Dungeon Master's Guide

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Suspects might be obvious or could come to light during the investigation. One technique often used in detective fiction is to create a closed circle of suspects-a finite number of individuals whose circumstances make them the only possible suspects. One tip for keeping the players and the adventurers guessing as to the identity of the villain is to ensure that more than one suspect has a secret. When questioned by the adventurers, a suspect might appear nervous or attempt to lie, despite being innocent of the crime. A secret business deal, an illicit affair, a dark past, or an uncontrolled vice are fl aws that make suspects more interesting than NPCs with nothing to hide. CLUES Clues point to the identity of the villain. Some clues are verbal, including the statements of the suspects and witnesses that help the adventurers develop a picture of what happened. Other clues are physical, such as an unfinished message written in the victim's blood, a piece of jewelry left behind by the villain, or a weapon found hidden in a suspect's room. A clue should connect a suspect to the crime, typically by shedding light on the suspect's motive, means, or opportunity. Some clues connect the wrong suspect to the crime, leading the adventurers in the wrong direction. Eventually, they must find other clues pointing in a different direction, or come across evidence that absolves the suspect. It's better to populate your adventure with too many clues than too few. If the adventurers solve the mystery too quickly, you might feel some disappointment but the players will feel a sense of accomplishment. If the mystery is too hard, though, the players will become frustrated. Since you have to account for the possibility that the adventurers will overlook some clues, use redundant clues to ensure that the players have the knowledge needed to catch the villain. INTRIGUE ---- Intrigue adventures are event-based adventures that revolve around power struggles. Intrigues are common in the courts of the nobility, but power struggles can play out just as easily in merchants' guilds, crime syndicates, and temple hierarchies . Rather than dark events and villainous plots, an intrigue adventure typically revolves around the exchange of favors, the rise and fall of individuals in power and influence, a nd the honeyed words of diplomacy. A prince's efforts to be named heir to the throne, a courtier's ambition to sit at the queen's right hand, and a merchant's desire to open a trade route through enemy lands are the stuff of intrigue. Like all adventures, an intrigue adventure works only if the players and their characters are invested in the outcome. If no one cares who the king's chamberlain is or who has logging rights in the elven woods, throwing the characters into an adventure centered on those issues will fall fiat. However, if having the ear of the king's chamberlain means the characters can use royal soldiers to help them defend their own stronghold on the borderlands, players will be invested in the scenario. Adventurers usually become embroiled in intrigue when they need a favor from a powerful creature and have to perform a favor in exchange, or when the plots of powerful NP Cs get in the way of the characters achieving their goals. Some of the event-based goals discussed earlier in this section lend themselves to intrigue adventures. For example, if the adventurers must uncover a conspiracy, negotiate a peace treaty, or secure aid from a ruler or council, you might be looking at an intrigue adventure. The process of creating an intrigue adventure is similar to creating a ny other event-based adventure, with two main differences: how villains are handled and how the characters can gain influence. VILLAINS Some intrigue adventures are driven by the actions of a single villain, such as a noble plotting the assassination of a monarch. However, an intrigue adventure can have multiple villains or no villain at all. No Villain. Some intrigue adventures revolve around the exchange of favors in the absence of a villain. For this type of adventure, skip steps 1 and 2 of the eventbased adventure creation process (the villain and the villain's actions) and move straight to the adventurers' goals in step 3. Figure out why the adventurers become involved in the intrigue, then spend the bulk of your time creating the NPCs they interact with. Many Villains. Some intrigue adventures feature a whole cast of villains, each with its own goals, motivations, and methods. The adventurers might be drawn into the struggle of a court full of nobles vying for the throne in the wake of the king's sudden death, or could find themselves negotiating the end to a deadly turf war among thieves' guilds. In this scenario, you'll spend a lot of time on steps 1 and 2, developing each of the major NPCs as a distinct villain with an agenda. In step 5, you'll need to develop each villain's reactions to the potential setbacks they face during the adventure. However, you don't need to put equal effort into detailing the reactions of every villain, since many will likely echo each other or cancel each other out. Whenever the adventurers foil one villain's plans, it might let another villain's schemes move forward, advancing the adventure whether the foiled villain reacts or not. INFLUENCE Depending on the scenario, you might want to track the party's influence with different NPCs or factions, or even track influence separately for each character. One way to handle influence is to treat it like inspiration. A character gains influence in a certain situation only if you grant it, and bringing influence into play requires spending it. Characters can gain influence by doing favors for NPCs, advancing the cause of an organization, or demonstrating their power and heroism, at your discretion. As with inspiration, a character can choose to spend influence to gain advantage on a roll relevant to that influence. Another way to handle influence is to treat it like renown (see chapter 1), allowing characters to gain renown at court and within various key factions. CHAPTER 3 I CREATING ADVENTURES
:;RAMING EVENTS ·.·ou can base an entire adventure on a framing event ~use such an event to grab the players' interest. The :C ~am ing Events table presents several ideas, or you can · -e it to inspire your own framing event. RAMING EVENTS dlOO 1-02 3-04 05-06 7-08 09-10 11-12 13-14 15-16 17-18 9-20 21-22 23-24 25-26 27-28 29-30 31 - 32 Event Anniversary of a monarch's reign Anniversary of an important event Arena event Arrival of a caravan or ship Arrival of a circus Arrival of an important NPC Arrival of marching modrons Artistic performance Athletic event Birth of a child Birthday of an important N PC Civic festival Comet appearance Commemoration of a past tragedy Consecration of a new temple Coronation 33 - 34 Council meeting 35- 36 Equinox or solstice 37-38 Execution 39-40 Ferti I ity festiva I 41-42 Full moon 43-44 Funeral 45-46 Graduation of cadets or wizards 47-48 Harvest festival 49-50 Holy day 51-52 Investiture of a knight or other noble 53-54 Lunar eclipse 55-58 Midsummer festi va l 59-60 Midwinter festival 61-62 Migration of monsters 63-64 Monarch's ball 65-66 New moon 67-68 New yea r 69- 70 Pardoning of a prisoner 71-72 Planar conjunction 73-74 Planetary alignment 75-76 Priestly in vestiture 77-78 Procession of ghosts 79-80 Remembrance for soldiers lost in war 81-82 Royal address or proclamation 83-84 Royal audience day 85-86 Signing of a treaty 87-88 Solar eclipse 89-91 Tournament 92- 94 Trial 95-96 Violent uprising 97-98 Wedding or wedding anniversary 99-00 Concurrence of two events (roll twice, ignoring results of99 or 100) • COMPLICATIONS Sometimes an adventure isn't as straightforward as it might seem. MORAL QUANDARIES If you want to give the characters a crisis that no amount of spellcasting or swordplay can resolve, add a moral quandary to the adventure. A moral quandary is a problem of conscience for which the adventurers must make a single choice-but never a simple one. MORAL QUANDARIES d20 Quandary d20 Quandary 1-3 Ally quandary 13-16 Rescue quandary 4- 6 Friend quandary 17-20 Respect quandary 7- 12 Honor quandary CHAPTER 3 I CREATING ADVENTURES 79
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CREDITS D&D Lead Designers: Mike Me
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INTRODUCTION T'S GOOD TO BE THE DUN
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KNow YouR PLAYERS The success of a
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OUR WORLD IS THE SETTING FOR YOUR C
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for example, might also be patron o
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FORCES AND PHILOSOPHIES Not all div
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SETTLEMENTS The places where people
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_ lost settlements are agricultural
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each is ruled by a council of drow
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11ARPER5 ORDER OF THE GAUNTLET EMER
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dedicated to preserving the natural
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CREATING A CAMPAIGN The world you c
Page 27 and 28: PuTTING EvENTS IN MoTION -------- W
Page 29 and 30: • Describe or name the creature t
Page 31 and 32: Who or what is to blame for the los
Page 33 and 34: times of day. And some holy days ar
Page 36 and 37: CHARACTER NAMES Part of your campai
Page 38 and 39: Characters who reach 20th level hav
Page 40 and 41: DARK FANTASY Vampires brood on the
Page 43 and 44: HAPTER 2: CREATING A MULTIVERSE lHE
Page 45 and 46: "PLANAR PORTALS • aistlin's] eyes
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Page 49 and 50: ETHEREAL CURTAINS d8 Plane Color of
Page 51 and 52: S HADOWFELL • iven stood in the u
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Page 55 and 56: PLANE OF FIRE Fire represents vibra
Page 57 and 58: ·cinder Wastes ,, ' '" THE EM ENTA
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Page 61 and 62: O PTIONAL RULE: INTENSE YEARNING -e
Page 63 and 64: that figure into the schemes of the
Page 65 and 66: Stygia is also home to its previous
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Page 72 and 73: USEFUL MAPS A good adventure needs
Page 74 and 75: O""i'Mi:.'i\ C.o~"L~ dl2 Goal Seize
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Page 82 and 83: COMBAT ENCOUNTER DIFFICULTY There a
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Page 86 and 87: CHECKING FOR RANDOM ENCOUNTERS You
Page 89 and 90: CHAPTER 4: CREATING NONPLAYER CHARA
Page 91 and 92: BOND In a sentence, summarize the p
Page 93 and 94: protecting lower-level NPC party me
Page 95 and 96: o1 LL AIN 1 S METHODS d20 Methods M
Page 97: H A NNEL DIVINITY: TOUCH OF DEATH :
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Page 106: WILDERNESS Between the dungeons and
Page 109 and 110: STRONGHOLDS Strongholds provide the
Page 111 and 112: THIN leE Thin ice has a weight tole
Page 113 and 114: RANDOM BUILDINGS Pulse-pounding cha
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Page 117 and 118: determining exhaustion. Swimming fo
Page 119 and 120: AIRBORNE AND WATERBORNE VEHICLES Sh
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Page 126 and 127: To keep players from straying, save
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MoRE Do-\\~TIME AcTn~TIE Chapter 8,
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individuals interested in buying ma
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CHAPTER 7: TREASURE DVENTURERS STRI
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250 GP ART OBJECTS dlO Object Gold
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TREASURE HOARD: CHALLENGE 0-4 CP SP
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i cursed. Most methods of identifyi
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Dwarves might make items usable onl
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WHAT MINOR PROPERTY DOES IT HAVE? d
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MAGIC ITEM TABLE c dlOO Magic Item
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MAGIC ITEM TABLE G dlOO Magic Item
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MAGIC ITEM TABLE I dlOO 01-05 06-10
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APPARATUS OF K W A LISH ANIMATED SH
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BAG OF 110LOING dlOO Effect 01 Sd4
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The belt of stone giant strength an
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BooTs o• STRIDING AND SPRINGING B
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CLOAK OF THE MANTA RAY C I RCLE T O
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The tower is made of adamantine, an
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CHAPTER 7 I TREASURE
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~t il the start of your next turn,
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DR IFTGLOBE DusT OF DISAPPEARANCE E
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Eves OF THE EAGLE SERPENTINE Owe FI
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FLAME ToNGUE GAUNTLETS OF OGRE PowE
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HAMMER OF THUNDERBOLTS Weapon (maul
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1oLv AvENGER I MMOVABLE Roo 110RN O
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A stone has AC 24, 10 hit points, a
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JAVELIN OF LIGHTNING KEOGHTOM'S OIN
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To create a golem, you must spend t
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NINE LIVES STEALER Weapon (any swor
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P I PES OF liAUNTING PiPES OF THE S
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POTIONS OF HEALING Potion of ... He
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RING OF ANIMAL INFLUENCE FREE ACTIO
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RING OF P ROTECT ION RING OF SPELL
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Rose oF Eves The eyes on the robe c
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slots, up to a maximum of 5th level
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RoPE oF ENTANGLEMENT by the rope ca
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successfully copied. Whether the ch
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equal to 16 x the number of charge
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STAFF OF THE WooDLAND S STAFF OF WI
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TALISMAN OF THE SPHERE TALISMAN OF
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Vecna watches anyone using this tom
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AND OF LIGHTNING BOLTS -land, rare
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dlOO Effect 54-58 You cast darkness
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A LIGN MENT A sentient magic item h
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when it wants to communicate someth
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MAJOR DETRIMENTAL PROPERTIES MINOR
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Blessings of Moradin. If you are a
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psychic damage, and each non-evil c
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SwoRD OF KAs Wondrous item, artifac
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A character should receive only a b
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more·concerned about doing right b
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BooN OF CoMBAT PROWESS When you mis
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Have another player run the missing
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CONTESTS A contest is a kind of abi
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For example, imagine a wizard is ru
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• RESOLUTION AND CONSEQUENCES You
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TRACKING Adventurers sometimes choo
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Also, characters and monsters with
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ogres, each of which has 59 hit poi
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launch a lightning bolt (100-foot l
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OPTIONAL RULE: DIAGONALS The Player
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Characters can create their own com
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SIEGE TOWER Gargantuan object Armor
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and is poisoned for 24 hours. On a
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LONG-TERM MADNESS dlOO Effect (last
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CHAPTER 9: DuNGEON MASTER's WoRKSHO
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Honor measures not only a character
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A character who uses a healing surg
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PLOT POINTS Plot points allow playe
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Initiative Modifiers. Modifiers mig
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Instead of using the effect describ
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adjust the challenge rating uggesre
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STEP 9. DAMAGE VuL "ER..'\BILITIES,
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The Monster Features table list \·
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Name Light Sensitivity Magic Resist
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The NPC Features table summarizes t
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The simpler your approach. the easi
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Age. Aasimar mature at the arne rat
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SPELL POINTS BY LEVEL Class Level S
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DOORS Whenever a table roll indicat
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DUNGEO N: LAIR d20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8-
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GENERAL DUNGEON CHAMBERS d100 Purpo
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I / d20 2 4-8 9-12 13-14 15 16 17 1
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AIR dlOO 01-60 61-70 71-80 81-83 84
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CONTAINER CONTENTS dlOO Item dlOO I
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Monsters Challenge Rating (XP) Brow
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UNDERDARK MONSTERS UNDERWATER MONST
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Half-ogre Harpy Hippogriff Imp Kuo
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CHALLENGE 11 (7,200 XP) Vampire Mum
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APPENDIX C I MAPS
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APPENDiX C I MAPS
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APPENDIX D: DUNGEON MASTER INSPIRAT
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creating a wi lderness, 14, El emen
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shipwrecks, 118 structure (ad ventu
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