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Resource management has been a big part of the game throughout it's history, regardless of which point in that history you consider the pinnacle. If you didn't care for resource management so much, there were simpler - and often much less effective - classes to play, so learning the game was often a matter of starting with such a class, then learning others, and finally getting the 'big picture.' That's a process a lot of players never finished. It meant that the game was difficult/time-consuming to learn, intimidating to new players, and hard to master. And, that kinda limited the pool of players ready to take the plunge and DM, too.

5e is trying to be all things to all gamers, and that really should include /new/ gamers. The face of the game to new gamers will, of course, be the core rules....

Well, session three was a wash, unfortunately it was because a few players who joined the table didn't show up.  Thanks to Azurel and Justinbass for showing up on the VT.

Now for my rant, why would you join a table and then not show up.  That takes a spce away from someone that might want to play and is rude.  If you don't think you're gonna make it then withdraw or let the DM know of a conflict, something might be worked out.

It irkes me more, because i live in an area that doesn't have very many gamers if any at all, so the only place I can actually play is on the VT.  So when someone decides to join, I expect them to show up, or let me know if they are going to be late.  It is just common curteousy.

I am done, and getting off my soap box.  I still have...

Sometimes I read about daily/martial encounter powers, and often the argument "It's immersion breaking!" or the more specific "It's not realistic!" comes up:

"If a fighter can do that, why can't he do that ALL THE TIME?"

The first point is fairly easy to argue:

1) narrative, this is when the spotlight shines on you. When Conan swipes off the giant snake's head in a single blow, Robert E. Howard was using his PC's Daily. It's the PC using his own token of agency to affect his fantasy world. 

2) 'realism'. I don't really want to use that word for Fantasy Dragon Dungeoning... but crazy athletic feats can get pretty tiring. Hitting a monster 9x harder than you normally can is one of those tiring things. 

When arguing with someone and trying to change their mind though, it's

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Showdown at Meteor Fall

Encounter level 9 (1825 exp)

Discussion Thread

[sblock=My 10 rules for encounter design]

Encounter rules:   

1. Maximum level for monster is party level +4

                2. Minimum level for monster is party level -2

                3. Minions make encounter easier so I use 5 in place of regular monster

                4. Add 1 to the encounter level if there are more twice as many non-minion monsters  as PCs.

                5. Terrain should

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I have moved the Actual Play Video to a seperate post.

This week started awesome at Alertos again--I think that is three weeks in a row & then a drive to the grocery store past the magic fountain for Coffee & Skittles--they were out of Crazy Core so Jack got Gobstoppers and Gummy Lifesavers instead.




DM Rico's table was already set up when we arrived & players were gathering.











DM William was just getting set up & looked like he was ruling!







Henry was in the shop & having a very good time!




Coordinator John had a new haircut!


My table started late







Brandon bought a grilled pork chop to the table!


Jack had his awesome flaming head band










We are doing better with the camera work, but we need more focus on the players--I think when I am a player and not DM'ing I may have time to move the camera around more....

 

Our adventure starts at the Duponde armory. Or maybe I should start back a little further. Our "regular" DM couldn't make it last night, so we had a stand in. Steve runs Ronin Games in Castro Valley, CA in the evenings while the games go on. He's a very talented individual and makes for an extremely knowledgable DM. Not wanting to impose on what John (our official) had already started, our party made a side adventure related to the story line. 

 This week our original party is joined by a Wizard pre-created for encounters who likes to use burning hands and pillar of fire. Also joining our party on this particular encounter is a Dragonborn Paladin who wields a battle axe. Continuing play is the Hunter, Cleric and Warlord.

 In a free action beginning, our party

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One of the things that I have enjoyed as a DM is occasionally spicing up encounters that would otherwise be rather boring. After all, it's likely that your players have probably fought a hundred orcs or kobolds or whatever else you are throwing at them. In this series of articles, I will discuss relatively simple ways to make encounters a little more interesting without a lot of overhead for the DM.

One of the easiest ways to do this is through the use of alchemy. Simple potions, poultices, and powders can go a long ways towards making your monsters a little more unexpected.

Consider the following encounter for a party:

• 5 orc reavers

This is a pretty dull encounter in and of itself, but even a simple one like this can be spiced up by giving the orcs a couple of Alchemist's Fire,

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