Page 7 - DnD_5e_Players_Handbook_(BnW_OCR)

their com panions. The adventurers must cooperate to that a captured scout reveal the secret entrance to the
successfully complete the adventure. goblin lair, getting information from a rescued prisoner,
The adventure is the heart of the game, a story with pleading for mercy from an orc chieftain, or persuading
a beginning, a middle, and an end. An adventure might a talkative magic m irror to show a distant location to
be created by the Dungeon Master or purchased off the the adventurers.
shelf, tweaked and modified to suit the DM ’s needs and The rules in chapters 7 and 8 support exploration and
desires. In either case, an adventure features a fantastic social interaction, as do many class features in chapter 3
setting, whether it’s an underground dungeon, a crum ­ and personality traits in chapter 4.
bling castle, a stretch of wilderness, or a bustling city. Combat, the focus of chapter 9, involves characters
It features a rich cast o f characters: the adventurers and other creatures swinging weapons, casting spells,
created and played by the other players at the table, maneuvering for position, and so on—all in an effort
as well as nonplayer characters (NPCs). Those char­ to defeat their opponents, whether that means killing
acters might be patrons, allies, enemies, hirelings, or every enemy, taking captives, or forcing a rout. Combat
just background extras in an adventure. Often, one of is the most structured element o f a D&D session, with
the NPCs is a villain w hose agenda drives much of an creatures taking turns to make sure that everyone gets
adventure’s action. a chance to act. Even in the context of a pitched battle,
Over the course of their adventures, the characters there’s still plenty of opportunity for adventurers to
are confronted by a variety of creatures, objects, and attempt wacky stunts like surfing down a flight of stairs
situations that they must deal with in som e way. S om e­ on a shield, to examine the environment (perhaps by
times the adventurers and other creatures do their pulling a mysterious lever), and to interact with other
best to kill or capture each other in combat. At other creatures, including allies, enem ies, and neutral parties.
times, the adventurers talk to another creature (or even
a magical object) with a goal in mind. And often, the T h e W o n d e r s o f M a g i c
adventurers spend time trying to solve a puzzle, bypass
Few D&D adventures end without som ething magical
an obstacle, find som ething hidden, or unravel the cur­
happening. W hether helpful or harmful, magic appears
rent situation. Meanwhile, the adventurers explore the
frequently in the life of an adventurer, and it is the focus
world, making decisions about which way to travel and
of chapters 10 and 11.
what they’ll try to do next.
In the worlds of D u n g e o n s & D r a g o n s , practitioners
Adventures vary in length and complexity. A short
of magic are rare, set apart from the m asses o f people
adventure might present only a few challenges, and
by their extraordinary talent. Com m on folk might see
it might take no m ore than a single game session to
evidence of magic on a regular basis, but it’s usually
complete. A long adventure can involve hundreds of
m inor—a fantastic monster, a visibly answered prayer,
combats, interactions, and other challenges, and take
a wizard walking through the streets with an animated
dozens o f sessions to play through, stretching over
shield guardian as a bodyguard.
weeks or months of real time. Usually, the end of an
For adventurers, though, magic is key to their sur­
adventure is marked by the adventurers heading back to
vival. Without the healing magic of clerics and paladins,
civilization to rest and enjoy the spoils of their labors.
adventurers would quickly succum b to their wounds.
But that’s not the end of the story. You can think of
Without the uplifting magical support of bards and
an adventure as a single episode of a TV series, made
clerics, warriors might be overwhelmed by powerful
up of multiple exciting scenes. A campaign is the whole
foes. Without the sheer magical power and versatility
series—a string o f adventures joined together, with a
of wizards and druids, every threat w ould be mag­
consistent group of adventurers following the narrative
nified tenfold.
from start to finish.
Magic is also a favored tool of villains. Many adven­
tures are driven by the machinations of spellcasters
T h e T h r e e P i l l a r s o f A d v e n t u r e
w ho are hellbent on using magic for som e ill end. A cult
Adventurers can try to do anything their players can leader seeks to awaken a god w ho slum bers beneath
imagine, but it can be helpful to talk about their activ­ the sea, a hag kidnaps youths to magically drain them
ities in three broad categories: exploration, social o f their vigor, a mad wizard labors to invest an army of
interaction, and combat. automatons with a facsimile of life, a dragon begins a
Exploration includes both the adventurers’ movement mystical ritual to rise up as a god of destruction—these
through the world and their interaction with objects and are just a few of the magical threats that adventurers
situations that require their attention. Exploration is the might face. With magic o f their own, in the form of
give-and-take of the players describing what they want spells and magic items, the adventurers might prevail!
their characters to do, and the Dungeon Master telling
the players what happens as a result. On a large scale,
that might involve the characters spending a day cross­
ing a rolling plain or an hour making their way through
caverns underground. On the sm allest scale, it could
mean one character pulling a lever in a dungeon room to
see what happens.
Social interaction features the adventurers talking to
som eone (or som ething) else. It might mean demanding