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I'm adapting an old 1e module - C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir - and trying to decide on the best way to model one of the unique creatures from the module. They are called gingwatzim and are balls of raw spirit energy from the Ethereal Plane. Their attack is an automatic loss of strength...

The player of my party's cleric just quit the game (not happy with the combat length in 4e among other complaints). Assuming we continue the campaign (I need to talk with the other players about whether they are happy with the system and campaign), is it possible to continue without any Leader...

Tonight's D&D 4e game went a little weird. The party fought a young green dragon, their very first solo. The fight was intense, and definitely their toughest fight yet. The fighter, thief, and warpriest were all knocked out with ongoing damage (one of the scariest situations to be in), and came...

Quick question about the Young Green Dragon's Instinctive Flyby trait. This allows the dragon to use a free action to use Flyby Attack on the initiative count of 10 + its actual initiative. Flyby Attack is a Recharge 5/6 action. Does it have to have the action recharged in order to use it in...

How do you deal with players trying to obtain resources from NPCs that they shouldn't really have at their level? I've seen this come up many times before, but a good example came up in last night's game. The PCs were working with a group of scholars and researchers at a university library in...

Suppose you have a scenario where the adventurers are fighting in shallow water (maybe 4 feet deep). This isn't "underwater combat" but it must be more complicated than normal dry land. Is this just difficult terrain, or does an adventurer have to make an Athletics check in order to "swim"...

I didn't care for the Strahd Zombie published in Open Grave, and wanted something closer to the original from I6: Ravenloft with its original shtick of getting its arms lopped off and having them continue to attack. Obviously, you can't do that with a minion like the Open Grave version. I...

What the thread title says, basically. What are your favorite set pieces from earlier editions' adventures/modules that work well when adapted into 4e? I am running a campaign in the standard Nentir Vale setting, largely with stuff I'm making up myself, but I am borrowing liberally from the...

In my game last week, one of my players (who plays an eladrin mage) declared (half in jest) "When I get back to town, I'm buying a mirror!" with the idea being that he could then use it to fey step around a corner. Would you allow this in your game? What about other powers that need...

I don't know how many people here watch Doctor Who, but the current series features a monster called "the Silence" with an interesting gimmick. When you look away from them, you forget entirely that you saw them. They are also able to control people through post-hypnotic suggestion in...

I'm working up an NPC that will be the main villain in my campaign for most of the heroic tier. The NPC is an agent of the cult of Vecna, and I originally envisioned her as a cleric of Vecna but now I'm leaning towards building her as a necromancer using some of the powers from the new Heroes of...

Can anyone give me some basic DM monster tactical tips? I feel like I'm not particularly challenging my party (although they don't seem to be too bored or otherwise unhappy). In tonight's game of three encounters I managed to bloody a PC maybe three times total. The 2nd level knight has an...

I am trying to use the magic item rarity system in my mostly-Essentials campaign. I'm actually OK with the fairly limited Common items (at least so far), and I actually like the way it makes the more powerful and esoteric magic items more unique and exciting. But there's a real problem with Rare...

Most of the adventure scenarios that I've written in the past have followed the traditional dungeon with encounter key format. E.g., this room has 4 goblins guarding a prisoner, that room has a trap that releases several animated skeletons that attack, etc. The general assumption is that the PCs...