DMs and 4e (part 1)

I’ve held off writing this post until I’ve had a chance to run an adventure in 4e. But know that I’ve had a chance to act as DM let me tell you about 4e from a DMs perspective.

First of all the DMG(Dungeon Masters Guide) is considerably thinner than in previous editions. This is because magic items and prestige classes (in the guise of paragon paths) are now found in the Players Handbook. What the DMG does have is plenty of advice on how to run a game. It’s almost like a thicker version of Robin’s Laws that is specific to D&D. This is great for new DMs. When I first started DMing I could have used some of this advice and as an experienced DM it’s good to be reminded.

As for the mechanics of the game, the monster stat blocks are much improved. There aren’t a bunch of low level , flavorful (but not useful in combat) powers listed. The only things you see are the things you need. This makes running monsters much easier.

Furthermore, there are only 3 possible durations – until the end of your next turn, until the beginning of your next turn and save ends. Powers recharge based on a d6 roll at the end of every turn. What does this mean for DMs? Very little of your mental energy is spent tracking effects or counting rounds until recharge. You can concentrate on role-playing and tactics instead of bookkeeping during a combat scene.

Minions are also pretty cool. They allow you to throw a whole bunch of fodder at the PCs to slow them down (and hopefully damage them a bit) before they get to the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy). Minions are easy to keep track of too. Just 1 hp so they die if they are hit – and standard damage (no rolling) keeps combat moving fast. The players will feel awesome because they killed a lot of baddies and you will have a couple of rounds to let your BBEG loose all of his cool powers.

Designing encounters is also pretty easy. One basically has a “budget” of xp to spend on a battle of a certain level. Throw in monsters and traps until the xp for the encounter approximately equals your budget. Since the monsters have different roles and are listed by level and role in a handy index at the back of the MM(Monster Manual) it takes no time at all to build an interesting encounter. Moreover, you can easily design your own monsters by taking the ones they’ve given you and reflavoring them, and maybe swapping out a damage type or a power to make them fit your theme.

There is more to like for DMs, but I’m nearing five hundred words so I’ll save it for another post.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment or PM me.