to tell you which is better do I?
Needless to say I’m trying to up my game in this respect, the challenge being dealing with the chaos of combat and the dozens of things you need to keep track of, whilst still finding the mental agility to dish out the power descriptions… but improvements have been made.
2. Don’t say no, say “you can try”
I confess, I’m always been a very restrictive Dungeon Master. I love realism and additionally I like players to earn kick ass hero status, not expect themselves to be able to pull off death defying stunts from the get go. This means, historically, I’ve often simple ruled out the more outlandish manoeuvres that PCs have thrown at me. This is of course is frustrating for players, and takes some of the fun away from them.
There are two things I’ve noticed Matt does when one of his players comes up with a particularly unfeasible plan, and I’ve started doing the same. The first is to make sure the PCs understand the logistics of what they’re trying to attempt. As D&D happens in our heads it’s natural that what one person imagines is not exactly how another person see things… in fact I’m pretty sure they’re often wildly wildly different! Simply going through the scenario again in more detail is often enough for a player to drop a plan that wouldn’t work… once they understand that the river is swollen with winter rains and that Michael Phelps himself wouldn’t last long swimming in plate mail, then they might not be so keen to drown themselves.
The second response to a crazy ass idea that Matt often gives is to simply say ‘you can try!’ I really like this method a lot as it gives players full creative control over their characters and a chance of success… how big or small that chance is, is up to you to decide! And if / when they fail it often leads to something epic or memorable happening. That’s better than ruling out their creativity and having them resignedly make a boring melee attack from having nothing better to do.
I’ve come to realise that many of the best moments of the game come from when a DM lets a player do something stupid. It’s that moment in the movie when things go from bad to worse and the drama is at its highest point… often with some hilarity thrown in.
Even if it means throwing out a DC 25 or 30, let the PCs have a go at whatever they want and enjoy the carnage that follows…
3. Use the dice rolls to inspire the description
This is a related to my first point, but what I really love about Matt’s style of DMing is how, what in black and white mechanical terms are successes or failures, turn into nuanced reality in his masterful hands. If someone fails an attack roll by one point, this is Matt’s cue to describe how their arrow flies true, but teasingly deflects off the hobgoblin’s helmet without dealing damage. A PC passing a saving throw against fireball prompts Matt to describe how their character combat-rolls behind a nearby boulder to avoid the worst of the blast. The drama of an on-the-money Athletics check, and Matt describes how the character plants both their feet – just – on the other side of the chasm, before frantically wheeling their arms to avoid slipping backwards into a boiling pit of lava.
In other words he continually takes the binary mechanics of success and failure, and turns them into a story, and that’s awesome.
4. Let PCs describe the kill
Generally Matt takes the lead in describing the action… that makes sense. As the Dungeon Master he is the arbitrator of the world. A player can attempt anything, but what actually happens is up to the DM to interpret. However when a PC reduces a monster to zero hit points the DM can afford to give the player in question carte blanche to describe their actions as the outcome is decided, and how it happens is more a point of style.
When this happens at Matt’s table he typically turns to the PC with a sly grin and says (thus revealing that they’ve just killed the baddie!), “So how do you want to do this?”
This is the PCs cue to give vent to their (violent) fantasies and let them imagine exactly how their character delivers the death blow, often embellishing the strike with stylish flourishes such as “then I spit on his corpse,” or “then I wipe the blood off my blade and say ‘and stay down bitch'”. Every player likes to bathe in the power of their PCs and handing them the reins for a moment (specifically a moment where the result is already decided) allows them, not only to revel in being a badass, but also to join in the creativity and become a joint story teller along with the DM.
In fact, it would be worth considering where else in the game, as a DM, you can do this… players love it and the game becomes a real team effort of imagination.
By the way there’s a great example of this in action in this episode of Force Grey as the druid in the party finishes off an undead T-rex in the jungles of Chult when the swarm of porcupines he summons unleash a volley of quills at the zombie lizard.
5. You don’t have to be a slave to the rules
Players often consciously or subconsciously interpret their skills to be a lot more powerful than the rules actually state, and I do think it’s important to keep them in check on these occasions… otherwise you’re going to make a rod for your back as players then expect to be able to exceed their powers on a regular basis, and you’re potentially going to get in all kinds of awkward situations down the line.
In the example I just shared the barbarian of the party has just lost her right hand… that’s not going to be much fun for her from now on in! Given that she fights with a two handed weapon, she’s going to be something of a lame duck for the rest of the adventure. The party are desperate to help out, and the paladin, having already been told that the lesser restoration spell won’t work, describes in detail how he takes his friend’s severed hand and places it next to the bloody wrist, and utters a desperate prayer to his God.
Now, rules as written, there’s no way his ability lay on hands is supposed to be able to reattach limbs, but instead of saying ‘sorry dude, but that’s beyond your powers’ Matt tells the paladin to make a religion check. It’s clearly a crucial moment and with some bardic inspiration and guidance he ends up rolling a 27. This is Matt’s cue to describe the paladin reaching beyond the planes of existence to the Nine Hells and coming face to face with his terrifying deity, Tiamat, whose five heads nod their assent to this boon. It’s not quite as simple as that though… a burst of white radiant light flairs up on the barbarian’s wrist, doing 10 hp of damage, and her hand feels numb and not quite its old self.
By letting one of the player’s bend the rules of the game Matt allows them to create an epic moment – which he does more than justice to in his description of how it unfolds – and something truly memorable in the game. The fact that is happened outside the ordinary rules of the game made it even more epic. And the fact that this clearly required a very high roll, and carried some negative consequences, prevented it from ever feeling like the DM was throwing the PCs a bone here. It felt like they earned it.
The moral of the story is that if you do want to step outside the RAW for a moment, Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford aren’t going to turn up at your house, confiscate your Player’s Handbook and ban you from every playing D&D again.
In fact, it’s explicitly written in every edition of D&D that I’ve ever played (namely 1st, 2nd and 5th) that the rules are meant to be broken and reinterpreted. (None of which unfortunately has ever stopped a certain type of rules lawyer throwing a fit on a forum whenever someone suggests a different way of doing something. But that’s another post…)
6. Dial up the drama
One thing I’ve seen Matt do on a number of occasions is allow a bad situation to get worse. As I mentioned earlier, letting PCs attempt dumb stuff means this can happen naturally without any help from you as the DM. However even if the players are making tight decisions and operating as a slick well drilled machine – or maybe especially if they are – it’s good to be open to the idea of things getting worse. One moment stood out for me in a recent episode of Force Grey I watched. As the party tried to abseil down a cliff, they were attacked by gargoyles half way down. That sounds bad enough, but then, after someone cast fireball, Matt seized the opportunity to casually mention the fact that the rope had now caught fire. Now the game is getting interesting!
7. Buy into your players’ vision for their characters
As a DM you’re effectively there to facilitate the fantasies of your players, and not the other way round. I struggle with this to be honest. I have a quite narrow vision of fantasy – I like it gritty and I find aspects of high fantasy to be too silly to be enjoyable. But… I think a good DM has to remain as open minded as possible. When the druid in the party summons a troop of beavers and has them talk like Chicago gangsters maybe you just have to roll with it… and enjoy it!
8. Don’t give the game away
Another thing I like about Matt’s style of DMing, is that he doesn’t really engage with the players out of game – or at least keeps it at a minimal. Once he has described the scene he tends to steps back and let the players decide what to do, without prompting. Sometimes when I DM, I get drawn into the ‘you’re getting warmer… colder… warmer’ game, subtly responding to the players’ desire for direction, by offering them facial expressions, verbal clues, body language or thinly veiled instructions that lead them along the right path.
But for the game to offer real autonomy to the players I think whenever the PCs are faced with a dilemma or big decision you have to put your poker face on and let them head off in the wrong direction occasionally or make a massive mistake.
As a player I naturally try to read between the lines of what info the DM gives us, but I always appreciate it more when they give nothing away and we’re forced to decide for ourselves, for better or worse.
Unfortunately for me, a bit like the fact that Messi is fucking fast and can control the ball as if he had superglue on the surface of his boots, there are other things that Matt can do that can’t be learned from viewing alone, or at least not so easily.
As a professional actor he’s got a range of voices and facial expressions that I’m never gonna have, and to be honest I’m not really confident about hamming it up to the max., so I’ll never be able to keep up with the more theatrical DMs who can go the extra mile here and bring some awesome immersion to the game.
Whatever your personality / talent limitations are, however, that’s no excuse or reason to not do what you can to improve your DMing skills. After all, improving at something you love doing is going to give you a lot of satisfaction, and in this particular instance deliver a lot of extra joy to the players at your table.
So my goal when I’m watching an expert DM like Matt do his thing is never to completely emulate them, but to pick up as many easy-to-implement tips as I can, and bring them to my game.
Anyway enough from me… what have you learned from watching Mr. Mercer preside over the table? Or who else have you learned from, be they a celebrity DM we can watch on Youtube or a friend of yours who is a master of the art?
Please share any stories, anecdotes and links in the comments… would love to hear from you on this!
I’ll leave you with the very first episode of Force Grey… update, seems like they made it unavailable, so I’ll leave you with the first episode of the second series instead.
It’s taken a monster-load of time. After first writing it in the back end of 2016, and first playing it in the front end of 2017, the adventure then needed extensive polishing to reach a level of quality whereby others could actually enjoy reading it and play it themselves. Then I formatted the whole thing with much difficulty using OpenOffice, before discovering an amazing tool by the name of HomeBrewery which makes formatting your own material in the style of official WoTC merchandise pretty easy. Cue formatting it all over again.
Then there was the player feedback, friends’ feedback and my own critical eye, leading to many revisions, and on top of that a considerable amount of time was given over to editing errors flagged in the final proofs, creating the maps (and then deciding they were not good enough and commissioning someone else to create the maps), and commissioning the front cover.
All in all it was quite a mission. But I must say, it’s damn amazing to see it up for sale on the DMs Guilds. After just over a week it’s sold 25 or so copies, garnered a few nice words, and I really hope people are going to enjoy playing it. To think that gamers around the world will be adventuring in a dungeon of my creation is quite a big buzz!
What’s It About?
Originally designed for 10th and 11th level characters (but with concrete advice on playing it from 5th level upwards… see more below), The Gleaming Cloud Citadel is a centre of arcane research that sits on the heights of the Graypeak Mountains in the Forgotten Realms (or any other mountain range of your pleasing, as location and campaign setting are not too important to play this particular D&D adventure).
Lavinia Brightswann… you can totally trust her!
The Citadel belongs to the Order of the Gossamer Robe mages, led by Eszteban the Great, however things are not all well in the Order. An ongoing row over intellectual sovereignty has seen the Citadel divide in two, with Eszteban locking himself in his central tower and protecting himself from the rest of the Order with a labyrinth of puzzles, traps and monsters. He believes his fellow mages are trying to poison him.
Depending on which adventure hook you use, your party might have been invited by the acting head of the Order, Lavinia Brightswann, a half elf mage who wears a black mask over one side of her face, and who claims Eszteban has gone mad. She needs the party to disable the labyrinth’s threats and hopefully save Eszteban from himself. Or otherwise the PCs may be driven by their own need for a powerful spell or ritual, kept in the upper reaches of the Citadel, and therefore feel the need to take on the labyrinth for their own purposes. In which case the rest of the Order will take a keen interest in their success.
I think one of the fun parts of this adventure is that each of the mages of the Order have their own motivations, from the ageing Eszteban, to the ambitious Lavinia, through to the infatuated Meredin, the loyal Baelgrak The Bronze, and the scheming dwarf mage Hrimmar Gimgil. There’s also the mystery of what happened to the missing-presumed-dead 6th member of the Order, whose tower now lies empty.
As for playability, after a tricky journey through the mountains, the PCs have a chance to meet all of the Order and delve into the Citadel’s internal politics, before they enter the labyrinth. Once they start their ascent of the Citadel, there’s a varied series of encounters to deal with, very much in the flavour of old school Dungeons & Dragons, with floor puzzles, riddles and magical guardians. The final (or more likely the penultimate fight) pits the PCs against shadowy version of themselves, which of course is about as even a fight as you can get, and as the DM I have to say it is a lot of fun using some of the party’s powers against them!
It’s a bit railroaded in the Citadel itself as I didn’t want to write a whole load of encounters that would never get played… and DM’s probably don’t want to prepare such encounters either, but I think the final resolution is very open and can be played out in a lot of different ways, depending on which of the mages the party side with, if any.
What Level Adventure Is It?
As I mentioned The Gleaming Cloud Citadel was written as a 10th to 11th level adventure for 5th edition, but – in order to broaden its playability – I recalibrated all the combats with options for 5th to 6th levels, and 7th to 9th levels. The only real difference of playing this scenario at lower levels is that the PCs won’t be able to take on the mages, which may actually add to the flavour, as they can’t just swing a sword at every problem they encounter.
New Spells
I felt it was important that, if I was going to create an Order of wizards dedicated to arcane research, that I should create the rules for a slew of new spells that might represent their body of work. This was a lot of fun, and, if you’ll permit me a little brag, I think I’ve got a good knack for crafting well balanced incantations that you can bring to your game. I named this body of spells The Discoveries, and part of the value of this adventure are the 29 new wizard spells you get with it. You can see a few samples on this blog post (although I polished them up a bit for publication).
We all love watching caper films, but it can be hard to capture that same excitement at the gaming table. We want the characters to be pulling off clockwork cons, but in practice the sessions devolve into dull planning session, and a heist that doesn’t feel too different than the
My first game of D&D was played at my best friends sleepover – his dad insisted that he run a game for us [ed. the tyrannical power of fatherhood being put to great use!]. And I’m still playing with the same group, 26 years later!
Encounters in the Savage Cities is a collection of 26 short, urban-themed encounters / adventures written by some of the best-selling writers on the Dungeon Masters Guild. 
