Page 34 - Dungeon Master's Guide

only after both the characters and the lords have come
PLAY STYLE
to terms with their differing outlooks and agendas.
By building a new world (or adopting an existing one) This style of gaming is deep, complex, and challenging.
and creating the key events that launch your campaign, The focus isn't on combat but on negotiations, political
you determined what your campaign is about. Next, you maneuverings, and character interaction. A whole game
have to decide how you want to run your campaign. session might pass without a single attack roll.
What's the right way to run a campaign? That depends In this style of game, the NPCs are as complex and
on your play style and the motivations of your players. richly detailed as the adventurers, although the focus
Consider your players' tastes, your strengths as a lies on motivation and personality, not game statistics.
DM, table rules (discussed in part 3), and the type of Expect long digressions from each player about what
game you want to run. Describe to the players how you his or her character does, and why. Going to a temple to
envision the game experience and let them give you ask a priest for advice can be as important an encounter
input. The game is theirs, too. Lay that groundwork as fighting orcs. (And don't expect the adventurers to
early, so your players can make informed choices and fight the orcs at all unless they are motivated to do
help you maintain the type of game you want to run. so.) A character will sometimes take actions against
Consider the following two exaggerated examples of the player's better judgment, because "that's what the
play style. character would do."
Since combat isn't the focus, game rules take a back
HACK AND SLASH
seat to character development. Ability check modifiers
The adventurers kick in the dungeon door, fight the and skill proficiencies take precedence over combat
monsters, and grab the treasure. This style of play is
bonuses. Feel free to change or ignore rules to fit the
straightforward, fun, exciting, and action-oriented. The
players' roleplaying needs, using the advice presented in
players spend relatively little time developing personas
part 3 of this book.
for their characters, roleplaying noncombat situations,
or discussing anything other than the immediate SOMETHING IN BETWEEN
dangers of the dungeon. The style of play in most campaigns falls between these
In such a game, the adventurers face clearly evil two extremes. There's plenty of action, but the campaign
monsters and opponents and occasionally meet clearly offers an ongoing storyline and interaction between
good and helpful NPCs. Don't expect the adventurers characters as well. Players develop their characters'
to anguish over what to do with prisoners, or to debate motivations and relish the chance to prove their skills
whether it's right or wrong to invade and wipe out a in combat. To maintain the balance, provide a mixture
bugbear lair. Don't track money or time spent in town. of roleplaying encounters and combat encounters. Even
Once they've completed a task, send the adventurers in a dungeon setting, you can present NPCs that aren't
back into the action as quickly as possible. Character meant to be fought but rather helped out, negotiated
motivation need be no more developed than a desire to with, or just talked to.
kill monsters and acquire treasure. Think about your preferred style of play by
considering these questions:
lMMERSIVE STORYTELLING
Waterdeep is threatened by political turmoil. The • Are you a fan of realism and gritty consequences, or
adventurers must convince the Masked Lords, the city's are you more focused on making the game seem like
secret rulers, to resolve their differences, but can do so an action movie?
• Do you want the game to maintain a sense of medieval
fantasy, or do you want to explore alternate time lines
A WORLD TO EXPLORE
or modern thinking?
Much of a campaign involves the adventurers traveling from Do you want to maintain a serious tone, or is humor
place to place, exploring the environment, and learning
about the fantasy world. This exploration can take place in your goal?
any environment, including a vast wilderness, a labyrinthine • Even if you are serious, is the action lighthearted
dungeon, the shadowy passages of the Underdark, the or intense?
crowded streets of a city, and the undulating waters of • Is bold action key, or do the players need to be
the sea. Determining a way around an obstacle, finding a thoughtful and cautious?
hidden object, investigating a strange feature of a dungeon, Do you like to plan thoroughly in advance, or do you
deciphering clues, solving puzzles, and bypassing or prefer improvising on the spot?
disabling traps can all be part of exploration. • Is the game full of varied D&D elements, or does it
Sometimes exploration is an incidental part of the game.
center on a theme such as horror?
For instance, you might gloss over an unimportant journey
by telling the players that they spend three uneventful days • Is the game for all ages, or does it involve
on the road before moving along to the next point of interest. mature themes?
Are you comfortable with moral ambiguity, such as
Other times exploration is the focus, a chance to describe
a wondrous part of the world or story that increases the allowing the characters to explore whether the end
players' feeling of immersion. Similarly, you should consider justifies the means? Or are you happier with straight-
playing up exploration if your players enjoy solving puzzles, forward heroic principles, such as justice, sacrifice,
finding their way around obstacles, and searching dungeon and helping the downtrodden?
,.
corridors for secret doors.

CHAPTER 1 I A WORLD OF YOUR OWN
34