DM'ing

[DM Badger]

So I have been playing 5e a while now and the predominant tier that folks love to play is tiers 1 to tiers 2 and sometimes maybe halfway to three.

As a result I have dm'ed about 5 games above level 10 and 1 game above level 14.

I am terrible at it. Either my npcs are pushovers or they are hard mode and I was looking to see if anyone had any useful tips out there?

 

[Stephan Hornick]

Great question! Would you be available later for the Q&A with Johnn? (You do know about it, right?) Then you could ask it to the community in person or have Johnn address it there. If you would rather like a written answer here, that is also possible of course.

 

[JohnnFour]

Please note the monthly calls are for Patrons and Adventure Building Game Plan members.

Just wanted to be clear @DM Badger as there's no intended bait and switch here.

 

[JohnnFour]

As for your question, there's a lot to unpack.

There's high level play, and there's D&D.

For GMing powerful PCs, these tips might be of help to you:
https://www.roleplayingtips.com/rptn/rpt119-19-tips-gming-powerful-characters/

.For GMing D&D 5E Tier 3 and 4 PCs, well, first of all please understand the game at that point is stacked against the GM.

Not only does the action economy heavily favour the players characters from level 1 onward, but it gets exacerbated once characters start getting into more powerful abilities.

I call D&D 5E Super Hero Fantasy. That's how it feels to me as a genre.

Spellcasters as high level in 5E outclass all other characters - by a long shot. There was a reason Gygax made wizards weak at low levels. Their battlefield control and area damage effect spells pretty much whack your NPCs and monsters before the warriors can close.

So, relatively speaking, you're now dealing with a mixed tier group in terms of capabilities. The other characters are there now just to prevent the wizards from losing concentration.

Practically speaking:

• Change the campaign type from dungeon crawls. It's about Save the World now, not save the village.
• Add Factions, intrigue, politics, and any other type of roleplay. Roleplay challenges stump PCs of any level.
• Sharpen your Story Crucibles with Constraints and Conflicts from your Setting. Mechanics won't challenge your PCs as much any more.
• Think about using 5 Room Dungeons more often. Quick build-ups to epic conflict encounters. High level player is less about whacking guards and minor obstacles now.
• Add Legendary Resistance to key foes.
• Outthink the PCs. Make Choices have steeper Costs. You can double your IQ by getting help here with specific plot or encounter questions.
• Ensure key encounters have spellcasters.
• Add layered foe types to key encounters (Brutes, Artillery, Strikers, etc.).
• Apply 5E Conditions more often. They allow you to soften the PCs up a bit for when the serious saving throws are needed.
• Use Mission style plots and combats. It's easier for your foes to foil a mission than to kill the characters.

Hope this helps!

 

[Stephan Hornick]

Regarding spellcasters in D&D (actually AD&D 3.5 I am referring to), Athas, the world of the Dark Sun setting, included three great limits to spellcasters:

1. Each spell costs material components. Some of them are quite common, but others are so rare that you need to go on an adventure to get a handfull of those. This was what often held PCs back from using it too often.
   
   
2. Even more exciting was the fact that magic needed energy. At first levels you wouldn't notice it too much, but the more powerful the spell got, the more it took energy. From the soil and plants. That's right, this is why Athas became a sandy desert environment! It was always the decision whether to wrack havoc on the remaining plant life or preserve it. Later on, you were able to harness the power from living beings, sacrificing animals, monsters, humanoids, or even some part oneself.
   
   
3. Third limit is that it was forbidden. Due to the vast problems finding sustenance, any further destruction of nature was forbidden. When mages are noticed they will become hunted. All the more reason for magicians to form secret circles in Athas.

But they also got boons: In end-level stage mages, clerics and psionists could become (i.e. transform into!) Dragons! The few rulers of Athas are actually mages etc. who transformed into massive dragons.

So, by enriching the setting, you might simultaneously have the ability to limit excessive power releases by the mages while simultaneously making magic cooler.


Besides Johnn's great tips on changing the adventure content (I believe some players wouldn't want to do this), is to not increase the power level of the NPC a lot (Game approach), but to increase his/her tactics.
Either read about GM tactics and stratagems in an orderly fashion, or see an example of how I confront your mentioned problem in Javalen's Adventure Building Master Game Plan.
I hope this helps.

 

[DM Badger]

Thank you both
I am a patreon at a relatively high monthly cost @£9, so it probably does cover me.
Some good ideas and resources to unpack for me. I will place any more response on hold whilst I work through them.
Thank you!
I never expected the response to be so quick or thorough looking.
I have a number of games I run [it works out at about 23 sessions a month] so it'll probably take me a bit of time to work through them.

 

[DM Badger]

For GMing powerful PCs, these tips might be of help to you:
https://www.roleplayingtips.com/rptn/rpt119-19-tips-gming-powerful-characters/

Thank you and yes you are right its definitely stacked again the gm.

I started to read that 119 tips and it mentions a collection of treasure items. [ADD shiny object] is that available anywhere?

 

[DM Badger]

I started to read that 119 tips and it mentions a collection of treasure items. [ADD shiny object] is that available anywhere?

Bump

 

[JochenL]

I searched quite a while but could not find it.

@JohnnFour, do you have it somewhere? It is not attached to #120 (https://www.roleplayingtips.com/rptn/rpt120-5-firewalling-tips-game-masters/) and the linked list does not seem to contain it, either (https://www.roleplayingtips.com/rptn/rpt120-5-firewalling-tips-game-masters/).

Update: Treasure Ideas Coming At You Next Week
Ryan B. has done a great job of compiling everyone’s treasure ideas, and the whole file, 150+ entries, is being edited as we speak. It should be ready for download in Issue #120. Hope you find it useful!

 

[JohnnFour]

I searched too. No luck. Issue #119 and #120 would've been 2001. Prior to Google drive, with several host changes and site migrations previous.

I'm FTPing down the entire RPT site as we speak so I can do a file extension search with Total Commander.

Will let you know if I find anything.

Meantime, here's an unlinked page (mostly because the content is pretty old/uneven) that might contain what you're looking for, indirectly @DM Badger:

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/rpg-articles/

Search for treasure and reward to find potential articles you could tap.

 

[JohnnFour]

Found it @DM Badger.

See attached.

 

[DM Badger]

Brilliant thank you