Common new DM mistakes list...

[Asmor]

Allowing the spiked chain?

...

(ok, maybe not the spiked chain thing)

Hey! What's wrong with the spiked chain?

No, seriously, what's wrong with the spiked chain? I've got a character that specializes in it and would love to hear out to abu... I mean utilize it to its fullest.

 

[Elric]

The main reason, IMO, is "equipment", rather than powers like regeneration. A significant fraction of a PCs durability (as distinct from "power"), comes from the PCs wealth/equipment. Add that to a monster's abilities, an' ya gots trouble.

That's another good point. Creatures in the MM have treasure (I'm not a DM, so I never figured out how much standard tended to be) but this is more like "you kill the monster and find an unused magic ring/cool painting when you search it." For classed NPCs (or monsters with class levels) they have stat-boosting items, magic weapons and armor and actually use their treasure. I remember one time many years ago when the DM rolled up treasure after we killed an enemy and rolled a strong item that would have made it immune to the attack that killed it.

Looking at it now, a CR 14 dragon will have 50k of treasure. If this was all in magic items, it would have something like (slots permitting), +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +3 Armor, +1 Natural Armor, +1 Deflection, +2 Resistance, +1 Amulet of Mighty Fists, Boots of Speed and a few thousand gp of potions or scrolls. That is +7 AC, +3 to hit, +1-2 to damage, +2-4 to saves, +20 or so HP, and an extra attack a round.

The marginal value of the first 50k of gold in magic items is incredible, as you can see here. AC bonuses are particularly easy to get, Boots of Speed allow more attacks, and so on. The durability part you mentioned is here as well. For another 50k, a +1 Ioun Stone of Insight, upgrading the Resistance to +3, upgrading the Natural Armor to +2, upgrading the Deflection to +2, and upgrading the Strength to +4 are all very valuable. I’m still under 85k and this dragon already has +10 AC from using its treasure as magic items. Add to this the fact that AC increases help you more the higher your AC is, and this villain will be exceedingly difficult to kill.

Eventually, the quadratic formula for item pricing makes increased treasure less worthwhile, but monster/NPC treasure is low enough that diminishing returns isn’t reached quickly.

NPCs also get less and less treasure compared to the PCs as the levels increase. While quadratic pricing helps makes this not as insurmountable of a power decrease, it becomes a large factor for a character who relies on numbers (to hit, AC, saves). If a PC gets the treasure for 2 NPCs of his level each time he advances, you can see where the problem lies. If NPCs had half the treasure the PCs did, you would have to double your treasure each level. Over time, for PC treasure to stay non-exponential, NPC treasure has to become a smaller and smaller fraction of the PC’s treasure.

The ELH noticed this and even commented that the CRs for level 21+ NPCs should be adjusted down as a result. If I attempted to solve this problem, I would probably give more innate types of abilities to non-monster classed NPCs (so, +2 strength by evil blessing instead of Gauntlets of Ogre Power). This would let me avoid outfitting every NPC with the magic items listed above. This way character wealth could stay manageable and non-monster NPCs could be more competitive.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Another method that is sometimes useful: give NPCs equipment that the PCs can't use. A Blackguard wielding an unholy sword makes a lot of sense and doesn't leave the PCs with nearly as much treasure as a Blackguard wielding a +1 sword of wounding. You don't want to overdo it, but the PCs shouldn't always be able to use every bit of NPC treasure.

The ELH noticed this and even commented that the CRs for level 21+ NPCs should be adjusted down as a result. If I attempted to solve this problem, I would probably give more innate types of abilities to non-monster classed NPCs (so, +2 strength by evil blessing instead of Gauntlets of Ogre Power). This would let me avoid outfitting every NPC with the magic items listed above. This way character wealth could stay manageable and non-monster NPCs could be more competitive.

 

[Sigurd]

Dm's should cultivate good playing manners

Some things, pacing, expectations etc... are well informed by getting out from behind the DM screen and politely joining another game. DMs should show the kind of manners they want players to treat them with.

There is a lot to learn by being a player. Conversely, some of your players might learn a lot by being a DM.

S.

 

[Tatsukun]

Some things, pacing, expectations etc... are well informed by getting out from behind the DM screen and politely joining another game. DMs should show the kind of manners they want players to treat them with.

There is a lot to learn by being a player. Conversely, some of your players might learn a lot by being a DM.

S.

So true, and added.

-Tatsu

 

[Doug McCrae]

1. 'Mary-Sue' NPCs. They're better at everything than the PCs, travel with the party and solve the mission for them.
2. Favouring one player over the others. Particularly a problem when that player and the GM are sleeping together.
3. Railroading. Whatever that means.

 

[Sheng Long Gradilla]

3. Railroading. Whatever that means.

That means something like this:

DM: "You are in a corridor with doors. All of them are locked, except one which is open, and some light escapes from the room".
Player 1: "I check the door closest to me"
DM: "It's the open door. You see a band of orcs in there."
Player 2: "I check one of the other doors"
DM: "You see nothing of interest in the other doors. On the other hand, you notice the orcs in the other room and have an urge to kill them"
Player 3: "I try to pick the lock from the closest locked door next to me"
DM: "You fail to pick it, it's too hard"
Player 3: "I have not even rolled!! I have 18 ranks in Open Lock, and 21 Dex with all my enhancement items, and I got these masterwork thieves tools and this ring of bla bla +10 Open Lock!!!!"
DM: "The orcs notice you. Roll initiative."

You take the players as if they were in a railroad. You decide where they go, what they do, what they don't do, etc, and they can do nothing about it.

 

[Storyteller01]

The whole issue of AoOs has a great deal of common mistakes.

One is: You don't provoke AoO when entering a threatened square, you do when you try to move out of one, and the AoO takes place when you have not moved out yet.

Another: The AoO occurs before the character that provoked it finishes the action, not after.

Unless 3.5 has changed this one:

You cannot use a ranged weapon when attacking on an AoO. Seems to happen alot in campaigns that allow guns.

 

[Someone]

Or, as it happened to me recently:

"You MUST go from A to B, there are (only) two ways to go there, the wall and the road. But the road is unusable, so you have to use the wall."

 

[Dark Dragon]

The trip / bull rush / trample (overrun?) rules. Even veterans get into trouble with those from time to time. A very short version of these rules attached to the DM screen might help.

The different penalties. A sheet of paper with all penalty types and a very brief description should always be at hand. Avoids flipping through the books, increases the book's lifespan.

The line of sight and line of effect thing. There are differences.

Cover, concealment, degree of cover/concealment and consequences...

What about unarmed combat? Consider two fighters DON'T have improved unarmed strike. If the first one tries to hit the second guy, does the second one gets an AoO? (Just a side question to AoOs.)