Satine Phoenix DM Tips: Designing an Encounter w/ Matthew Colville – pt2 November 11, 2020Zoltar previously GM tips the challenge the</p> <p>player to make them feel like we are</p> <p>encountering the bad guys on their turf</p> <p>and on their terms</p> <p>I don’t use CR that way you can’t help</p> <p>remember when I said I rolled a 20 I</p> <p>lied well this gets back to the CR thing</p> <p>about how like I just don’t I</p> <p>fundamentally don’t believe in balanced</p> <p>encounters I don’t know what the what is</p> <p>the fun of that right and that gets down</p> <p>to that thing about how the gobble</p> <p>you’re gonna beat the goblins it’s not a</p> <p>balanced encounter yeah right and then</p> <p>when you get to the end by the time</p> <p>you’re fighting the boss monster I’m a</p> <p>big believer in like stacking the deck</p> <p>hugely against the players and making</p> <p>them feel overwhelmed because every</p> <p>player wants to be John McClane and die</p> <p>hard right they want to get their ass</p> <p>kicked but they want to win all the way</p> <p>through that feeling of victory being</p> <p>permanent and that means that the bad</p> <p>guys has to be overwhelming it has to be</p> <p>like this feeling of despair we can</p> <p>never do it because when then when they</p> <p>do do it they feel like heroes and so I</p> <p>think you can get away with a lot I</p> <p>think I want to always encourage teens</p> <p>this is a this is something you learn</p> <p>it’s a muscle you develop over time you</p> <p>can throw a lich at a third little party</p> <p>that just being a bad sport what are you</p> <p>doing</p> <p>right but the notion that the Goblin</p> <p>Shanon the goblin chieftain is way high</p> <p>level and has access to spells the</p> <p>players don’t get and that’s another</p> <p>great by the way having really high</p> <p>level bad guys is a great opportunity to</p> <p>show the players the kind of cool spells</p> <p>they’re going to get later yeah right</p> <p>like this is how they learn that there</p> <p>is such a spell as greater invisibility</p> <p>whether you would be scared yes and the</p> <p>faculties not only did these guys have</p> <p>you guys have access to abilities that</p> <p>you guys haven’t seen yet so that puts</p> <p>the fear of God into the players but</p> <p>there’s a lot of a lot of bad guys and</p> <p>some of them are really powerful and</p> <p>they come in different shapes and sizes</p> <p>because I want to make sure the players</p> <p>I feel like that’s okay that’s legal</p> <p>even if it’s full yes</p> <p>well because it feels like well this is</p> <p>their lair this is their this is a bot</p> <p>this is their dungeon this is their ship</p> <p>this is their castle whatever the thing</p> <p>is that you’re exploring or fighting the</p> <p>notion that it’s bears and they</p> <p>deliberately stat bait they you’re not</p> <p>the first people to try this they want</p> <p>to win it and they don’t think in terms</p> <p>of balance the bad guys and also I want</p> <p>to make sure the players always this</p> <p>gets back to something we talked earlier</p> <p>I think is I want to make sure the</p> <p>players know that like it’s up to you</p> <p>guys to get intelligence on what’s going</p> <p>on yeah it’s up to you guys so I’m not</p> <p>going to tell you what’s what’s down</p> <p>there and if you walk into the next room</p> <p>you know sight unseen without having</p> <p>done any work you’re going to get smoked</p> <p>yeah but you won’t think</p> <p>that’s stupid that’s why did Matt that’s</p> <p>not fair that’s that encounter is too</p> <p>tough you think why didn’t we Scout this</p> <p>why are there ways to approach the</p> <p>encounter not just running and kicking</p> <p>the door down correct I mean there is a</p> <p>place with that there’s always a place</p> <p>for wrong right every life loves garage</p> <p>yeah but there is also like my players</p> <p>learned very early on that like if they</p> <p>don’t scout if they don’t talk to people</p> <p>if they don’t question prisoners which</p> <p>means taking prisoners right if you</p> <p>don’t do those things then you don’t get</p> <p>good Intel and at that point now now it</p> <p>really is an unfair encounter now it</p> <p>really is a deadly encounter and you’re</p> <p>screwed and it’s a thing if there were</p> <p>an encounter builder right I put all</p> <p>these things into it it wasn’t said no</p> <p>it was that do not do this right but I</p> <p>feel like it’s ok to do that because it</p> <p>the players know what’s on the other</p> <p>side that dork if they know what they’re</p> <p>facing if they know what they’re working</p> <p>about to fight then they start thinking</p> <p>and then you’ve hooked them then they’re</p> <p>on your soon as I start thinking how do</p> <p>we deal with this let’s lure some of</p> <p>these guys out let’s let’s let’s trick</p> <p>the bad guys let’s do the prisoner thing</p> <p>where you know there’s a million</p> <p>different ways to do it and that’s what</p> <p>they should be doing they should be</p> <p>thinking in terms of how do I take what</p> <p>Matt has put in front of me and I’m not</p> <p>going to accept that I’m going to do</p> <p>we’re going to do it our way we’re to</p> <p>change the conditions of the test which</p> <p>is something that’s interesting because</p> <p>if they feel like they change the</p> <p>conditions you the bad guy also will</p> <p>respond to that well and there’ll be</p> <p>repercussions about that yeah I mean the</p> <p>bad guy should be reactive right and if</p> <p>the and and the notion of the players if</p> <p>the players start challenging the stuff</p> <p>you put in front of them and saying I</p> <p>know that this is a room with a like I’m</p> <p>we’re going to continue using the</p> <p>example to college and I know there’s a</p> <p>goblin chieftain in here he’s got their</p> <p>shamness all those bad guys in there but</p> <p>we’re not just going to walk in there</p> <p>we’re going to try and that that if it</p> <p>doesn’t really even matter if it works</p> <p>or doesn’t work the fact that they’re</p> <p>now thinking and planning and scheming</p> <p>that’s like I think about like 80% of</p> <p>the fun of D&D right is that notion of</p> <p>we’ve got an idea we’ve got a plan we</p> <p>worked it out and now we’re going to see</p> <p>what happens and the bad guys should</p> <p>also have a plan I think that’s another</p> <p>big part of it is always knowing this</p> <p>kind gets to what you were talking about</p> <p>they always knowing what would the bad</p> <p>guys have done if the heroes never</p> <p>showed up</p> <p>yeah right and if you know that if you</p> <p>know I know what they can do and I know</p> <p>what their plan was then when the heroes</p> <p>do crazy stuff you’ve got some kind of</p> <p>foundation for ok how the bad guys going</p> <p>to respond well they actually don’t</p> <p>really care about you they’re trying to</p> <p>sacramental yeah exactly they don’t care</p> <p>about this character just something</p> <p>crazy they are more interested in</p> <p>completing</p> <p>rituals to try and do more sacrificing</p> <p>this victim right and so they’re going</p> <p>to ignore you and keep doing this and</p> <p>when the players feel it’s like all God</p> <p>we have to stop them right that notion</p> <p>that the bad guys have a plan that they</p> <p>they have their their own wants I think</p> <p>and should informally encounter it</p> <p>should be part of what you’re thinking</p> <p>about when you’re thinking which bad</p> <p>guys am i picking not just were you</p> <p>picking what do they want yeah exactly</p> <p>so we talked about the big bad guys and</p> <p>I’m balancing the encounters using the</p> <p>big bad guys but we also talked about</p> <p>low-level encounters and the purpose of</p> <p>those well that’s that thing about</p> <p>draining the party’s resources and stuff</p> <p>like that that’s why I always try to</p> <p>make sure that if I’m doing that there</p> <p>is some it’s not it shouldn’t ever just</p> <p>feel like this is something that put in</p> <p>front of us to drain our resources there</p> <p>should be some like I said you’ve that</p> <p>it what is it about this encounter that</p> <p>makes it a little of encountering these</p> <p>guys are just Scouts for instance that</p> <p>makes sense or these guys another thing</p> <p>I’ve noticed is that you can players</p> <p>responded they’re not used to this they</p> <p>don’t expect this you walk into a room</p> <p>and there are there we’re going to</p> <p>continue the example jobless there’s a</p> <p>bunch of goblins in here but they’re</p> <p>goblin infants they’re children right</p> <p>and they’ll fight but they don’t wanna</p> <p>right and now is this even a combat</p> <p>encounter in some games this is a combat</p> <p>encounter some games players like I</p> <p>don’t care right there’s no baby exactly</p> <p>it doesn’t matter you can be</p> <p>non-combatants right to be this is where</p> <p>they’re preparing their food these guys</p> <p>just cooks right and that feeling of</p> <p>like yeah</p> <p>by the book this is a low-level</p> <p>encounter but is it even a combat</p> <p>encounter and the players stop and</p> <p>they’re like all we wanted to do was</p> <p>roll dice and kill stuff but now you put</p> <p>this it’s the simplest possible ethical</p> <p>quandary right this is not that</p> <p>sophisticated right but it stops the</p> <p>players in the tracks that makes them</p> <p>think wait are we good guys are bad guys</p> <p>do we care about this stuff and they</p> <p>tend the answer to no matter how how</p> <p>cool they thought it was going to be to</p> <p>be like the Punisher or whatever when</p> <p>you put these things in front of them</p> <p>suddenly they discover that hearts and</p> <p>souls and they don’t want to just murder</p> <p>these these the the cook director</p> <p>building yeah exactly</p> <p>now we’re building air – yeah yeah so</p> <p>that’s why I think when I think of</p> <p>low-level encounters I think of like</p> <p>what is what is this in the world what</p> <p>are these what are these goblins or orcs</p> <p>or whatever what are you guys doing here</p> <p>and make it so the players question</p> <p>whether or not it’s a good idea to fight</p> <p>these guys cool all right I’m going to</p> <p>say the words are you ready for the</p> <p>words</p> <p>Breena Kobayashi Maru that’s a that’s</p> <p>every encounter I always I always I</p> <p>never I never think about how the play</p> <p>is going to go I’m always like man I</p> <p>don’t know why this is gonna be really</p> <p>interesting to see how the players</p> <p>I often L design an encounter and I’ll</p> <p>sit there and I’ll just be like this is</p> <p>crazy</p> <p>they’re going to get their ass kicked I</p> <p>don’t know I think they’re all gonna die</p> <p>right and and the funny thing is I</p> <p>thought that especially my last campaign</p> <p>I thought that week after week after</p> <p>week I literally there’s not an</p> <p>exaggeration I genuinely thought they</p> <p>are going to die and and they always</p> <p>come up with crazy ways to subvert my</p> <p>expectations because that’s how I</p> <p>thought I’ve shown them do not just take</p> <p>what I say for granted right you have to</p> <p>change the conditions of the test and</p> <p>and that’s where stuff starts to get fun</p> <p>and exciting for me that notion I think</p> <p>there are some people that think like</p> <p>when you’re designing encounter it has</p> <p>to be obvious to you that there is an</p> <p>out that the players do this they will</p> <p>succeed I often have no idea you know I</p> <p>gave like a lich the hand of that I gave</p> <p>another list I gave a mine player the</p> <p>hand of Vecna and people are like you’re</p> <p>crazy right but the players again this</p> <p>is a situation where the players knew</p> <p>that ahead of time this wasn’t something</p> <p>they were surprised about they had good</p> <p>Intel now that I didn’t tell them that</p> <p>it was up to them to figure it out but</p> <p>they did figure it out and having</p> <p>discovered having done the work having</p> <p>quite they questioned a bad guy having</p> <p>questioned a bad guy and discovering</p> <p>that there is a mine player out there</p> <p>with the hand effected they’re like</p> <p>right and it completely changed it meant</p> <p>that instead of fighting him next they</p> <p>found him like two or three weeks later</p> <p>they went and they did a whole bunch of</p> <p>work and that’s that’s how it should be</p> <p>right again they didn’t take what I put</p> <p>in front of them for granted they</p> <p>decided to change the conditions of the</p> <p>test and that’s how it should be I think</p> <p>I think I mean every day everybody’s</p> <p>game is different but part of me thinks</p> <p>that all of D&D should be that should be</p> <p>that notion of like if we don’t start</p> <p>thinking for ourselves we’re screwed</p> <p>yeah if we just take this encounter face</p> <p>value we are gonna die yeah so that’s</p> <p>what that means to me is that notion of</p> <p>I’m gonna die if you don’t figure it out</p> <p>that’s pretty good pregame House Rules</p> <p>so there are a couple things I do one of</p> <p>the things that I’ve talked about this</p> <p>before is that I make sure it’s the</p> <p>players who are doing the recap like I</p> <p>don’t say here’s what happened last week</p> <p>I say it’s up to you guys to tell me</p> <p>what happened live because and I just</p> <p>often how I begin the session is I say</p> <p>okay who wants to recap what happened</p> <p>last week because me</p> <p>me hearing them recap it is like a huge</p> <p>like a stethoscope on the campaign like</p> <p>I am now listening to what they thought</p> <p>happened last week because often that’s</p> <p>not I thought happened and it’s like oh</p> <p>good I’m glad I’m glad that I know this</p> <p>now because I was counting on them</p> <p>having remembered this thing and now I</p> <p>realized I don’t remember it and also I</p> <p>think it helps just make them part of</p> <p>the narrative experience of them</p> <p>recapping and telling the story what</p> <p>happened last week makes it less about</p> <p>this one person sitting at the head of</p> <p>the table doing all the storytelling and</p> <p>more about them owning the story but</p> <p>another thing I do especially for new</p> <p>players is I tell them it is up to you</p> <p>to know your [ __ ]</p> <p>is you to know how your [ __ ] works do</p> <p>not ask me how channel divinity works</p> <p>because I’ve never played a cleric I’m</p> <p>the DM on this side of the thing I run</p> <p>the bad guys it’s up to you to know</p> <p>don’t ask me because I’m literally going</p> <p>to say I don’t know what I’m not joking</p> <p>it’s up to you to look it up and it is</p> <p>so annoying to everybody the table by</p> <p>the way when it’s your character’s turn</p> <p>and not only this is another thing know</p> <p>what you’re out of players will disable</p> <p>so make sure when it’s your turn you</p> <p>know what you’re going to do ahead of</p> <p>time don’t wait for me to say it’s your</p> <p>turn to go start figuring out but I’m</p> <p>glad you admitted that because I got I</p> <p>got hell for that because I didn’t know</p> <p>I was like oh I don’t play that I’m not</p> <p>I don’t have never people how does how</p> <p>what kind of look at my animal companion</p> <p>to him like I have never played a Ranger</p> <p>in this game and you have a phone</p> <p>exactly look it up yeah we live in a</p> <p>time now where like having the phone of</p> <p>the table like there are so many tools</p> <p>online we can just look it up and it’s</p> <p>super fast so look up how your stuff</p> <p>works before you don’t ask me because I</p> <p>have been running the in D now D and E 5</p> <p>for a year and a half but I’ve only been</p> <p>think I’ve played twice now literally</p> <p>two sessions right and and in those two</p> <p>sessions I’m like oh my god I have no</p> <p>idea how this game works I’m learning</p> <p>that I really don’t know a lot about how</p> <p>D&D works is I’m always relying on my</p> <p>players and I tell them at a time is</p> <p>you’re it is up to you guys to know how</p> <p>does the short rest work and what do you</p> <p>get out of it not because my guys don’t</p> <p>need rest my bad guys don’t need to</p> <p>don’t have those rules I’m running all</p> <p>the bad guys and as a result by the way</p> <p>I run really complex encounters recently</p> <p>with lots of bad guys I can do crazy</p> <p>stuff and I drove home that night proud</p> <p>of myself but I didn’t forget any of it</p> <p>I remember all of their abilities there</p> <p>because I’m not also worrying about</p> <p>knowing how all the players stuff works</p> <p>so yeah so just I tell my players it is</p> <p>your job to know how your stuff works</p> <p>your favorite GM moment so I mean is</p> <p>there as um I’ve got two one is because</p> <p>I think a lot of DM moments their</p> <p>favorite moment is a player moment and</p> <p>you know I like random treasure because</p> <p>I like that moment where it’s a it’s a</p> <p>setup payoff I like the set up where the</p> <p>players are like what are we supposed to</p> <p>do with this this is not I’m a long</p> <p>sorter what am I supposed to with a</p> <p>halberd right or it does happen that</p> <p>could be any number of things where they</p> <p>read it and my friend Lars my best</p> <p>friend right now</p> <p>my friend Lars read the scroll of spells</p> <p>that they got as a reward he’s like</p> <p>these sounds stupid and he put it away</p> <p>and he didn’t look at it again for weeks</p> <p>until they were fighting a dragon and</p> <p>they’re fighting a dragon and they’re</p> <p>desperate they are going to die unless</p> <p>they pull something out of their butt</p> <p>and so literally large like I haven’t</p> <p>looked he goes alright what does this do</p> <p>what is this stupid spell do phantasmal</p> <p>forest that sounds dumb and he looked it</p> <p>up he’s like oh [ __ ] oh [ __ ] this is</p> <p>gonna do it this is gonna wait I have an</p> <p>idea right and he uses Fantasma force</p> <p>against the dragon and tricks the dragon</p> <p>a spell does tricks the flying beasty</p> <p>into thinking that there’s a net wrapped</p> <p>around it and if he fails to save what</p> <p>she did</p> <p>now he acts as though it were real and</p> <p>that pulls the dragon to the ground and</p> <p>other places could find it and they won</p> <p>and that wasn’t a thing I did that was</p> <p>the thing that was my favorite DM moment</p> <p>right now that’s the thing I thought of</p> <p>is it was something that Lars did in</p> <p>that moment where I gave him tools they</p> <p>didn’t know what am I supposed to do</p> <p>with this and that moment when they</p> <p>start desperately trying to find crazy</p> <p>uses for stuff that they thought was</p> <p>useless was pretty it was a lot of fun</p> <p>it made me really happy that’s my</p> <p>favorite stuff as a DM just seeing the</p> <p>players do that there was another moment</p> <p>in that same campaign where they were in</p> <p>a dungeon and there was a trap and they</p> <p>missed the trap and as a result as</p> <p>they’re walking down a thing a</p> <p>portcullis slams down between them cuts</p> <p>the group in two so then how many people</p> <p>overhear something and then a bunch of</p> <p>Knowles ran up and started attacking</p> <p>these characters but these are the</p> <p>frontline fighters so it wasn’t that big</p> <p>a deal until a bunch of Knowles came</p> <p>from this direction and now the Wizards</p> <p>and the cleric in the back are fighting</p> <p>and they’re trapped on both sides and</p> <p>they can’t coordinate and I thought I’m</p> <p>a genius that is the best that is the</p> <p>best this is the best encounter I’ve</p> <p>ever designed the players are now</p> <p>everything they every tool they had was</p> <p>now kind of useless and they thought</p> <p>we’re going to die and then my friend</p> <p>Anna took out the portable hole that</p> <p>they had and threw it against the wall</p> <p>the players got into the portal</p> <p>and then someone reached into the</p> <p>portcullis and pulled the portal portal</p> <p>hole out and shook the hero’s out so use</p> <p>the portable hole to get through the</p> <p>portcullis and join me I’m like that is</p> <p>genius they would never have thought of</p> <p>that</p> <p>if I hadn’t forced this crazy situation</p> <p>when they were all going to die so those</p> <p>are my two favorite moments thank you</p> <p>for letting me have – I appreciate ya</p> <p>you’re always going quick tip for the</p> <p>audience could be anything a quick tip</p> <p>for the audience why am I suddenly</p> <p>blanking uh-oh here’s here’s something</p> <p>like this one’s maybe my favorite piece</p> <p>of advice and something I have not yet</p> <p>talked about on my channel is before the</p> <p>game just get a little three by five</p> <p>card or post-it note and write down a</p> <p>bunch of names a bunch of names that you</p> <p>think are appropriate to your setting</p> <p>and stick it on your damn screen male</p> <p>names and female names they could call</p> <p>them MS and that way when the players</p> <p>ask a question like hey I asked this</p> <p>card what their name is you don’t sit</p> <p>around going up oh no the name is its</p> <p>guard right and then the player is like</p> <p>oh now I’m not now and this is in a</p> <p>world anymore it’s just a game we’re</p> <p>playing right well his name’s Alaric ah</p> <p>they’re like you know like oh [ __ ] he</p> <p>knows that this is a real thing there’s</p> <p>a real person right and just having that</p> <p>list of names means kind of wherever the</p> <p>players go in your world whoever they</p> <p>talk to if they talk to somebody you</p> <p>didn’t expect you’ve got that name</p> <p>written down or you just pick the next</p> <p>one and they feel like this is real it</p> <p>helps with verisimilitude if they’ll</p> <p>stop feeling of it being a real world so</p> <p>that’s a super simple thing you can do</p> <p>that I guarantee you will pay off that’s</p> <p>for you that was incredible thank you so</p> <p>much drama yeah you’re you’re fun I like</p> <p>her friend Matt yes where can we find</p> <p>you on the Internet</p> <p>I’m on I’m not really on the Internet I</p> <p>don’t know I’m on Twitter I’m on Twitter</p> <p>a lot at Matt Colville and I’ve got a</p> <p>YouTube channel /m Colville or if you</p> <p>just look up running the game I think</p> <p>Google will direct you to me and which</p> <p>we just talked about how to be a better</p> <p>deal I’m a huge fan of his you should</p> <p>totally check it out as always I’m</p> <p>Satine Phoenix on Twitter as at setting</p> <p>Phoenix every Sunday on twitch.tv slash</p> <p>mais Arcana and Tuesday’s all summer on</p> <p>furious reach on twitch.tv slash D&D</p> <p>thank you for hanging out with us here</p> <p>at geek and sundry Matt please gianna</p> <p>said I’d be happy to you reach the final</p> <p>room of</p> <p>the dungeon but it’s empty the insane</p> <p>wizard that you had been questing after</p> <p>appears to be missing as you investigate</p> <p>the room and search around you hear a</p> <p>rumbling noise and crashing through the</p> <p>wall comes this giant crap this huge</p> <p>massive crab creature with large claws</p> <p>and legs and as it moves toward the</p> <p>party the clacking noise that it makes</p> <p>it doesn’t sound like the normal like a</p> <p>crab like a carapace it doesn’t sound</p> <p>like something organic</p> <p>it sounds like like something metal like</p> <p>metal clacking against stone and we</p> <p>realize you see rivets and you see wires</p> <p>and tubes and the thing is a machine of</p> <p>some sort and inside it piloting it is</p> <p>the wizard that you’ve been questing</p> <p>after the entire time while the rest of</p> <p>the players are baffled and wondering</p> <p>what this is the team’s character</p> <p>recognizes it and says is the infernal</p> <p>machine a belong to man roll initiative</p> <p>[Music]</p> <p>[Applause]</p> <p>[Music]</p> <p>[Applause]</p> <p>you</p> <p>[Music]</p> <p> Share this:TweetWhatsApp
