Time Management during a D&D session

Everyone in a D&D session should be involved in it, no one should feel bored.
I go over techniques to make sure everyone is actively participating.

Social Contract and Conflict Resolution in RPGs

Social contracts between DMs and players prevent a lot of mismatched expectations.
But they can't prevent all conflicts.
I explore causes and possible solutions to conflicts.

Metagaming in D&D

When I first started playing D&D, I hadn't heard of metagaming.
This quickly changed when I became a DM and had some experienced players.
Metagaming is the use of player knowledge while playing a character.

Benefits of Small D&D Parties

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I prefer playing with smaller parties.
There are benefits and drawbacks
to having fewer PCs.

A while back there was an article about
handling a solo party.
I've never run a solo party but I've played with a small amount of players.

I like smaller parties but I can imagine there are DMs that like larger parties because there are more player interactions and large scale battles.

Recurring antagonists

Recurring antagonists are essential in story telling as they oppose the PCs.
Their recurring nature creates a connection between them and the PCs which leads to a better story.

Getting Players Invested

Getting players invested in the world around them is necessary if you want to tell a story. If they are only playing to kill things and gain experience/loot there wouldn't be need of a story.

Storytelling in Keep on the Shadowfell

Storytelling in D&D: Keep on the Shadowfell

I find telling a story in D&D quite hard.
My first experience as a DM was Keep on the Shadowfell.

Keep on the Shadowfell

When I first read the adventure I had no opinion whatsoever
about it. My experience in 4E was limited to being a player in Kobold Hall.

As we progressed into the adventure, the NPCs seemed boring
and one-dimensional.
You have the friendly innkeeper, the old sage, the mayor,
the spy, the healer and the big bad.
The adventure recommended giving the NPCs mannerisms, details and background.

I changed the sage into and old man looking to extend his
life with necromancy.
I made the mayor stupid and incompetent.
I made the spy the mother of the big bad which gave him
a background. That way the PCs had some idea about him
before the final battle.

The big bad had many creatures working for him, like kobolds.
I changed it so the kobolds worship dragons and Tiamat.
They are offended by humans expanding into their lands with
farms and digging up stuff in a nearby dragon burial site.

Later on, the PCs encounter an undead fallen knight as a skill
challenge.
I gave him a quest in which his undead family should be
killed to grant them all peace.
As he was the former leader of the keep I wanted him to have
a bigger role in the story.

Near the end of the adventure, some PCs had left the group
permanently. I made them come back as undead versions of
themselves to attack the PCs.

My conclusions

The NPCs were static and boring. I made them more
memorable with a background and a more active role in the story.
I gave them a chance to be more than a NPC waiting for the PCs
to come by and perform his or her role.
I wanted the PCs to know a bit about the big bad before the final battle.
Otherwise the final battle is a hard battle at the end instead of a climax in a piece of fiction.

The cliches are overwhelming in this adventure:

• the NPCs exist only to fulfill their role

• all enemies either work for the big bad or attack anything in sight

• there are no reasons given why intelligent enemies attack, except that they serve the big bad or get paid a lot
• the big bad wants to open a portal for no other reason to serve his master and gets interrupted by the PCs

How to tell a story

Unlike other types of fiction like books, movies, television, etc
the story isn't set in stone.
Players should have meaningful choices and a way to impact
the world.
That is why I give the PCs situations and see how they react.
For example, in Keep on the Shadowfell, the PCs could

•   destroy the kobolds
•   could talk to them to end the fighting
•   just leave them alone

To make these kind of choices, I give NPCs more backstory and motivation.

The second difference with other types of fiction is that
there may be quite some time between getting into a situation
and having to make a choice about it.
In real life, there can be weeks or months between the two, depending on how often the group comes together.

The third difference lies in the players don't understanding the situation.
This can be because they choose a different path the DM thought they would take. Or that the DM forgot some details or underestimated the information the players need to understand the situation.

The second and third difference can be fixed with repeating information the players need to understand a situation.
I learned this the hard way and found a helpful site:
http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule

NPC interaction in D&D 4E

NPC interaction in Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition

Non-player characters (NPCs) are used for various purposes
in the classic modules like H1: Keep on the Shadowfell and H2: Thunderspire Labyrinth.

Quest givers

Most NPCs that are encountered give the PCs quests to perform
in exchange for a reward.
There are many reasons why quest givers don't perform the quest themselves:

• not powerful enough
• more important things to do
• PCs are better suited for the quest
• Tricking or manipulating the PCs

This may result in NPCs which are passive and only stand still
in one place being there as quest givers for the PCs.
This play-style is valid choice, especially for a dungeon crawl
adventure.
However, I like my quest givers to be more active:

• I usually give them one or more goals related to their quests
• I give them activities to do or other places to be
• I try to give them a background, for example by using the Player's Handbook 2 backgrounds.

This implies there is an active world outside of what the PCs
are doing.

Buyers and Sellers

Buyers buy items from PCs at 1/5 of the price.
This is done so that PCs focus on getting money adventuring,
not from trading.
This choice is valid but I like to do the following:

• Buyers and sellers both use market price as a guideline
• Players get less gold as treasure
• Several magic items are for sale, depending on the merchant
  Not every possible magic item in existence is available,
  only a few the merchant can logically create or purchase.
  I usually choose simple magic items that add to skills, defenses or damage rolls.

Antagonists

Like Quest givers, I like antagonists or villains to be more developed and active.
I don't like them waiting at the end of the dungeon performing some ritual.

An excellent resource for giving them more depth is the Villain Workshop.

Combat Encounters

When PCs fight wealthy or influential NPCs, it is expected that
NPCs would use the best magic items they can use.
If NPCs were created like PCs they would be hopelessly outmatched
in higher levels because they lack attack and defense bonuses from magic items.
The Dungeons Master's Guide gives NPCs bonuses depending on their level (inherent bonuses).

It's my opinion that PCs should also have inherent bonuses.
That way, the participants in the world are more alike which makes the world more believable to me.

When the treasure guidelines are being followed, NPCs cannot have
as much magic items on them as the average PC.
I choose it so that only PCs can use many magic items
and NPCs are limited to only a few.

Conclusion

Fourth Edition follows a more gamist style of play.
NPCs exist to support the PCs or to hand out quests.

Personally, I prefer a more simulationist style of play.
This means more active and believable NPCs who often
have their own goals, backstories and similar powers to PCs.