Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
CR 13 dragon beaten by level 7 party observations
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 7139876" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>The Necromancy is strong with [MENTION=6887465]Mochan[/MENTION] to revive a thread dead for so long... Putting aside the settled matter and addressing the recent comments:</p><p></p><p>D&D is a role playing game. Players play a role in a story. Generally, their characters are the heroes of the story. The DM's job is to set the stage to create an amazing story.</p><p></p><p>How does a DM set the stage for amazing stories? </p><p></p><p>1.) Make the heroes feel special. Not every challenge should be challenges of survival where the PCs get beaten up. While there should be some fights for survival, there are also plenty of ways to challenge PCs without putting their lives at risk. Rather than putting in so many goblins that the PCs have to struggle to survive, use a small number of goblins that you know the PCs can handle and give the goblins an alternative goal (steal the baby, cut the rope bridge, etc...) The PCs can feel more powerful than the heroes.</p><p></p><p>2.) Almost every major enemy should have an exploitable flaw. Beating on a dragon until it dies is a common MMORPG experience that anyone can do at any time. RPGs are not bound by the limitations of code and can venture into more imaginative ways to resolve combats. Collapse the ceiling on the dragon, trick it into wasting the breath on something that is not really there, dive through a small door to escape it... only to have it break down the wall and squeeze through after you. Give them personality traits that are exploitable - arrogance, greed, playfulness, addictions, vanity, obsessions, etc... The majority of your villains in good stories have that fatal flaw that the hero can exploit to save the day - winning not by being the strongest, but by being the best.</p><p></p><p>3.) D&D isn't DM versus players. DMs work with players to tell stories - not against them to try to beat them. Celebrate when heroes win the day. </p><p></p><p>Does all of this mean that players should not be challenged by a dragon? Of course not. There is a place for those major turning points in a story when the heroes are truly pushed to their limits - and perhaps heroes fall - but that is not something that you need in every combat.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 7139876, member: 2629"] The Necromancy is strong with [MENTION=6887465]Mochan[/MENTION] to revive a thread dead for so long... Putting aside the settled matter and addressing the recent comments: D&D is a role playing game. Players play a role in a story. Generally, their characters are the heroes of the story. The DM's job is to set the stage to create an amazing story. How does a DM set the stage for amazing stories? 1.) Make the heroes feel special. Not every challenge should be challenges of survival where the PCs get beaten up. While there should be some fights for survival, there are also plenty of ways to challenge PCs without putting their lives at risk. Rather than putting in so many goblins that the PCs have to struggle to survive, use a small number of goblins that you know the PCs can handle and give the goblins an alternative goal (steal the baby, cut the rope bridge, etc...) The PCs can feel more powerful than the heroes. 2.) Almost every major enemy should have an exploitable flaw. Beating on a dragon until it dies is a common MMORPG experience that anyone can do at any time. RPGs are not bound by the limitations of code and can venture into more imaginative ways to resolve combats. Collapse the ceiling on the dragon, trick it into wasting the breath on something that is not really there, dive through a small door to escape it... only to have it break down the wall and squeeze through after you. Give them personality traits that are exploitable - arrogance, greed, playfulness, addictions, vanity, obsessions, etc... The majority of your villains in good stories have that fatal flaw that the hero can exploit to save the day - winning not by being the strongest, but by being the best. 3.) D&D isn't DM versus players. DMs work with players to tell stories - not against them to try to beat them. Celebrate when heroes win the day. Does all of this mean that players should not be challenged by a dragon? Of course not. There is a place for those major turning points in a story when the heroes are truly pushed to their limits - and perhaps heroes fall - but that is not something that you need in every combat. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
CR 13 dragon beaten by level 7 party observations
Top