The Art of DMing: Campaign Ecology

[Hjorimir]

When a DM creates a campaign setting (i.e. a hombrew) one of the most important tasks is determining exactly what creatures are around, where they are, and how many of them there are. One of the things that bothers me about this as a DM (and as a player, actually) is how monsters seem to conveniently fade into and out of existence based on their relative power to the player character group. Where were those dragons when the PCs were 1st level? Where are all of those goblins now that the PCs are 15th?

I don’t know about the rest of you, but it has been my experience that the PCs almost never run from an encounter because it has been ingrained into their heads that encounters have been designed to be relative to their own power. Am I the only one that sees this as a problem? Where is the drama or mystery in such an environment? Does this smack of DM fiat?

As I try to continuously improve my skills as a DM and elevate my enjoyment of the hobby, one of my primary goals is to enrich the role-playing environment and breathe enough life into the campaign world so as to foster verisimilitude. While I recognize that a great many of you just want to play a game of mazes and monsters (and really there is nothing wrong with that – play what is fun) a game that caters to the level of the PCs feels overly contrived and, therefore, lacking a sense of immersion.

The heroes of many fantasies (be it book or movie) are often running for their lives and usually don’t go out of their way to fight monstrous beasts. Yet D&D (as written) seems to promote the idea of kicking in doors and killing everything that moves (to be quickly followed by some glorious looting of dead bodies and a little healing). That is because they live in a world that is bigger than they are. They have to consider these things if they hope to survive. PCs, on the other hand, tend to just go for the throat (not always, but enough to be predictable).

So I ask, do any of you consider these things when crafting your worlds? Are you willing to deep-fry some PCs who think they are the de facto heroes and granted a certain layer of immunity?

 

[the Jester]

Well, my players know better than to assume that just because they are 1st level, everyone else is too. I run a notoriously lethal game.

The epic/nigh-epic group I run has lately had several encounters with monsters of much lower CR- last game they encountered a bunch of undead, and only one of them had a CR above 10.

 

[Savage Jim]

The trick is to design encounters, scenarios, and locations where kicking in the door is the least viable option. At any game I run, sneak-n-creep, diplomacy, stealth, deception, and the like are far more effective 95% of the time than charging in with axes flying.

As for monstrous demographics, I tend to manage such things in stride. For instance, who's to say that there are an infinite number of dragons just laying around waiting for the umpteenth group of 25th+ level PCs to wander in and slaughter them. Rather, I may stat-up a dozen or so, place them in logical locations in the world, determine individual sleep-cycles, and maybe the PCs may encounter one (and maybe they'll be the right level for it ).

1st Level PCs encounter Goblins.

3rd Level PCs encounter 3rd Level Goblins.

12th Level PCs encounter 12th Level Goblin Battle Chiefs and their clans.

20th Level PCs encounter 20th Level Goblin War Kings and their armies.

I'd say it's also a question of application. The presence of a dragon or Goblin War King can be foreshadowed or warned about long before PCs are even powerful enough to consider such challenges. This presents a world that is more immersive and plausible.

Of course, there is always a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from a new member in the group ("The GM wouldn't have put a Dragon here if we couldn't handle it because that's how the game works, right?" >splat!<).

 

[The Grackle]

Where were those dragons when the PCs were 1st level? Where are all of those goblins now that the PCs are 15th?

They were all in the same place; the dragons just ignored the low-level PCs as a waste of time, and the high level PCs likewise ignore mere goblins.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Or allow the PCs to find evidence of the higher level creatures, or to witness their passage.

Rather than encountering the ancient green dragon in the forest they find a caravan that has been pillaged, the merchants and their horses dead, skin blistered, their traces snapped. A coach wheel lying forlornly in the road, but of the coach there is no other sign.

Allow them to see the griffons passing overhead, but ignoring the humans below, intent on other prey.

The trolls sit in a circle around the struggling elk, one of them casually tearing a limb off of the frantic animal, too busy with the prey at hand to bother with the adventurers.

And if the PCs say something like 'it's a good thing the wizard prepared burning hands. Let's get 'em!' then they deserve what they get.

The Auld Grump

 

[kigmatzomat]

IMC the goblins *recognize* the PCs and don't go near them. Contrarily, goblin encounters tend to last about 15 seconds when they do happen. Furthermore, the players won't get involved in minor goblin encounters when they aren't bored; they'll point the person towards some of their "younger" heroic allies while they tackle the bigger stuff.

Dragons and the like have a random chance of pouncing on any traveler but the odds are low. And at 5th level my characters did have a dragon fly by, grab a mule, and leisurely meander off. Had they fought back he'd have reduced them to char and sifted the ashes for shinies.

 

[Terwox]

If I'm running a normal world game, I like to do the opposite thing -- I don't have heavy creatures come looking for the PCs, and I don't have people telling them to go do things they can't do. (For instance, a prince asking the 6th level party to go kill a great wyrm -- they're not famous enough heroes for that, etc.)
But I do tend to, if funny numbers come up for random encounters if I feel like rolling them, have high level parties get attacked by large groups of bandits or thugs... who are quickly annihilated, and usually end up running, once they realize who they're dealing with. Gives the party a little bit of a sense of power, that I think is a good thing.
I really like the dragon lazily flying by and snatching a mule, and completely ignoring the party. That's simply classy. "Hey look, food. Oh, it's in the middle of pests. Whatever. *snatch*" Simply stylish.

But yeah.. if the heroes are famous, goblins stay the heck away.

 

[Evilhalfling]

I just throw in random metions of - a band of goblins attack you, they are very sorry. the corpses have about 15 gp, 30 sp and a few weapons you can sell if you want to bother.
for a 9th lvl party.

At this point in the game they are more likely to use teleports, phantom steeds and rope tricks for camping in. Monsters stay out of the way like animals avoid highway trucks, if there is any interaction I mention the wet thump, and we move on. High level random encounters are few and far between, unless the group is adventuring far from the lands of men, in dangerous areas.

I suppose for more realism someone should occasionally ask for help with a quest either far beyond or far below their ablities. But neither would be much fun to play through, although they have lost a couple of characters attacking an enemy base, before they were strong enough. They had met the enemies outside the base and should have known better.

 

[Crothian]

ACtually it can be a loty of fun having players go after things that are too hard to too easy. Sometimes the players actually win against the super hard encounters, and when they do that is something that will be remebered. Against the lower creatures the players wade in and annihilate and that can be fun as well.

The trick is DMing it in a way that it is fun. Sure the encounters might be easy but if the story is fun and compelling the players won't mind. If the encounters are hard, make sure that the players have a choice and way to retreat if they want. Don't make every hard encounter an auto TPK.

IMC the party is considering going after a creature they know is tough, its actually CR 22 to their level of 15. But of course they don't know the specifics. If they choose to go after it then I'm ready. On the other hand I'm looking at starting a module for 10th level characters for them. It will be easy but it will further the campagn story. Its all in the way the DM uses it.

 

[Hjorimir]

Heh. I guess I'm a jerk. My players creep around taking huge pains to avoid partiucarlly dangerous areas because they know if they are found there it is going to be ugly.

I'm perfectly happy when there is a lot of running and screaming in my game.

Of couse, once the PCs come into their own, they get to tromp around quite a bit more. But that is one of the perks of being higher level.

edit: Ug, grammar good, ya ya.