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#1 hamishmcgreigh Nov 23, 2004 4:02:45

You've blown the last 2 weeks of spare time between gaming sessions doing ridiculous things like "going to work" and "spending time with your family". DM's Block is staring you right in the face. The gang will be over tomorrow and you're desperately looking for inspiration to strike and give you even the smattering of an idea for an encounter during the adventure. Even a good monster encounter would do... Today's Very Simple Mechanic is... Get together 4 d20s, two groups of d10 percentile dice, and one last extra d10. Why, pray tell? Simple: Those numbers just happen to add up to the nearly precise page numbers out of the 3.5 Monster Manual that concern monsters (Give or take 1 off the all ones roll of 9) Roll 'em! Add the groups of d10 percentile dice together (e.g. 45+54) Then add the single d10 (eg. 7) to your total (45+54+7=106) Now add your d20s up (e.g. 8+16+1+20=41). Add the two totals together (41+106=147) and flip to that page in the 3.5 Monster Manual. In the case of our example roll the monster on page 147 turns out to be a Half-Fiend. (Mmm...Delicious potential there .) You can use this any time the gaming slows down as the party slogs through barren marshes or digs their way through monster infested dungeons. Sure, sometimes you'll roll up an encounter that may be more than the party can take in a straight up fight (There's Dragon's in them thar' pages, after all) but if your PCs can't think or talk their way out of a few dangerous situations, they aren't going to last when things get really hairy anyways. As someone who's spent copious time on either side of the screen, the sound of the DM rolling a handful of unseen dice can be very unnerving indeed. And if you DM a large group, you can even delegate some of this dice rolling to the players. Tensions will definitely climb as the dice total nears the mid-Seventies, where Green and Red dragons lair, a state made all the more frightening when the Players know their MM fairly well. If you're still having trouble getting the inspiration to flow, don't underestimate the usefulness of the 100 Adventure Ideas Table in the DMG 3.5. Mix two or three of the seeds presented there and you've got a twisting heroic plot on your hands. If, after all that, you're STILL drawing a creative blank (What in the heck would a bunch of Satyrs have to do with the roots of the World Tree?) you might just want to call the guys and let them know you've got to go to a funeral for your imagination. Hamish out...