Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Eliza_Stormwhisper 06-18-05, 01:45 AM	1. When the PC's announce their plans, actions, or whatever, shake your head and mutter "that'll never work..." or laugh, or otherwise be skeptical about its success (and their survival). 2. When it finally works (as you knew it would all along), act shocked that it worked.
OctoberRaven 06-18-05, 02:24 AM	I prefer "In Character" dramatizing; i.e., Eliza's actions under the guise of an NPC. 3. One of the BBEG's cohorts is a relative of one of the PCs! 4. In the midst of a "Heironous' followers vs. Hextor's followers" war, the (LG) PCs find out their king has a secret shrine to Hextor in his private quarters
HappyDragon 06-18-05, 02:29 AM	5. keep rolling those dice......even if you don't need to, keeps the players guessing
Quarsian 06-18-05, 02:40 AM	6. Have the characters go out on a ridiculously dangerous mission to collect some kind of powerful magical item to aid a dying town (for example, a staff of Control Weather to end a drought), then have it turn out to also be a weapon (either can be used positively and negatively, or has a secondary function the PCs don't know about) and have the people of the town declare war on neighbouring towns. 7. Have an evil member of a cult (or a third party merchant) hire the PCs to recover a magical gem or key necessary for unlocking a dark evil or dread army or somesuch.
weasel fierce 06-18-05, 02:47 AM	Spring an ultra powerfull monster guarding the ONLY passage through the dungeon.... only to have it be a harmless illusion
Aphyosemion 06-18-05, 03:41 AM	9) When battle is taking place, stand up and give excited descriptions while waving your arms around and then knock over your pop or food, as I often do. 10) Casually ask your players what their current hit points or armor class are and then roll some dice. This works well if they are off subject or one of them isn't paying attention. You will have a hard time not laughing when you see the deer in the headlights look as they wait for something to jump out at them. -Aphyosemion
Lennart 06-18-05, 03:58 AM	9. Have a LG party come to a new town just before they enter it in the dark of night Have a party of Halfling thugs attack them. The Halflings die quick easy and brutally. Next morning they here some of the towns children where slaughtered without Mersey near the towns borders. Should make for a nice dramatic guilt trip. Ever seen Angel? 10. Have a great battle high up on a castle wall or roof at night during the rain and a lot of thunder and lightning. 11. If somebody days the name of the bad guy. The PC sees a lightning bolt and hears the thunder no matter if it’s sunny or not. 12. Have em dress up like there character. They will be acting all the time. 13. Let them save a prince from a dragon…or a dragon from an evil level 20 sorceress princes 14. Mad wizards experiments gone wrong 15. Sane wizard experiment gone wrong 16. Use a ghost for a plot hook 17. Watch all parts of lord of the rings 15 times while you are writing your campaign 18. Let them walk true a dark Forrest and make a lot of eerie sounds 19. Play a Halloween special in the dark just a few candles 20. Use every cliché you can thing of
Malice Duskblade 06-18-05, 07:12 AM	22. Exciting combat situations. Just another 50x50 dungeon room with X ogres and X gold and an X of X gets boring. Try a battle on a huge rickety bridge stretching between two cliffs. Try a fight atop a burning building, collapsing in sections as flame and smoke lick around the combatants. A skirmish between two ships, as the heroes swing across to take the battle to the enemy amidst ballista fire and catapult shot. 23. Plot twists. Beloved NPCs that are kind and helpful to the team, gave them their first assignment die in climatic battle scenes. Villains turn out to be on the same page as the team, just operating differently. They have to team up to deal with the greater threat. The baddies turn out to be the spawn of an erinyes, created for a greater evil that becomes apparent. 24. Anti-characters. Everybody loves somebody to hate. NPCs that rival the team's abilities and skills. The basic fundamental, just accomplished a different way. The rogue/shadowdancer vs. the ninja/assassin. The paladin vs. the blackguard. The fighter/cleric vs. the barbarian/druid. The wizard vs. the counterspelling sorcerer/warlock. 25. The environment changes. Problems ignored earlier become a threat and invade places the PCs think are safe havens. The world around them changes. The happy town they visited at second level is a charred ruin. The great city they helped the local authorities eliminate the slave trade has taken a change of rulership and become oppressive to its people. The twisted and dark woods they freed from a curse has become a beautiful, welcoming forest granted a full year of spring. 26. Magical items with histories. It's not a +2 club with a long dangly rope like bit at one end. It is Ivy Galefury's root, carved from the heart of a root of the great tree of Kuldahar. It acts as a +2 club, and the other end acts as a +2 whip. This may be used as a double weapon if both heads are used in the same round. Twice per day it can make an entangle attack, as per the spell as cast by a level 10 caster. Entangled foes can still be struck with the club end of the root. 27. Heck, history altogether. Anything with a history enhances it. Places like towns, bridges, old ruins and abandoned fortresses. People like the team's associates, enemies, and friends. History is always great, but not too much at once. That first yawn means you've overdone it....Or it's three AM already. 28. Dungeons and Dragons for Dummies. Seriously. Use it to beat the next person who half-reads a spell or feat senseless. Now that's drama!
wereooze 06-18-05, 08:33 AM	Don't let players know their characters hit points. During gameplay only the DM has knowledge of actual hitpoint numbers. Players only know how bad something hurt, and if they're unconscious or not. :bigeyes: Say it prevents metagaming and helps players develop a more healthy respect for their charcaters safety. :evillaugh
Ehlijen Iswa Tschingjo 06-18-05, 08:40 AM	Throw the unexpected at them. I once had the PCs battle a silent image/minor Image/invisibilty proficient mage in a labyrinth inside a volcano. When they finally figured out which one was the real deal and ignored all other images, I revealed that the mage had an identical twin brother...
HappyDragon 06-18-05, 01:51 PM	31. Appropriate music in the background to help enhance the current scenes atmosphere. ...(Our DM has an absolutely uncanny ability to do this, his story always seems to fit perfectly with whatever music is in the background.....what makes it really scarey is that the music is on random and he still pulls it off :bigeyes: )
snowlynx 06-18-05, 01:57 PM	32) Rather then using the names of spells and monsters, describe them! Describing a spell rather unnerved all of my players once. It seems they were expecting me to just say, 'he casts magic missile.'
wordserpent 06-18-05, 02:12 PM	33) Get a stopwatch and allow a player 20 seconds to declare a character's actions for that round. If he or she cannot decide in that time, then that player will lose their turn for that round. 34) Have a PC's nephew or neice show up and desire to tag along on an adventure. The NPC will look up to the player in admiration. The NPC will always get in the parties way and gennerally make a nuisacne of him/herself...with the best intentions of course.
SilverFoxKnows 06-18-05, 02:15 PM	Don't just say "You hit" or "He misses". Make it come alive. Even if the BBEG fails his sunder attempt make the PC realize how lucky he is. "The Flind brings his flindbar down on your shield- HARD. Your shoulder aches from the weight of the blow and your fingers tingle. Your shield holds but it wont be able to take too many hits like that one".
Ekranoplan 06-18-05, 03:56 PM	35: The PCs must fight the main BBEG on a wooden bridge that is on fire, with powder kegs straped to the side, above a volcano about the erupt, half of the group is unconcious because of volcanic fumes, the BBEG has a freeze cannons, and their plane leaves in 30 minutes.