Lazy DMing 101: Lesson I

[Drawmack]

Make the PCs fight each other.

Are you sick of keeping track of monsters hit points? Are you tired of coming up with new and inovative tactics? Are you sick of always being the one who dies? The solution is simple find new and creative ways to make the PCs fight each other. In this thread it would be great if the kind members of enworld could list 101 ways to make the party fight each other and go for the throat. I'll start:

1) Some party members are infected or possessed by a demon and fight the ones who are not when they attempt to cure them.

2) An illusionist uses his abilities to turn the PCs against one another.

3) Some of the PCs become insane from too much ale and begin to have the DTs when they are out on the trail. Believing the other party members to be pink ogres they attack them.

 

[EarthsShadow]

4) Play the IDENTITY movie! You have to see the movie to understand what I mean cuz I won't go into it here and spoil it for anybody that has plans of watching it.

 

[barsoomcore]

5) Lock them in a room. Begin filling the room with water. Insert a single Ring of Water Breathing.

6) Replace your players with sock puppets and have them smack each other around.

Okay, that's not really D&D but heck, sock puppets beating each other up? THERE'S an evening's entertainment.

7) A gnome with a wand of Polymorph Other, and a run-in with a mess of zombies.

 

[clark411]

Re: #5... oh wow that's yoinked!

 

[ph34r]

8. Vampires...lots of vampires!

 

[Norfleet]

Or throw them in something which looks profound, and let the players puzzle it out. After they've beaten their heads against it for awhile and are trying random things in frustration, let them succeed.

 

[reddist]

PvP action

I hold arena battles on which the PCs place bets on the monsters involved in the fight. Once the bets are placed, give the players the stats for the monsters and let them duke it out.

You can have some REALLY wierd match-ups. Match (roughly) the CR of the critters and take into account the "terrain" of the arena.. *poof* an evening's worth of entertainment. GMs sit back and watch!

-Reddist

 

[Spike]

oooooooh, teach me more!

 

[Ulrick]

Insert the One Ring into the group and watch the PCs succumb to its power and kill each other over it because each character thinks he'll do the ultimate good if he uses it.

 

[s/LaSH]

Insert the One Ring into the group and watch the PCs succumb to its power and kill each other over it because each character thinks he'll do the ultimate good if he uses it.

Just make it something other than a ring, so they don't suspect. Maybe a cute little fairy girl or a sword-staff.