Guyanthalas
First Post
My big push this year has been to get more people interested in D&D. Mostly because it has a huge "nerd" taboo, and noone even seems to know how the game is played ("What do you mean you don't hit each other with sticks?"). As such, I'm starting a newbie freindly campaign with my good D&D buddies, and there girlfriends. Hopefully this turns out well, but i'm trying to form fit the campaign more toward the roleplaying utility (skills) aspect as opposed to the damage aspect of encounters. Here are some of the aspects i'm throwing in, and I'd like comments about how you think it will play out, and suggestions are welcome as always.
Monster Knowledge checks:
The purpose behind these checks are less about the lore thats written in the monster manual, and more about combat with the target creature. Because the girls in the game do not own the books, I will not expect them to have all of the monsters stats and attacks commited to memory like all of us good RPG'ers
. I want them to use the basic knowledge checks to help them figure out how to fight the creatures, or how to avoid an attack.
Example:
Fire Beetle, using knowledge nature check says something to the effect that you can harvest the glands for torches. Awesome. How useful.
My improvised nature check will state "You know that these beetles have a fire breathing attack that is fairly devestating to close targets". Also, because i'm upping the level of the beetle to 3, i'll add "These also look stronger then most normal fire beetles".
I think this will help players feel more useful in combat by performing checks as minor actions, and help them get a better feel for the game at large.
Warlord Battlefield Knowledge:
One of the girls is playing a warlord, and I based on her play style I think that battlefield knowledge check may be fun for her. The concept is that she will roll a check on the start of each combat (on her turn), and based on the difficulty of the challenge her die-roll will help her determine more about what she's fighting. Who are the minions, which ones are the strong guys, who are the leaders, who should fight who. This is a check that I will personally roll myself behind my DM Screen, because I want to make a critical miss give out wrong information. "You know that (point to minion) this guy is the leader". Also, I think it makes sense to lower the DC every time you fight a paticular group of individuals (because now you are familiar with there tactics).
I'd be interested in any comments, pro or con, about this style of checks during combat. Cheers everyone!
Monster Knowledge checks:
The purpose behind these checks are less about the lore thats written in the monster manual, and more about combat with the target creature. Because the girls in the game do not own the books, I will not expect them to have all of the monsters stats and attacks commited to memory like all of us good RPG'ers
. I want them to use the basic knowledge checks to help them figure out how to fight the creatures, or how to avoid an attack.Example:
Fire Beetle, using knowledge nature check says something to the effect that you can harvest the glands for torches. Awesome. How useful.
My improvised nature check will state "You know that these beetles have a fire breathing attack that is fairly devestating to close targets". Also, because i'm upping the level of the beetle to 3, i'll add "These also look stronger then most normal fire beetles".
I think this will help players feel more useful in combat by performing checks as minor actions, and help them get a better feel for the game at large.
Warlord Battlefield Knowledge:
One of the girls is playing a warlord, and I based on her play style I think that battlefield knowledge check may be fun for her. The concept is that she will roll a check on the start of each combat (on her turn), and based on the difficulty of the challenge her die-roll will help her determine more about what she's fighting. Who are the minions, which ones are the strong guys, who are the leaders, who should fight who. This is a check that I will personally roll myself behind my DM Screen, because I want to make a critical miss give out wrong information. "You know that (point to minion) this guy is the leader". Also, I think it makes sense to lower the DC every time you fight a paticular group of individuals (because now you are familiar with there tactics).
I'd be interested in any comments, pro or con, about this style of checks during combat. Cheers everyone!
