Among my playgroup, improved initiative is a popular choice for a 1st or 3rd level feat, but why?
The most obvious reason for taking improved initiative is for a better chance of going first in combat. However, this is really pointless for most characters. Let's look at an example:
A party of four characters (fighter, rogue, cleric, and wizard) vs four opponents appropriate to their level.
Scenario 1, the fighter goes first: You've rolled initiative, and the fighter gets to go first. Good, right? Well, it depends. If the enemies are in a hallway and the fighter can block the path to the rest of the party, then yes, otherwise, what is the fighter going to do? Charge the nearest opponent? If the fighter rushes into melee with an opponent, he attacks, maybe he drops an opponent, but most likely not if you're level 3 or higher. This leaves the fighter in a position to get ganged on by four opponents. It also means that if the rogue wants to get into melee in order to sneak attack, the rogue now has to go to the enemy. If the cleric or wizard wants to buff the fighter, they also need to expose themselves to the enemy. If the wizard wants to use an area spell, the fighter is now in the way.
Good: You've drawn aggro away from the team
Bad: You've put yourself in a position that makes it harder for the team to support you
Scenario 2, the cleric or wizard goes first: So, what happens when a caster goes first? Lots, actually. If the enemy is in a hallway, the wizard could use a wall spell to block off the enemies, enabling the party to fight them one at a time, or engage them with ranged attacks while they're trapped behind a spell. If the enemies aren't in a hallway, the wizard or cleric can pass out helpful buffs to the team before the enemy gets to act, thereby making it harder for the enemy to hurt the team.
Good: The team is still together to support each other, plus a buff before enemy attacks can often reduce the number of hits the enemy scores on the party or reduce the damage dealt
Bad: Nobody has drawn aggro away from the casters, but if the enemy rushes the casters, they're now up close to the fighter and rogue, still a win
Scenario 3, the rogue goes first: Sneak attack. If the rogue goes before the enemy, the enemy is flat-footed, so the rogue's attack is a sneak attack without needing to set up flanking positions.
Good: Automatic sneak attack
Bad: Not much, because the rogue can use a ranged sneak attack and doesn't have to expose himself to the enemy
In the above scenarios, the party is in a better position if the cleric, rogue, or wizard acts before the enemy, but when the fighter acts before the enemy, it doesn't really matter except when the fighter can block the enemy's access to the party, and honestly, the right spell from the wizard could accomplish that.
But, when the fighter goes first, he deals damage before the enemy! So? In D&D 3.5, dealing damage that doesn't drop an enemy to 0 HP doesn't make them any less effective in combat. Plus, after the first round, the initiative order isn't very important anymore, because you're just alternating turns at that point.
Now, the best scenario is that the entire party acts before the enemy, however, the GM isn't required to tell the players what the enemy's initiative is. So, in scenario 1 above, should the fighter delay, not knowing if the rest of the party acts before the enemy or not? I would say the best option is to take a readied action. The fighter should either position himself in front of the party, or near the weakest character (probably the wizard, maybe rogue, depending on positions) and declare a readied action to attack the first opponent to get within reach. The benefit of this is that he stays close to the party for support, he doesn't risk getting caught in the casters' area spells if they end up acting before the enemy, plus melee-based enemies have to either attack him and get hit by a readied attack, or try to get past him and take the readied attack plus an attack of opportunity.
Should a fighter take improved initiative? Eh, probably not. A fighter should spend more time worrying about his combat feats. That's not to say he should never take improved initiative, but there are plenty of other feats that are more important for a fighter.
Should the cleric or wizard take improved initiative? Definitely. Casting the right spell before the enemy even acts can make a huge difference in the upcoming fight.
Should the rogue take improved initiative? Probably. Getting in a sneak attack just because the target hasn't acted yet is nice, but other than that, the rogue doesn't benefit any more from improved initiative than the fighter.
What about the classes I haven't mentioned? Well, if your primary role is to cast spells, and you have either area effects, buffs, debuffs, or a way to alter the battlefield, then you'll want improved initiative. If your primary role is to swing a big stick at the enemy, you could care less in the long run.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
How to be a Better Gamemaster Part 2
In this post I'll continue my tips on improving your gamemastering skills.
3. Calling an Audible
No matter how much prep work you do, no matter what you plan, sometimes your players are going to do something to screw it up. When that happens, you've got to start changing the plan. Here are a couple of examples.
In a game I played in, the player characters came upon a murder scene. The victim was a non-player character we had never met or even heard of before. We were then sent a message saying to meet someone for information on the murder. From our point of view, we had no reason to want to investigate. We had no connection to the victim, so investigating the murder wasn't our top priority, so when we voiced that to our GM, he decided that if we weren't going to follow the plot, he'd drop in some "encouragement" in the form of a lot of really tough enemies.
In a game I just recently GMed, I needed the player characters to follow an investigation and eventually find the villain. The PCs were having a bit of trouble figuring out how to find the clues they needed. One of the players suggested that having a supernatural background, he might know someone who also dabbled in the supernatural. So, to put the PCs back on track, I decided to make the villain his contact, and soon the PCs started sniffing around the only guy in town who knew about the supernatural when they discovered the crime they were investigating was done with magic.
In the first example, the players feel like they're being punished for not following the plot. However, you can use the technique of using "encouragement" to get the players on track, but you have to do it carefully. First, the players have to have at least some clue about where you want them to go. Second, you have to make it feel like your "encouragement" isn't a punishment, but is a logical follow-up. If, for example, your "encouragement" is also investigating the same thing the PCs are, or if they were the cause and are tying up loose ends, then it feels more like it's part of the plot and not just a random encounter to force the PCs back on track. In the second example, the players were going nowhere, but one came up with a logical idea and was rewarded for it. Both examples got the PCs on track. The first, however, was a negative experience for the players, the second was positive.
When your players aren't going where you want, and you need them to find something important, often, the easiest thing to do is to move whatever you need them to find to wherever they're going.
4. Making things up/Making things Interesting
When you play with a group who has been playing the game long enough, eventually they memorize the monsters. When you play with veteran players, sometimes making up some new threats can freshen up a stale game. In one of my recent games, I took a red dragon, mixed in some black dragon stats, and gave it two extra heads. Suddenly, the PCs were too afraid to even try to fight this monster. They no longer knew what to expect, and it led to a great chase scene and a spectacular death.
If you're feeling ambitious, you could try creating your own campaign world. Creating your own world takes time and effort. I would know. I've created dozens of them. The great thing, though, is that you don't have to do all the work right away. You can start small, creating the area your game will begin in and then spread out as the campaign progresses. In a later post, I'll cover things such as writing your own adventures, campaigns, and even creating your own world.
5. Acting
Every good GM wants their players to get involved with their characters and the story. In my post on being a better player, I talked about the Actor. The Actor plays a role, which is what rpgs are about. The Actor doesn't just throw together a set of numbers and call it a character. The Actor creates a character, then comes up with a set of numbers that fits the character. If you want your players to play their characters, then you have to play yours as well, and when you consider that GMs have control of every NPC, that's a lot of roles to play. Fortunately, most NPCs are only going to interact with the players for a few minutes, then will probably never come up again. You really only need to worry about NPCs that are important to the plot. For these NPCs, give them a little personality, even if it's just as simple as a peculiar way of speaking, or an unusual mannerism. Players are more likely to remember the nervous, stuttering contact they met in the bar moreso than just another NPC they met in the bar, even if the NPC gave them important information.
This concludes my basic tips on improving yourself as a gamemaster. In future posts, I will expand upon some of these. My next post will will return to the "Playing You Best" lessons.
3. Calling an Audible
No matter how much prep work you do, no matter what you plan, sometimes your players are going to do something to screw it up. When that happens, you've got to start changing the plan. Here are a couple of examples.
In a game I played in, the player characters came upon a murder scene. The victim was a non-player character we had never met or even heard of before. We were then sent a message saying to meet someone for information on the murder. From our point of view, we had no reason to want to investigate. We had no connection to the victim, so investigating the murder wasn't our top priority, so when we voiced that to our GM, he decided that if we weren't going to follow the plot, he'd drop in some "encouragement" in the form of a lot of really tough enemies.
In a game I just recently GMed, I needed the player characters to follow an investigation and eventually find the villain. The PCs were having a bit of trouble figuring out how to find the clues they needed. One of the players suggested that having a supernatural background, he might know someone who also dabbled in the supernatural. So, to put the PCs back on track, I decided to make the villain his contact, and soon the PCs started sniffing around the only guy in town who knew about the supernatural when they discovered the crime they were investigating was done with magic.
In the first example, the players feel like they're being punished for not following the plot. However, you can use the technique of using "encouragement" to get the players on track, but you have to do it carefully. First, the players have to have at least some clue about where you want them to go. Second, you have to make it feel like your "encouragement" isn't a punishment, but is a logical follow-up. If, for example, your "encouragement" is also investigating the same thing the PCs are, or if they were the cause and are tying up loose ends, then it feels more like it's part of the plot and not just a random encounter to force the PCs back on track. In the second example, the players were going nowhere, but one came up with a logical idea and was rewarded for it. Both examples got the PCs on track. The first, however, was a negative experience for the players, the second was positive.
When your players aren't going where you want, and you need them to find something important, often, the easiest thing to do is to move whatever you need them to find to wherever they're going.
4. Making things up/Making things Interesting
When you play with a group who has been playing the game long enough, eventually they memorize the monsters. When you play with veteran players, sometimes making up some new threats can freshen up a stale game. In one of my recent games, I took a red dragon, mixed in some black dragon stats, and gave it two extra heads. Suddenly, the PCs were too afraid to even try to fight this monster. They no longer knew what to expect, and it led to a great chase scene and a spectacular death.
If you're feeling ambitious, you could try creating your own campaign world. Creating your own world takes time and effort. I would know. I've created dozens of them. The great thing, though, is that you don't have to do all the work right away. You can start small, creating the area your game will begin in and then spread out as the campaign progresses. In a later post, I'll cover things such as writing your own adventures, campaigns, and even creating your own world.
5. Acting
Every good GM wants their players to get involved with their characters and the story. In my post on being a better player, I talked about the Actor. The Actor plays a role, which is what rpgs are about. The Actor doesn't just throw together a set of numbers and call it a character. The Actor creates a character, then comes up with a set of numbers that fits the character. If you want your players to play their characters, then you have to play yours as well, and when you consider that GMs have control of every NPC, that's a lot of roles to play. Fortunately, most NPCs are only going to interact with the players for a few minutes, then will probably never come up again. You really only need to worry about NPCs that are important to the plot. For these NPCs, give them a little personality, even if it's just as simple as a peculiar way of speaking, or an unusual mannerism. Players are more likely to remember the nervous, stuttering contact they met in the bar moreso than just another NPC they met in the bar, even if the NPC gave them important information.
This concludes my basic tips on improving yourself as a gamemaster. In future posts, I will expand upon some of these. My next post will will return to the "Playing You Best" lessons.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
How to be a Better Gamemaster
In my last post, I talked about what a gamemaster is, and what it takes to be a gamemaster. In my next few posts, I'll talk about how to be a better gamemaster.
1. Know the Rules
If you've never played a single game in a system you want to run as a gamemaster, then read the system's rule book. Read the entire thing, front to back. When you're done, read the section on creating characters again, then read the section on combat again (most game systems involve some sort of combat). Some game systems have some complicated rules for situations that don't happen in every game. You don't need to have these memorized for your first game. For example, if you're about to play D&D 3.5, or just about any game system based on that version of the d20 rules, you probably won't have to know the grapple, sunder, and disarm rules off the top of your head. You should, however, know how to begin a combat encounter, a general idea of what a character can do on their turn, when movement provokes attacks of opportunity, and the critical hit rules. The rest of the combat rules you can look up as needed.
Now, that's what you need to be a gamemaster. What about being a better gamemaster? Well, nothing kills the pace of the game like having to stop and look up an obscure rule. Whenever I want to use an opponent that specializes in something obscure, say I want him to try to destroy the players' weapons, for example, I read the rules on sundering before I decide if I want to include the opponent at all, to be sure this tactic isn't going to be so overly complicated that it slows down the game too much. Once I'm confident that I want to use that tactic, I create the opponent and write it into my notes. During the week leading up to game day, I review the rules that opponent will be using. On game day, about an hour before the players arrive, I read the rules again. Usually, by this point, I have the rule memorized and no longer have to look it up at the table, thus avoiding putting the game on pause while I look through a rule book. The biggest advantage of this is that you don't try to memorize an entire rule book in one sitting, and slowly memorize one new rule each time you want to throw something new at your players. This keeps your encounters from becoming stale with every opponent just trying to attack for damage.
2. Preparation
Depending on your preferences, and whether you are writing your own adventures or running published modules, your prep time could be as little as an hour or two per game or as much as ten or more per game. Because the amount of preparation needed changes depending on your play style and whether you're running custom adventures or not, I'll give you some notes for a couple of scenarios.
Running published modules requires the least amount of preparation, and is recommended if you work long hours, or are new to gamemastering, or if you're just not confident in your writing skills. The beauty of a module is that you have a written adventure, usually spanning multiple game days, and usually have some maps included. You pretty much have nothing do before the game. However, if you want to be a better gamemaster, you should read through the entire adventure at least once before you begin the first game. This way, you at least have an idea of how events in one part of the adventure lead to other parts. Before each game, you should read the portion of the adventure you plan to run that day, and if there are any obvious choices or detours the players might be able to make that would take the game in a different direction and read that as well. There are modules that offer players more than one goal that could be completed in any order they choose, so you should be ready for whichever choice your players want to take. If you want to make it easy on yourself, you could gather your players together ahead of time and introduce the adventure to them, present the choices, and have them decide on a course of action before your game session. This way, you can familiarize yourself with the player's choice and when the game begins, you won't have to take up time with a group discussion on which course of action to take, because they've already chosen. When running a module, one thing you should always do is review the stats for the enemies the players will face during the upcoming game session. If any enemies use an ability you aren't familiar with, you should spend a few minutes in the rule book getting to know this new ability. Total prep time per session when using a module should be around an hour. You could get by with less if you're pressed for time, but I highly advise against it. I would recommend up to two hours if you can spare it.
Writing your own adventures can be fun before you even get to the game table. Trying to anticipate how the players will react to your devious plans and diabolical villains, and visualizing them falling victim to your heinous traps are all fun moments you can get caught up in while writing. Well, don't. Unless you've been playing with this group for years, you can never be sure how your players will react. That's okay, though. You can't possibly take the time to try to come up with every eventuality while writing your adventures. So don't. I will likely write a post sometime in the near future focusing just on writing good adventures for your games, but for now, let's just focus on some general guidelines. I started gamemastering by writing my own adventurers. I've never run a module, and didn't even read one for my first few years of gamemastering. When I finally did, I saw that modules went into much more detail than my own adventures. When writing your own adventures, you know how much detail you need. If you need only a few pages, then write a few pages. If you need every meticulous detail written down, go for it. I ran a game for Halloween a few months ago, with only one night to prepare. I wrote only a page and a half of notes. The game lasted for ten hours, and my players claimed it was one of the best games they ever played and had them scared stiff. Sometimes all you need is some ideas floating around in your head and a few notes to help you keep track of them. It's hard for me to nail down just how much prep time you need with custom games. It's really up to you. Obviously, it's going to take some more work than just reading a module. I'd suggest around two to four hours per game. You could get by with less, and you could certainly use more, but try not to get bogged down in details. If it isn't important to the plot, you can always make it up at the table.
1. Know the Rules
If you've never played a single game in a system you want to run as a gamemaster, then read the system's rule book. Read the entire thing, front to back. When you're done, read the section on creating characters again, then read the section on combat again (most game systems involve some sort of combat). Some game systems have some complicated rules for situations that don't happen in every game. You don't need to have these memorized for your first game. For example, if you're about to play D&D 3.5, or just about any game system based on that version of the d20 rules, you probably won't have to know the grapple, sunder, and disarm rules off the top of your head. You should, however, know how to begin a combat encounter, a general idea of what a character can do on their turn, when movement provokes attacks of opportunity, and the critical hit rules. The rest of the combat rules you can look up as needed.
Now, that's what you need to be a gamemaster. What about being a better gamemaster? Well, nothing kills the pace of the game like having to stop and look up an obscure rule. Whenever I want to use an opponent that specializes in something obscure, say I want him to try to destroy the players' weapons, for example, I read the rules on sundering before I decide if I want to include the opponent at all, to be sure this tactic isn't going to be so overly complicated that it slows down the game too much. Once I'm confident that I want to use that tactic, I create the opponent and write it into my notes. During the week leading up to game day, I review the rules that opponent will be using. On game day, about an hour before the players arrive, I read the rules again. Usually, by this point, I have the rule memorized and no longer have to look it up at the table, thus avoiding putting the game on pause while I look through a rule book. The biggest advantage of this is that you don't try to memorize an entire rule book in one sitting, and slowly memorize one new rule each time you want to throw something new at your players. This keeps your encounters from becoming stale with every opponent just trying to attack for damage.
2. Preparation
Depending on your preferences, and whether you are writing your own adventures or running published modules, your prep time could be as little as an hour or two per game or as much as ten or more per game. Because the amount of preparation needed changes depending on your play style and whether you're running custom adventures or not, I'll give you some notes for a couple of scenarios.
Running published modules requires the least amount of preparation, and is recommended if you work long hours, or are new to gamemastering, or if you're just not confident in your writing skills. The beauty of a module is that you have a written adventure, usually spanning multiple game days, and usually have some maps included. You pretty much have nothing do before the game. However, if you want to be a better gamemaster, you should read through the entire adventure at least once before you begin the first game. This way, you at least have an idea of how events in one part of the adventure lead to other parts. Before each game, you should read the portion of the adventure you plan to run that day, and if there are any obvious choices or detours the players might be able to make that would take the game in a different direction and read that as well. There are modules that offer players more than one goal that could be completed in any order they choose, so you should be ready for whichever choice your players want to take. If you want to make it easy on yourself, you could gather your players together ahead of time and introduce the adventure to them, present the choices, and have them decide on a course of action before your game session. This way, you can familiarize yourself with the player's choice and when the game begins, you won't have to take up time with a group discussion on which course of action to take, because they've already chosen. When running a module, one thing you should always do is review the stats for the enemies the players will face during the upcoming game session. If any enemies use an ability you aren't familiar with, you should spend a few minutes in the rule book getting to know this new ability. Total prep time per session when using a module should be around an hour. You could get by with less if you're pressed for time, but I highly advise against it. I would recommend up to two hours if you can spare it.
Writing your own adventures can be fun before you even get to the game table. Trying to anticipate how the players will react to your devious plans and diabolical villains, and visualizing them falling victim to your heinous traps are all fun moments you can get caught up in while writing. Well, don't. Unless you've been playing with this group for years, you can never be sure how your players will react. That's okay, though. You can't possibly take the time to try to come up with every eventuality while writing your adventures. So don't. I will likely write a post sometime in the near future focusing just on writing good adventures for your games, but for now, let's just focus on some general guidelines. I started gamemastering by writing my own adventurers. I've never run a module, and didn't even read one for my first few years of gamemastering. When I finally did, I saw that modules went into much more detail than my own adventures. When writing your own adventures, you know how much detail you need. If you need only a few pages, then write a few pages. If you need every meticulous detail written down, go for it. I ran a game for Halloween a few months ago, with only one night to prepare. I wrote only a page and a half of notes. The game lasted for ten hours, and my players claimed it was one of the best games they ever played and had them scared stiff. Sometimes all you need is some ideas floating around in your head and a few notes to help you keep track of them. It's hard for me to nail down just how much prep time you need with custom games. It's really up to you. Obviously, it's going to take some more work than just reading a module. I'd suggest around two to four hours per game. You could get by with less, and you could certainly use more, but try not to get bogged down in details. If it isn't important to the plot, you can always make it up at the table.
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