Help for a fledging DM

[Dragonis999]

After finding and old DND book my uncle lent me, I found the D20 monkey on my back again. I decided to start a new campaing. So I have a few questions.

#1 Where can I find a database of placenames and names of people on the web?

#2 If there was a plot hook involving a party members secretly betraying the rest of the party, how should I do it? If I stick an NPC in the party, everyone will expect him. Should I privately ask one of group members to be the turncoat?

Thanks in advance!

 

[yennico]

#1 Where can I find a database of placenames and names of people on the web?

Welcome on the boards.
An index of all npcs and places mention in the books ? I have not seen such a database on the web.

#2 If there was a plot hook involving a party members secretly betraying the rest of the party, how should I do it? If I stick an NPC in the party, everyone will expect him. Should I privately ask one of group members to be the turncoat?

At first betraying the PCs through a PC is a serious matter. If the other PCs find out the treason they probable will kill the traitor, so this player will loose his PC. Lossing a PC is not a thing a player want. So every player knows if he plays the traitor he has a higher chance of lossing his PC, either by the monsters or by the other PCs. Once a traitor, everytime a traitor. The other PCs won´t trust the new PC of this player.

 

[Goblyns Hoard]

I'll second Yennico - having a player's PC be the traitor could be bad in the long term.

However here's an option... have one of the players play the traitor for the first game only (or until the betrayal) - then you take over the character and he introduces another one. This does mean having him in on it, and he'll need to develop a second character that he'll need to keep quiet about. But it gives you the unexpected betrayal that the other players won't be looking for and then doesn't have the subsequent problem of that player being unable to play in the same group anymore.

Then make sure the PCs have a good reason to trust his second PC (like make him some other character's brother or something) - just so they don't leave him hanging when they could have a viable RP reason to do so. And make sure that his second PC mystically has the same amount of XP that the traitor earned during the first game - otherwise you're penalising him for helping out the story. As long as you and your co-conspirator make it clear to the other players that he was betraying them to help you set up the cool story line they should be cool with it and accept him into the fold.

And welcome to the boards

The Hoard

 

[FreeXenon]

If you have a very serious and mature group of players it should not be a problem. If not then there could be a lot of hurt feelings.

You will definitely want to talk to the player in private and let him know what you want to do and that the he WILL die, as adventurers are not the forgiving bunch. You will want the player to be ready with another PC when the betrayal is realised. The next session after the betrayal is known you may want to make the traitor an NPC, and in a way watching the rest of player's hatred towards his character's action is a reward in itself. It could be fun for him to work with the other players wot hunt down and bring him to justice.

After looking at the rest of the posts I realise the I am saying what everyone else has said! Oi!!

 

[Dragonis999]

Welcome on the boards.
An index of all npcs and places mention in the books ? I have not seen such a database on the web.

Sorry, I wasnt quite as clear on that as I thought. I meant real names and placenames in general by language. I can across one once, but havent been able to find it since.

 

[Pbartender]

If you are just looking to generate fictional names, I'd recommend the following websites...

Behind the Name
Kleimo's Random Name Generator
Medieval Names Archive

Google's Web Directory also has a wide variety of links to fantasy name generators.

 

[gizmo33]

If I stick an NPC in the party, everyone will expect him. Should I privately ask one of group members to be the turncoat?

Exactly why I would recommend AGAINST this sort of thing. Players make accomodations for each other's characters for social reasons. Party cohesion IMO is one of the unwritten rules of DnD, and I think it isn't fun for the participants to take advantage of this custom in order to sow dissent. Sure, it's not really being in character but it helps facilitate a game that would otherwise quickly divide into 5 seperate adventuring parties.

If you have a small group, perhaps add more than one NPC to the group so that there is more than one suspect. Give the NPCs a strong reason to be with the group (ex. they belong to the same guild/religion as the PCs), so that certain proof is required before the NPC can be acted against. Or maybe make the travelling group a larger caravan if the mystery is really the central focus of the adventure.

IME players like games best where their PCs have a fair shot at survival. In a PC vs. PC situation, this is not the case. Now about 1 in 10 or so of people I've DMed are ok with PC vs. PC stuff. But regardless, if I were betting, I'd bet against all of the players having a good time in this scenario.

 

[Pbartender]

If I stick an NPC in the party, everyone will expect him. Should I privately ask one of group members to be the turncoat?

No. Avoid PC turncoats. Speaking from personal experience, it' very rarely anything but trouble for the relations in your gaming group (unless you're playing Paranoia, in which case it's required by the ruleset).

The trick isn't keeping suspicion away from the NPC, but making it painful to suspect the NPC. The turncoat NPC should be a likeable, trusting character. Build up his reputation, trust and respect with the PCs, before you rip it to pieces with betrayal.

When he is suggested as a suspect, the PCs should say, "It couldn't be him! He couldn't possibly!" And when the truth is revealed, the PCs should exclaim, "No! How could you?"

Either the PCs will hate him all the more for it, or they will have an excellent roleplaying excuse to try to help him redeem himself and become the truly good person they know he is inside.

 

[Talmun]

#2 If there was a plot hook involving a party members secretly betraying the rest of the party, how should I do it? If I stick an NPC in the party, everyone will expect him. Should I privately ask one of group members to be the turncoat?

Thanks in advance!

I've done this a couple times. The trick is to have players who trust you as a DM, and understand that any plot development along these lines is for drama and fun, not you or another player screwing them (that's true right?). It's also necessary to do it in such a way that the characters being betrayed won't want to just slay the offending PC (i.e. the PC was being forced, dominated or blackmailed). When done right, a plot like this can be loads of fun to RP.