DM Question Time

[delericho]

Ethereal Filchers and thieves in general. Have them captured and remove / misplace items to retain balance.

1) Too much money is easy to deal with. Money is something everybody else wants. Lords impose taxes. Merchants raise prices. Landlords raise rent. Thieves, con artists, and grifters come calling. Unless you can hide the fact that you have money, money is really hard to hold onto. Especially when you don't have a permanent base with reliable people to guard it. (Which is okay too, since it burns through more money and provides adventure hooks.)

The campaign world giveth, the campaign world taketh away. The price list in the game assumes that everything is available. If something is relatively rare, prices go up: that's how a lot of people made money during the gold rush of 1849. Instead of mining gold, they sold difficult to obtain goods to miners with their pockets full.

FWIW, I really disagree with all of the above. If you simply take the PCs' gold from them, whether by thieves, taxes, or any other means, the players will hate you for it. Worse, they will then dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to ensuring that this never happens again. They'll devote endless hours to avoiding taxes, to hunting down those thieves, to designing better traps for their treasures.

And all that time won't be spent actually going on adventures.

If you don't give out 'enough' treasure, your players will grumble, but they will generally accept it. But if you give out 'too much' and then take it away, they will hate it. (The same applies to the overuse of rust monsters, immersion of characters in large bodies of water, level-draining undead, and the like. Better to never give out these things than to take them away again.)

Beyond that, let them develop and indulge their taste for finer versions of what the world has to offer. Instead of cheap wine, the finest brandies; palatial single rooms instead of sleeping in the common area of the inn.

This, however, is much better, as is the suggestion of allowing them to buy higher level items at a significant markup (especially higher level single-use items!). If the players choose to give up, spend, or otherwise enjoy having that gold, then there won't be a problem.

 

[Tuft]

Most systems have very little in form of a money economy; what you can use money and items for is basically just improving your character in abilities and power. In principle, treasure is just a different kind of XP, which cannot be interchanged with the regular kind - a different "silo" if we use a word from the 4E design books.

So just use "XP" and "powers" instead of "money" and "items", and the picture will perhaps be clearer. When a DM gives out an item directly, it's like forcing a power choice - on level x you get power y - no options. If the DM gives money you can buy an item for, it's a free power selection.

So, what the OP has done is given his players too much XP, and then denied the players the ability to purchase powers for those XP.

Taxing away that (to the players) hard-earned cash will feel just like an XP drain. "Sorry, you thought you had reached 3rd level, but now you are back on 1st again."

My advice? Treat it just as if you had given out too much XP: Bite the bullet, allow the players to spend their cash on improving themselves, add one or two to the monster level to compensate for their new abilities, and just continue with the campaign from there...

 

[Morrus]

1. Too much money: My players made me proud by using my own rules against me to quadruple their money, and now they have way too much for 1st level characters. I want to reduce their gold without giving them too much in return; I've been giving them additional rituals in the hope they'll spend some money casting them, but no luck so far. In other games I've offered them magical items at 100% value, which as worked, but in this particular game I'm trying to make magical items a rarity.

Not really sure what "using my own rules against me to quadruple their money" means. If you've simply screwed up, it might be worth coming clean with the players. Otherwise - money is only good if you can spend it - otherwise it's dead weight. A village or something can only handle so much in terms of transactions; it doesn't have an infinite amount of commodities for sale.

Then it'll just even out a bit later as long as you're careful what you give out.

Alternatives to magical items as loot: I've been handing out potions, gemstones, art items, ritual books, wondrous items and information. Yet my players keep looking at me expectantly, waiting for the magic hat of flying donkeys. Suggestions?

Magic items is what they want, unfortunately. Art items and the like are merely a means to an end - to get the magic items. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that.

Passive perception and taking 10: One of my players keeps trying to use his passive perception to make perception skill checks, but I'm insisting that he roll for them. The rules say a character can 'take 10' but I think it's a stupid rule; I only use passive insight and perception when the character isn't making an active check, as you're supposed to, eg. noticing a trap without a check, realizing that you're being lied to without a check, etc.

IIRC, taking 10 requires that there be no penalty for failure (risk). You can't take 10 to discover a trap. Passive Perception isn't quite the same as taking 10.

Stopping mid-dungeon: Whenever we call it for the night, I tell my characters that they were able to take an extended rest at the next session to reset their HP, Healing Surges, etc. How do you handle this?

I don't. The game pauses at the point they are.

Food and amenities in dungeon crawls: The adventurers kit contains all that is needed to survive for a few days, but we've never kept a track of it. Does anyone else?

I don't. For us, that's simply not much fun. And after 1st level or so, the cost of rations etc. is so inconsequential anyway.

Role-playing XP: I'm offering 40xp for good roleplaying in game, but I try not to give the same player roleplaying xp twice in a session. when I do so I tell the player why I gave them it, and how they could get it again. How does this play out for other DMs in the long run?

I used to do that, but not so much any more (unless someone does something really exceptional). I didn't find it really changed how they played; it just meant that they'd keep asking for XP.

Tactics: At a small scale, how do you handle tactics? I've had some good sessions where I used mixed units to make a tactical battle, in particular one game where I used a mixture of swordsmen, halberdiers, and archers to good effect. But what about other things like retreat and surrender?

I'm not great at tactics. But I do have enemies retreat, flee, or surrender sometimes - especially if the combat looks like it's starting to "grind" and the outcome is obvious.

 

[TheClone]

My 2 cents.

Too much money: My players made me proud by using my own rules against me to quadruple their money, and now they have way too much for 1st level characters. I want to reduce their gold without giving them too much in return; I've been giving them additional rituals in the hope they'll spend some money casting them, but no luck so far. In other games I've offered them magical items at 100% value, which as worked, but in this particular game I'm trying to make magical items a rarity.

Don't punish the players for being clever. Yes, they seem to have outsmarted you, but that's generally okay. It's their bonus for being clever. But considering that you don't want to give out as many magic items as the treasure tables tell, you will have players with too much money all the time. Therefore it's okay to raise the "lifestlye" costs with toll houses along the road, entry fees in cities or adventurer registration fees. And if the players have no cash left at some point you can use this to make up a small side plot. Like getting inside the city despite being unable to pay the entry fee. Residents get in for free, so they need to find a possibility to get a residence certificate.

Alternatives to magical items as loot: I've been handing out potions, gemstones, art items, ritual books, wondrous items and information. Yet my players keep looking at me expectantly, waiting for the magic hat of flying donkeys. Suggestions?

Having a few rare and special items is a good way to satisfy their wishes. But if you want to play with less magic items they'll have to get used to that. Or you change your approach to magic items. You should find a consensus or you might have some players with a bad mood at your table. Surely no reason to give in to whatever they wish.

Passive perception and taking 10: One of my players keeps trying to use his passive perception to make perception skill checks, but I'm insisting that he roll for them. The rules say a character can 'take 10' but I think it's a stupid rule; I only use passive insight and perception when the character isn't making an active check, as you're supposed to, eg. noticing a trap without a check, realizing that you're being lied to without a check, etc.

Where is the problem? Let him take 10 and that's it. By that he will never notice what extra things you have prepared for DC above his passive check. If there is nothing to find with higher DCs, add something. Make a trapdoor hard do detect (make it elite or higher level) or put in some additional information apart form the obvious, which he sees with his passive check. Try to mention to the players which player is seeing which detail. That may encourage him to rolling so he'll also spot something. But in general taking 10 is what you see on first glance. It's boring sometimes, but that's the rules. Unless you want to make house rules and maybe generally stop passive checks, you have to live with it.

Stopping mid-dungeon: Whenever we call it for the night, I tell my characters that they were able to take an extended rest at the next session to reset their HP, Healing Surges, etc. How do you handle this?

My players (or I as a player) declare when they want to take a rest. They do so, maybe including unfriendly guests and that's it. When we break for the night (real world ) there is never an automatic extended rest. The break is where the game is and next we continue right there. Don't give them free extended rest. If they camp next to a room with monsters or where monsters might patrol along (they won't stay in their defined room all of their live and if it's just for peeing) ambush them with reasonable forces. If you don't do that, they'll camp one day right between the bowels of the monsters they slew 2 minutes ago. That's not only disgusting, it lacks realism. And it allows them to rest more often, because they have no need to find a safe place to rest. This reduces difficulty and thereby thrill.

Food and amenities in dungeon crawls: The adventurers kit contains all that is needed to survive for a few days, but we've never kept a track of it. Does anyone else?

If the players are at a location where food is scarce, have them track their stuff. If they are cheating, track it by yourself. For easiness one player might do the accountant. He buys supplies for the group and the horses and tracks it. That makes things a little easier and maybe one of the players likes doing that. If you are in areas where food is plenty, you may omit tracking it. Once in a while, when the players a lot of food, let them calculate their total weight. Especially horse food is really heavy and might even exceed the maximum load of a horse. Horses that wait in front of a dungeon need food, too. Is there grassland? Are the horses knotted to a tree or may they hobble? You don't have to go that deep, but if you and your players like it, it adds an extra level of challenge.

Role-playing XP: I'm offering 40xp for good roleplaying in game, but I try not to give the same player roleplaying xp twice in a session. when I do so I tell the player why I gave them it, and how they could get it again. How does this play out for other DMs in the long run?

I have experienced and done that in the beginning too, but today I have totally stopped it. "Good role playing" is always totally subjective and that sometimes leads to bad moods. Plying Savage worlds I do give out bennies. they are a kind of action die, but the players got more available, so it's worth a little less than action dice. I'd consider giving out those more "fluid" resources that last only until the end of the session to the players. Action dice might be a good idea for 4e or you hand them special one-use power cards like "get a +2 bonusto a skill role" or "reroll one attack role". I found XP bonuses to be a too strong "currency" for such a weak thing as good role playing.

Tactics: At a small scale, how do you handle tactics? I've had some good sessions where I used mixed units to make a tactical battle, in particular one game where I used a mixture of swordsmen, halberdiers, and archers to good effect. But what about other things like retreat and surrender?

Sounds like a good mix. With 4e I find it rather easy to make up challenging encounters. You have to get a propper mix of monster roles and that's half of what you need. I tend to play intelligent monsters more clever and mosnters with animal intelligence more straight foreward. Also I allow the more clever ones to learn "Wait. The guy with the plate armor hit me and then I attacked his companion but that allowed him to hit me in the back. I have to attack the plate armor guy after he hit me." The same is for fleeing and fighting to death. If clever monster are just trying to hold some kind of forward position, the flee once they realize that the will definitely loose the battle. Animal monsters fight usually to death. But if the clever monsters are defining a important position like the altar of their god, they surely will fight to death. I know 4e adventures are usually not build including the option to flee for the monsters, but it's ridiculous to let everyone fight to death. It's even interesting to force the rogue to tumble in the back of the monsters to hinder their escape. Otherwise they will alert the monsters from the next rooms.

 

[DaveW]

Too many replies to answer to everything, thanks for your input! I'll try and address a few points though.

Tactics is about two things primarily - weapons and terrain. You seem to have a good grasp of the weapons part of it, but your failure to mention terrain indicates you probably aren't using varied enough terrain in your encounters.

I have a lot of varied terrain in my encounters, and it works really well. For example, in the fight I mention above, with archers and swordsmen and halberdiers, they were fighting in a burning bar. Every round, the fire would spread, and at the start I made them aware that there was a water pump outside. They failed to put out the fire and it spread until the players were separated from their enemies, who came back to haunt them at a later date. I was primarily interested in things like tactical retreat, archers surrendering if there's no melee units, etc. I try to work this into my combat as much as possible but I always feel like I could be doing more.

I do things to encourage good roleplaying. You can also give die roll bonuses, special bennies, or other in-game benefits. For instance, the NPC could offer them some extra information, some supplies, or a future favor. I've had NPCs show up a session or two later to help out the PCs who they were interacting with (like the church leader who got the PCs out of a jam with the tax man because he liked them). If you get some really good roleplay, you can throw in an immediate reward like saying, "That was too good. You don't need to roll. You succeed in convincing him."

These are good ideas, and I think I'll incorporate some of those into my reward systems.

I use tactics based on the enemy. My goblins tend to mob rush until a bunch of them die, then try and flee. On the other end of the scale, military units use organized tactics. I tend to have the animal level creatures respond by instinct. However, in the long run, D&D is often not about about the enemy running away, unless it's the big bad and you need them to live to fight another day.

That is another question I wanted to ask; the big bad. How to get him out of a combat situation in a way that doesn't piss off the players? Especially if the battle is going their way. Jump through a portal when bloodied is one thing, but in a game where I was playing the DM forced us to flee when we had him down to 4hp. I felt robbed.

Well, you could just give them the Magic Hat of Flying donkeys. Favors, as detailed in the Dark Dun setting book area great idea, though... An important organization or NPC owes them "favors" with an equivalent gold piece value -- "favors" that can be cashed in for services or equipment.

I haven't got the dark sun setting book, but I do try to give them apparently useful items that have no purpose, just to see what they do. I'll usually decide on the fly what these items can do as they experiment with them. If they think it has no purpose at all, I'll attempt to make it vitally important later, i.e. the magic hat of flying donkeys is needed to gain entrance to the donkey cult of neeehaw, or something silly like that.

I've long since given up awarding RPXP. It rewards the naturally good RPers, and penalizes those are aren't good at it or aren't interested in it. Not everyone has fun RPing, and while I'll try to encourage it, I'm not going to force someone to do something unfun to get bonus XP.

I don't want to penalise players who don't want to RP, but my group is pretty big on it. In my last session, here is what I gave RP experience for:

1) Making a pun in-character
2) Witholding information from other party members and filling them in when the time was right
3) To the thief, for checking for traps consistently and being suitably cautious when exploring
4) To the Goliath for issuing challenges to NPC's, as is his nature
5) To the cleric for performing final rites on the dead, and for remaining in character.

So I've been handing it out in small amounts for anything constructive, and I inform the players when I do it and why. I also made them aware that they'll get it only once per session, and they won't get it if they are 80xp higher than the lowest xp'd player. So that should keep things balanced. I might change my mind over time though.

If I want to reward an individual character, I'll award bonus action points or give them an in-game RP reward (eg. "You've been knighted by the Emperor of Nerath!" or "You've been granted access to the Secret Library of the Arcane Order!")

I like this idea too.

If it makes sense, they get a full rest. If, OTOH, they're camped in an area where they're likely to be harried, no such luck- they start the next day feeling like crap...their various resources either not restored or only minimally so.

I think I'll consider something like this. If it makes sense, full rest. If not, then partial restoration. Thanks!

Players will always want, and whatever you give them will never be enough, or someone will look for 'that thing for their PC' if the loot is the gear off a fighter and that other PC is a wizard, for example.

don't try and keep up, you'll never win and you'll end up with a party that has way more loot than it should. just stick with what you know is right and let the players look at you like lost puppies waiting for more...

having said that, i try and have at least a couple items for the individual pcs scattered over a couple loot spots. so that over the course of a couple sessions at least one item should be available for everyone. and the rest of utilitarian enough that anyone could use them.

i also try and give more unique items... these can be mechanically standard items but perhaps they come in a different shape, or they have some sort of rune or special backstory.. just something. i don't do this too often because it kills the effect and also becomes a waste of time if the players don't care, but once in a while it is a nice twist to keep them focused on what they got rather than on what they didn't get.

I think this is excellent advice, and is really what I was hoping to hear, because it's what I do. My players, of course, really don't know what's good for them and want the shiny things. The game is better if such things are rare and awesome, and that's what I try to do.

One thing I've started doing is allowing the players to roll for their own loot parcels. Whomever makes the killing blow gets to roll for the loot, and I tell them what they win. Next time however, I'm thinking of trying an open loot list; I'll allow them to see the loot parcels (which contains around 40 items) and disguise the cool stuff as 'magic item lvl1', 'mystery wonderous item', and so forth. I'll split it into 3 tiers, one for normal fights, one for chests, and one for boss fights, and let them roll, knowing what they can get with a good roll. I'll keep with having set loot items during dungeons as well, in order to ensure that they get appropriate magical weapons and armor (which I don't intend to include on the loot lists-I'll keep that under tighter control). Opinions?

I, too, prefer rolling if the PC is actively trying the check. (reserving passive checks as background to avoid the need to roll every square when going down a dungeon, etc).

I think this was misunderstood by some. In 4e, you have a passive perception and insight. Here's an example, which happened in the last game, illustrating how I played it.

Me: "Your keen elven senses detect something is not right. Your sharp eyes notice a false flagstone in the floor."
Player: "Ok, I use my passive perception to take a closer look at the area."
Me: "No, your passive perception is only for noticing things in the background. Now you're aware of it, you need to roll."
Player: "Ok." [rolls, result is lower than passive perception.]
Me: "You don't notice any kind of control panel, but you're convinced the false flagstone is a trap." [There was a control panel, but he missed it-passive perception is not high enough to spot it] "When you roll, you check each square adjacent to you. You have to move forward, square by square, looking for the false flagstones."
Player: "I use my passive perception, as I know it's high enough to spot the false stones. I move forward square by square, using it each time."
Me: "No, you cannot do that. You are now actively looking for the traps, and must make checks with every step to determine if you can see them."
Player: "ok."

I hope that makes it clearer. I'm a little confused about when it is appropriate to take 10, but I am going to continue to house-rule it in this way, similarly for insight ("You believe he is not telling you the whole truth. Make an insight check to confirm your belief").

For the most part, I don't have the players track any amount of money less than the gold piece, mundane ammunition, food and drink, tavern costs, general upkeep, or anything like that. We don't even track encumberance.

Seems to be the consensus here. I'll continue as I am.

Broadly speaking, you have three options here, any of which can work. Pick one and go with it.

1) Just live with it. The players were creative; they should gain the rewards of their skill.

2) For the next little while, reduce the amount of treasure they gain, until the problem corrects itself. Continue giving out treasure parcels at the normal rate... but each parcel should be worth a little less than would be expected. If the party want the items, they need to spend their ill-gotten gold on them.

3) Speak to the players directly. "Guys, your characters have too much money. Any chance you could be persuaded to donate it to a temple/support a local lord/otherwise get rid of it?"

I'd probably go with #2, personally.

I'm more inclined to go with number 1, because...

Not really sure what "using my own rules against me to quadruple their money" means. If you've simply screwed up, it might be worth coming clean with the players.

Specifically, I had a machine that summoned an item. The players could then 'do things' to that item, but only if they'd configured the machine to allow it. The players summoned a pot of gold, then used the 'magic mirror' button to double their gold. They then decided to pool all their money together and drop it into the machine's hopper. They pulled the magic mirror lever twice, quadrupling their money; the machine had limited uses and they knew this beforehand, and this was their decision. I had not predicted such ingenuity from them, and although it seems obvious now, it was not obvious in the context of the puzzle. So I'm going to let them keep their reward, now I just need to get them to part with their money and give them something worthwhile in return. I have no intention of stealing it back from them.

Thanks for all the input guys. It's given me a lot of food for thought! If you have anything more to contribute, feel free, but I think my main questions have been answered. I have a few small changes to how I hand out loot to make, but I don't think I'm doing too much wrong. My players seem happy, even if they're complaining about not getting the magic hat of flying donkeys, so I'm happy. The only further questions I have are:

1. Keeping the big bad alive without cheating the players.
2. How to deal with a player who doesn't RP when the others do. I have a player who enjoys playing but the other players seem to want him to get into character. He's trying, but he doesn't seem to have a definition for who his character is or what motivates him. Should I give him pointers, or let the other players try and bring this out in-game?

Thanks for everything guys, this has been very insightful.

-Dave

 

[DaveW]

Also I allow the more clever ones to learn "Wait. The guy with the plate armor hit me and then I attacked his companion but that allowed him to hit me in the back. I have to attack the plate armor guy after he hit me." The same is for fleeing and fighting to death. If clever monster are just trying to hold some kind of forward position, the flee once they realize that the will definitely loose the battle.

This was posted while I was replying, but I hadn't thought of applying 'learning' to the enemies. I usually have an action-reaction system going for behavior, but I'll incorporate that into my smarter baddies. Thanks!

-Dave

 

[delericho]

Keeping the big bad alive without cheating the players.

Have an escape plan for the guy. Then a backup plan. Then a backup backup plan. One of these should (if at all possible) include a contingency for "if I can't move my arms or legs".

If all else fails, let them kill the guy. You can always get another NPC.

How to deal with a player who doesn't RP when the others do. I have a player who enjoys playing but the other players seem to want him to get into character. He's trying, but he doesn't seem to have a definition for who his character is or what motivates him. Should I give him pointers, or let the other players try and bring this out in-game?

Baby steps.

Have NPCs address the PC in-character. Have him run into old friends, family, rivals, and so on (and, whatever you do, do not have those NPCs betray the character, get into trouble and need rescuing, or otherwise cause the PC trouble). Gradually, have the PC interact with the setting.

Next time he creates a character, ask him for some details up-front. Just a handful of things will do the job.

I go for three factoids, the anecdote, the quirk and the dream. And possibly a fourth, the secret. The anecdote is a single fact about the character's past: "he's served as a general in the Clone Wars". The quirk is something about the character's present: "he's a card player, a gambler, a scoundrel. You'd like him." The dream is something the character hopes for in the future: "I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father." And the secret, if used, is something the character doesn't want others to know, or something he himself wants to find out: "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father..."

Just putting together a handful of things like that can give a real iconic feel to the characters, while still leaving loads of freedom for the player to then portray the character. It should help.

One other thing: if offering role-playing awards to players, those awards should be scaled to the skill of the player. So, over-reward the guy who's finding it difficult, while giving lower awards to more skilled players. As he gets more comfortable, you can reduce the awards back to a 'normal' level.

 

[MrGrenadine]

I've long since given up awarding RPXP. It rewards the naturally good RPers, and penalizes those are aren't good at it or aren't interested in it. Not everyone has fun RPing, and while I'll try to encourage it, I'm not going to force someone to do something unfun to get bonus XP.

On the other hand, it might encourage folks who aren't terrific role-players to watch and learn and hone their skills. Giving someone a goal for improvement is a pretty effective training tool.


Besides, someone who plays an RPG and thinks RP is unfun should maybe just be playing a G. Maybe.

 

[Pbartender]

On the other hand, it might encourage folks who aren't terrific role-players to watch and learn and hone their skills. Giving someone a goal for improvement is a pretty effective training tool.

Besides, someone who plays an RPG and thinks RP is unfun should maybe just be playing a G. Maybe.

You may be a bit facetious, here, but... No.

Everybody comes to the table for different things... Some like puzzle-solving, some enjoy smashing heads in tactical combat, others enjoy collecting loot, still others revel in the minutiae of complex rules, and some like amateur acting in front of a small audience.

To each his own... it's not my job as the DM to tell a player what they should or should not enjoy about the game. And it's certainly not my job to penalize a player (by way of rewarding all the other players but him) for not enjoying any particular aspect.

That said, there are plenty of ways to roleplay a character without necessarily breaking out the first person faux-medieval accents...

Start with encouraging simple, basic, stereotypical motivations and personality traits. Remember, at it's most basic, roleplaying is making decisions based on what your character would do, instead of what you would do. Read through the section on Aspects from the Spirit of the Century rules. Ignoring the mechanics behind them for a moment, they are a great way for players to come up with some simple guidelines for how they should be roleplaying their characters, without having to write a three-page backstory.

Encourage stereotypical portrayals... It's the easiest sort of role to fall into, and often the least embarrassing since they're meant to be almost humorously over-the-top.

Finally, as a DM, I find it personally helpful to have an actor or actress or perhaps a character from a movie in mind whenever I really what to make an NPC memorable. It gives me a good visualization of how the character would be acting, gives me a basis for the voice I might use should I decide to, and works great as part of the description for the players... A recent necromancer was described as, "An especially gaunt and hunched-over Peter Lorre wearing a pristine white laboratory smock and heavy black leather gloves that go all the way up to his elbows." And I once describe a gypsy fortune teller with, "Imagine Ernest Borgnine as a woman."

Anyway, my original point was that if you reward RP with mechanical rewards, you'll end up with a power disparity. Rewarding RP with in-game RP rewards, enhances the RP you are rewarding and makes for better encouragement by providing something that rules don't otherwise cover.

 

[steeldragons]

Too much money: My players made me proud by using my own rules against me to quadruple their money, and now they have way too much for 1st level characters. I want to reduce their gold without giving them too much in return; I've been giving them additional rituals in the hope they'll spend some money casting them, but no luck so far. In other games I've offered them magical items at 100% value, which as worked, but in this particular game I'm trying to make magical items a rarity.

Well, as you said, they did it on their own...using your rules. Sounds to me like you have to just eat it and let them enjoy spending their loot. Given that magic items are a rarity, then I second the suggestion to introduce them to "the finer things in life". The finer things are always more expensive.

You could also present them with "investment" or philanthropic opportunities: becoming partners in owning an inn or a tavern or a casino (many a plot hooks possible when the players discover they've inadvertently become financiers for the local organized crime organization. ), donating/replacing the local temple's leaky roof, setting up their own "adventuring company" (which would include, no doubt the requisite adventuring/weapon-baring license from the local authority), or just purchasing a property to set up their own home base/base of operations, the seemingly respectable NPC merchant (or booky?) with the "sure thing" to triple their money, etc...

I also will reiterate the multiple suggestions to simply reduce the treasure found for a while til things even out a bit.

​

Alternatives to magical items as loot: I've been handing out potions, gemstones, art items, ritual books, wondrous items and information. Yet my players keep looking at me expectantly, waiting for the magic hat of flying donkeys. Suggestions?

The players were aware/told that this game was going to be magic item scarce, right? If not, that's a problem...and for fairness' sake, I'd say you owe them "a hat of flying donkeys"...and THEN make sure they know/notice how scarce magic items are.

I think the suggestion for faulty or cursed items are also a good one. I do not agree that throwing more "single/limited use" items at them is helpful. If magic items are rare...then make them rare. An apothecary with a stock of multiple kinds of potions or a traveling wand salesman in every village doesn't fly. Ritual books and wondrous items? That's magic, no? Why would there be an abundance of books with magical information in it available? If I were a player, I'd want my hat of flying donkeys too if I kept finding potions and wondrous items everywhere.

Information is a good one and the multiple suggestions for important NPCs
who can be helpful (either immediately or in the future) is also always useful. But I doubt it will make your players feel less "cheated" (for lack of a better word) to have a "favor" from some NPC than to have a cool magical weapon they can hit things with.

I've never played with "low magic" or scarce items...sorry can't be more help there.

Passive perception and taking 10: One of my players keeps trying to use his passive perception to make perception skill checks, but I'm insisting that he roll for them. The rules say a character can 'take 10' but I think it's a stupid rule; I only use passive insight and perception when the character isn't making an active check, as you're supposed to, eg. noticing a trap without a check, realizing that you're being lied to without a check, etc.

4e stuff. Sorry, can't help here either. But it would seem, for the sake of common sense, if the player has Passive Perception, then you make the role for them before there's any active search/check. If they don't notice anything on the passive, then the player gets to roll if they make an active attempt. I agree with your insistence he roll for the active check...As for "taking 10" you said it right there, "I think it's a stupid rule." You're the DM. Houserule it and throw the "take 10" out the window.

Stopping mid-dungeon: Whenever we call it for the night, I tell my characters that they were able to take an extended rest at the next session to reset their HP, Healing Surges, etc. How do you handle this?

WOOOAH there, Nelly! I'm with pretty much everyone else. When you stop the session, you hit the pause button.

That said, if the party reaches a place in the dungeon that has been cleared of dangers and relatively safe and we broke for the night then fine, give them their 8 hours of sleep.

If the dungeon is NOT safe (for example, a group of monsters in the next room 30 feet down the hall would equal "not safe"), then break for camping, but roll for random encounters when you start next session to see if they get through enough of the "extended rest" uninterrupted to regain their resources.

But as an "automatic thing", absolutely NOT!

Most of the time in our games (whether I was DMing or not), we would try to stop at a point that made sense. Either A) where the party can camp and rest uninterrupted and/or (more likely) B) immediately following a battle so the stage was clear and set for next time.

This DOES require you to follow, or at least keep in the back of your mind, "in game time."

Picture it. Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 1988. We had broken our camp (we'd established at the end of the last game). We'd done a bit of exploring. Searched a couple of rooms. And MOST of the session was spent on a HUGE, lengthy and very taxing battle with a large group of monsters (I don't at the moment recall what). We were beaten, battered and bereft of many, if not most, spells.

All agreed this was a good time to stop and call it a night. We'd been playing 6 or 7 hours. Our impromptu "leader" character/player says, "Ok. We'll make camp here."

The DM, thoroughly amused, informed/reminded him that it was about 11am in game time. Sure enough, next play session, there we were beaten, battered and bereft of many, if not most, spells...and we went on from there. It's part of the game. Part of the challenge. No rest for the weary.

Food and amenities in dungeon crawls: The adventurers kit contains all that is needed to survive for a few days, but we've never kept a track of it. Does anyone else?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. For the most part, I played as others here. Let a few days go by unnoticed. Mark the items off/take out the gold for the renewed equipment. Or just not mention it at all and let it be in the background (but NOT for free! Make sure they're spending money or telling you they're foraging/hunting.)

If there is a length of time (I'd say more than a week) where the party is not in a position to replenish their stores, then yes, you need to start keeping track of time -irritability, irrationality, loss of ability bonuses (physical AND mental) and eventual points, dehydration, malnutrition.

Foraging/hunting is usually an option, but depending on terrain, you might not get enough to really meet the whole party's needs.

ALSO, if the party increases! You find/rescue/free a bunch of NPCs who are now with you...the party goes from 4 prepared adventurers to 10 people being herded around until they can be gotten to safety! What are they eating?

Again, as part of the survival element/challenge of the game I think it is worth reminding the party of from time to time, though not keeping constant/strict/not fun records all of the time.

Of course, if your group is a very "by the rules/by the book" sort of group, then yeah, you have to decide to simply NOT include it at all or keep track all of the time. And really...it's not all that much to keep track of. Just goes in with keeping time. Day goes by=deduct a day of rations (or in civilization, deduct xx gp to buy some food).

Role-playing XP: I'm offering 40xp for good roleplaying in game, but I try not to give the same player roleplaying xp twice in a session. when I do so I tell the player why I gave them it, and how they could get it again. How does this play out for other DMs in the long run?

I used to like doing this. But as noted, it can cause problems/dissention among the players as the better/more interested role-players rack up bonuses the others don't...if it is lack of interest, that is one thing. If it is lack of ability, that's another. Some role-players can be annoying as all get out, but they're having a great time. Some people who might WANT to role-play simply don't know how or can't keep up the facade too long.

I would 1) Make it per adventure or reasonable/rational section of an adventure. Not "per session." The person should consistently be able to "keep it up." One session of "great" role-playing doesn't warrant an XP bonus. 2) I would put it on a scale so everyone gets a chance to get something if they put in the effort. 3) I would, as others have suggested, simply wrap it up in the XP allotment/breakdown for each player when XP is doled out, not share the info with everyone. If any player wants an explanation or some "pointers" in how they can increase their bonus, that's a private discussion for them with you. If they want to share the info with each other, that's their business...and could provide some (hopefully mild) confrontation for you.

So as not to make yourself crazy, I'd make the scale simple:
0-Doesn't role-play at all. "I do this. My character does that." Roll dice. Look up stuff in manual. Distract other players. Roll dice some more. Speak about "out of game stuff." Roll dice. Eat all the pizza.
10-Player isn't necessarily consistent with their character's attitude/actions/general M.O. but clearly tries to assert it from time to time.
20-Player is able to provide memorable moments, possibly speaks "in character" sometimes, but does not generally keep up character all of the time.
30- Player presents themselves "in character" most of the time. Player maintains character's actions/attitude/general M.O. even when not speaking in-character.
40- Player role-plays "in character" the entire session AND/OR Player role-plays some intrinsic/quintessential moment for the betterment of their character, the party and the game session as a whole.

Tactics: At a small scale, how do you handle tactics? I've had some good sessions where I used mixed units to make a tactical battle, in particular one game where I used a mixture of swordsmen, halberdiers, and archers to good effect. But what about other things like retreat and surrender?

What everyone else has said. Tactics depend/rely on the conditions of the environment (terrain, weather, temperature, etc.) and the intelligence of the creatures being encountered and, I would add, the length of time the creatures have been there.

Obviously, going into a tribe of orcs' lair will involve significant amounts of tactics with established defenses and procedures to repel invaders. Encountering a warparty in the hilly woods a day or two from their lair would involve different tactics. Entering the lair of an animal intelligence creature will invovle...well, very little tactics besides: "kill (and/or eat) these things coming into my cave" or "run away from these things that have found me."

Surrender is for creatures who are...smart enough to surrender. What happens from the surrender point forward is a matter of alignment and intelligence of the creatures being surrendered TO.

Retreat. That's for anything with enough intelligence to realize if it doesn't leave it's going to die. I would put this at animal intelligence or better. Pretty much all creatures have a "self-preservation" instinct...'cept lemmings of all things for some reason.

Well, hope there's SOME help for you in there someplace.
Most importantly, however you handle things, have FUN!
Happy gaming.
--Steel Dragons
PS: How many of us are making mental notes to create a "magic hat of flying donkeys"? C'mon, be honest.