Loots & Lutes

Rewarding your players can be one of the more difficult tasks as a dungeon master or game master. Balancing between too little to maintain interest and too much to make the party overpowered is key.

So how do you make things interesting and rewarding while also being fair? Sorry to give a cop out answer but it really depends on your game and players. However, there are some easy ways to make the decision.

Gold, money or credits, whichever system your game uses, cold hard cash is a simple, shiny reward. It is basic, but lining the players' wallets goes a ways to keep thing interesting. You don't want to give them an early retirement, but gold can entice some players to keep adventuring.

It works as a lure as well. Instead of simply having your players fight a monster, give it a bounty they can collect. This gives them a reason to go out of their way to fight something. Some players won't battle baddies for the sake of it being the "right thing to do."

New gear is another good way to reward players for a hard-fought fight or deep dungeon trek. Pay attention to the way your players play their characters and their motivations. Is someone always running behind in combat? Find something that can be best used by that character and reward it to them. Make them work for it, of course, but it can sometimes be convenience sake the the players find something.

You will want to make sure you don't end up giving out too many magical items as a reward, however. They will lose their wonder and appeal if everything is magic. Knowing when and where is something you have to judge for yourself.

That said, you can also create dungeons around specific treasure. An ancient tomb that houses a specific sword might lure in players. Don't be afraid to experiment or run things on the fly, either. In a pre-made path, these things can be a bit more difficult, but in an open world of the GMs creation, having the flexibility to go where the players want is key.

Your game books may also contain tables for rolling dice for treasures. If even the GM doesn't know what the reward is going to be, the players won't be able to guess which dungeons will house the best loots and lutes.

Having found items act as a story hook is a wonderful way to kill two birds with one stone. You reward your players for a difficult challenge, and lure them toward the next without it railroading the story.

In the game I'm running now, my players have been finding a series of gems imbued with an unknown magical energy. After certain fights, or deep in select dungeons they have found these mysterious artefacts. Sure the barbarian doesn't care for trinkets that don't enhance his power output, but the elf wizard finds himself drawn into the wondrous allure.

Don't forget, you can also punish players for being too greedy. Keep them on edge with traps and monsters, but not enough that they avoid every chest. If their first destination in the room is always the treasure chest, however, you can throw a mimic into the mix once in awhile to take them off their feet.

More than meets the eye

What better joy than finding a treasure chest behind a locked door in a deep, dark dungeon. Your party moves in close, ready to gorge themselves on delicious loot only to be attacked by a ravenous mess of teeth and tentacles.

The mimic, a monster that assumes the shape of something desirable, like a treasure chest, in order to ambush its prey and score its next meal.

Mimics are great way to spice up a tabletop RPG that has spent the first few levels with battles against bandits and goblins, and needs to mix it up a little.

Like the Owlbear, mimics are an old staple of Dungeons & Dragons, as well as any games based around the same system.

In combat, the base form mimic isn't the toughest foe to fight. Generally meant for level 2 or 3 parties, the mimic doesn't hit the hardest or soak up a lot of damage before falling. It does, however, comes with a few nasty surprises.

The base form mimic has a +20 to disguise, meaning it gets the result of a 20-sided die +20 to pretend to be something it is not. Most players at low levels would not be able to match this check with their perception or spot, so the mimic would go undetected. This stealth allows the mimic to make the first strike.

Of course, as with any monster in tabletop RPGs, there are stronger versions, both pre-written or adjusted on the fly to suit the needs of the dungeon master.

While the mimic is most commonly associated with disguising as treasure chests, they can choose any fitting form. A treasure chest may look out of place in an open air garden, but that leaves all the more room for a dread gazebo.

Superb Owl Sunday

The Owlbear, a staple creature of role-playing games dating back to the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons, is still regarded as one of the fiercest and popular creatures in the beastiary.

In both D&D and Pathfinder canon, the origins of the owlbear are unknown and contested. Some say it is the result of a wizard's twisted imagination. Others claim it is a prototype create of the Fey, the First World, and has somehow migrated to the Material Plane (the main world we play in).

Out of game, the owlbear is credited to Gary Gygax, co-creator of D&D.

The owlbear as a monster, lives and hunts primarily in forests and wooded areas. They can strike alone, or in groups of two to six. Or more, if the dungeon master/game master (DM/GM) requires more.

Since I play Pathfinder more than D&D, some things may not cross over fully. That said, in their current PF iteration, owlbears are given a base challenge rating of 4. So a party consisting of 3-4 members should start to run into one owlbear at around level 3. (Average Party Level +1 should equal CR for a challenging fight.)

Owlbears are fiercely territorial and will attack anything that comes into their area. They can be tamed, by skilled (or lucky) druids or rangers, but most of the time the owlbear will attack relentlessly until defeated.

The attack with razor sharp claws, gashing at their enemies. Or by grabbing an enemy and forcefully holding it in place while it bites and stabs with its beak.

Owlbears aren't particularly intelligent animals, at least at base level, but aren't mindless either. Should one be given intelligence through the spell Awaken, they'd be an even deadlier threat.

The beastiary lists variants of the owlbear, including the higher-level and deadlier Siege Owlbear, but with how customizable games like D&D and Pathfinder are, the GM can adapt the creature to suit the needs of the story.

 

For more information about Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder, check out the links.

Why I'm here

Hello there, I'm Jamie and I've been a gamer all my life. From video games, to board games, to card games to pen & paper RPGs, I've spent a whole lot of time sitting around having fun.

I've seen Poker rise to become a sport. Apparently. I've seen countless games of Monopoly end in sulking or flipped tables.

I've solved murders in Clue, sunk Battleships and Connected-4. I've Guessed Who, yelled "Uno" and spent entire nights on a game of Risk.

But what about the other stuff? Well that, my friends, is where Board of Dice comes in. 

Partly inspired by Geek & Sundry and Wil Wheaton's TableTop, in this blog I'll be talking about different games, or interesting aspects of games, you may not have even heard of before. 

Ever heard of D&D's Beholder or Owlbear monsters? Or what kind of game you can play with a group of friends in less than 10 minutes?

Stay tuned and you just may find out. Table top gaming has been making a massive comeback in recent years, and the number of new games out there is staggering. But with my help, you may just find something that you enjoy.

Welcome to Board of Dice.