I originally posted this on 4chan's /tg/ board under the name Recovering Powergamer a while back, and I thought I'd share it with y'all. As I explained there:
Good evening, /tg/. I've been playing the 3.5 edition of D&D for quite a while now, and my current group is particularily disfunctional. So I compiled twenty tips each for players and DMs, based on things they weren't seeing or doing. I know this list is subjective and up to opinion, but these things work for me in practice.
3.5 is a difficult thing to pull off, but I believe it is very rewarding when done right. I figured I'd share these with /tg/, perhaps some of you could benefit from some of these. Share your own tips for running successful sessions and playing memorable characters!
It bears repeating that these are entirely subjective, not set in stone, and are bound to change at times. I just found that they worked, and they were useful for players and DMs I associated with that frankly weren't too good at playing.
Tips for DMing:
1. Stick to CR, or at most CR+2 for notably more difficult encounters. Combats tend to go quicker, more is accomplished, and challenge can be made up for with intelligent tactics, if the monsters have decent INT.
2. Roll attack and damage dice at once, always have your stat blocks handy.
3. Have the AC, FF AC, and Touch AC written down behind your screen. You can skip asking them if an X hits, as well as keeping them in the dark about the modifiers to attack. Be sure to allow immediate reactions to an attack roll as normal.
4. Large numbers suck. 8 is the absolute maximum number of enemies, unless the rest are just 'props.' Most of the time, 1-4 is fine.
5. Always try to make the players feel like the game is real. Describe the landscape, the air, the sounds, the growls of the opponents.
6. Be flexible to wrenches the PCs will throw in your plans, and remember that nothing is set in stone until you say it. That man killing the blacksmith is at the same time the BBEG, and the psychotic minion of the BBEG, depending on if the players kill him.
7. Thing don't need to play like a video game. Be open to interaction, force some role-playing and creative thinking.
8. Nobody likes getting ****ed over, and it doesn't need to happen. The rule of thumb is that a character should only die if they made a deliberate mistake. If a single die roll causes a TPK, the adventure was too hard.
9. Remember that foes are self-preserving more often than not! If things look grim, they would reasonably retreat. You still get full XP regardless if your opponents are dead, captured, or fleeing.
10. Remember that NPC gear IS the loot... it should still be level-appropriate. Potions, scrolls, and expendable items should make up good portions of the loot. The enemies can and should be expending some of that. If there's a Flametongue Sword in the loot, the enemy fighter had damn well be using it! Opponents should doff the Potion of Shield of Faith +3 before ambushing!
11. Monsters can take class levels. Use non-associated class levels (3.5) to mix it up and provide more durable monsters. Ogres with levels in wizard, anyone?
12. The environment is a potent weapon and tool. Flat, smooth-surface fights are boring! Add in elevation, difficult terrain, line-of-sight blockage, traps, and more to make an otherwise easy fight hard or a formidable challenge piecemeal.
13. Adding a few low-level casters will only slightly raise CR while providing some vital utility and BFC to a solo opponent.
14. Not all encounters have to involve combat in the first place. A tricky negotiation, a clever ruse, or pure intimidation could provide alternate solutions to some encounters.
15. You must absolutely learn how to run your monsters! Too many DMs have sent Balors into melee combat without utilizing their Spell-Like Abilities. This goes for almost any creature.
16. Hand-pick feats and skills to be synergistic. Who knew that the opponent actually used the spring-attack line, tumbling away from AoOs?
17. Music can be great, but ensure it is unobtrusive, or brief. Short and substantial descriptions of the atmosphere are more important for immersion, and shouldn’t be shelved for a soundtrack.
18. Same is bad. Random is bad. Find a happy medium. Diverse, thematically linked encounters with shifting environments and tensions all contribute to more exciting combats.
19. Try to stay away from Save-Or-Die/Save-Or-Screwed effects used against players. Related to #8, getting turned to stone with no practical solution isn't fun.
20. Motivation. Everything should make sense. Why are we fighting these guys? What do we want from them? Why are we here? Fulfilling these questions adds to the plot and realism.
Tips for Players:
1. Roll Attack and Damage at the same time. Remember your modifiers to hit and damage.
2. Figure out your course of action during other people's turns, and the DMs interludes.
3. Remember your readied actions! Communicate with your fellow players, and use delay/ready to your advantage.
4. In general, it is more effective to remove someone from combat, or somehow prevent damage from happening, than it is to heal in combat. However, don't let your allies die!
5. If you're dropped to negatives, don't despair! Your allies will win, and heal you, before you drop to -10.
6. Defend your teammates. If the squishy people don't have to worry about defence, they'll be that much more helpful!
7. More damaging hits are better against damage reduction, more accurate against higher AC, more numerous against lower AC.
8. Aid another! If there's nothing better to do, give modifiers in combat and place yourself in a better position.
9. Don't be a one-trick pony. Versatility will save your hide. If you have a weak save or AC, deal with it somehow! Either prevent it coming into play or boost it up.
10. The player who does no damage is just as important as the player who does the most damage, and every ratio in between. Don't be discouraged if your DPS is low, because you're contributing in other important ways.
11. You're not playing a video game! Try to act in-character, but don't use that as an excuse to drain fun away. Fun comes first.
12. A solid concept and back-story make a character so much more memorable. Try some mannerisms or accents, but keep them tasteful and subtle.
13. On that line, develop in-character relations with the party! Your PC should have opinions on the swarthy dwarf, the bookish wizard, and the sly rogue!
14. Formulate plans even before the encounters start. Have a procedure set up, so that things go by even quicker and safer.
15. You need to be able to contribute to the goals of the party outside of combat. Don't completely commit yourself to fighting and be useless out of it! Casters can have utility spells, anyone can grab social skills, etc!
16. However, don't be useless inside of combat! A pure social fop is going to get killed quickly. Use feats, skills, and class dips to keep relevance in the red zone.
17. Know when enough is enough. Casters shouldn't burn through many high-level spells unless the situation is dire. Pace your per-day abilities, and make sure you're not being redundant. Filling a missing role will usually be more effective than doubling or tripling up.
18. POTIONS! It bears repeating as far too many players forget them. Doff them before initiating a fight, or (especially with quick draw) drink one in the surprise round if you have nothing better to do with your standard action.
19. Keeping out of game chat to a minimum not only allows the DM to focus, it will allow everyone more focus to get through things quicker, leading to a funner, better session.
20. Be respectful! If you have issues, politely raise them at the appropriate time. If in doubt, man up and deal with it or leave.
Addendum to #P20: A lot of potential issues can be nipped in the bud by hashing out the DM's and players' expectations for them before the game starts. Usually this involves things that are not covered in the rules, like how two players should resolve an in-character disagreement, whether a socially awkward player has to roleplay CHA-based skills word-for-word, and what to do when one character obtains a combination of abilities that dramatically outclasses everyone else in combat.
Regarding your phrasing of "man up and deal with it" - not all D&D players are men, y'know.
It bears repeating that these are entirely subjective, not set in stone, and are bound to change at times. I just found that they worked, and they were useful for players and DMs I associated with that frankly weren't too good at playing.
Tips for DMing:
1. Stick to CR, or at most CR+2 for notably more difficult encounters. Combats tend to go quicker, more is accomplished, and challenge can be made up for with intelligent tactics, if the monsters have decent INT.
2. Roll attack and damage dice at once, always have your stat blocks handy.
3. Have the AC, FF AC, and Touch AC written down behind your screen. You can skip asking them if an X hits, as well as keeping them in the dark about the modifiers to attack. Be sure to allow immediate reactions to an attack roll as normal.
4. Large numbers suck. 8 is the absolute maximum number of enemies, unless the rest are just 'props.' Most of the time, 1-4 is fine.
5. Always try to make the players feel like the game is real. Describe the landscape, the air, the sounds, the growls of the opponents.
6. Be flexible to wrenches the PCs will throw in your plans, and remember that nothing is set in stone until you say it. That man killing the blacksmith is at the same time the BBEG, and the psychotic minion of the BBEG, depending on if the players kill him.
7. Thing don't need to play like a video game. Be open to interaction, force some role-playing and creative thinking.
8. Nobody likes getting ****ed over, and it doesn't need to happen. The rule of thumb is that a character should only die if they made a deliberate mistake. If a single die roll causes a TPK, the adventure was too hard.
9. Remember that foes are self-preserving more often than not! If things look grim, they would reasonably retreat. You still get full XP regardless if your opponents are dead, captured, or fleeing.
10. Remember that NPC gear IS the loot... it should still be level-appropriate. Potions, scrolls, and expendable items should make up good portions of the loot. The enemies can and should be expending some of that. If there's a Flametongue Sword in the loot, the enemy fighter had damn well be using it! Opponents should doff the Potion of Shield of Faith +3 before ambushing!
11. Monsters can take class levels. Use non-associated class levels (3.5) to mix it up and provide more durable monsters. Ogres with levels in wizard, anyone?
12. The environment is a potent weapon and tool. Flat, smooth-surface fights are boring! Add in elevation, difficult terrain, line-of-sight blockage, traps, and more to make an otherwise easy fight hard or a formidable challenge piecemeal.
13. Adding a few low-level casters will only slightly raise CR while providing some vital utility and BFC to a solo opponent.
14. Not all encounters have to involve combat in the first place. A tricky negotiation, a clever ruse, or pure intimidation could provide alternate solutions to some encounters.
15. You must absolutely learn how to run your monsters! Too many DMs have sent Balors into melee combat without utilizing their Spell-Like Abilities. This goes for almost any creature.
16. Hand-pick feats and skills to be synergistic. Who knew that the opponent actually used the spring-attack line, tumbling away from AoOs?
17. Music can be great, but ensure it is unobtrusive, or brief. Short and substantial descriptions of the atmosphere are more important for immersion, and shouldn’t be shelved for a soundtrack.
18. Same is bad. Random is bad. Find a happy medium. Diverse, thematically linked encounters with shifting environments and tensions all contribute to more exciting combats.
19. Try to stay away from Save-Or-Die/Save-Or-Screwed effects used against players. Related to #8, getting turned to stone with no practical solution isn't fun.
20. Motivation. Everything should make sense. Why are we fighting these guys? What do we want from them? Why are we here? Fulfilling these questions adds to the plot and realism.
Tips for Players:
1. Roll Attack and Damage at the same time. Remember your modifiers to hit and damage.
2. Figure out your course of action during other people's turns, and the DMs interludes.
3. Remember your readied actions! Communicate with your fellow players, and use delay/ready to your advantage.
4. In general, it is more effective to remove someone from combat, or somehow prevent damage from happening, than it is to heal in combat. However, don't let your allies die!
5. If you're dropped to negatives, don't despair! Your allies will win, and heal you, before you drop to -10.
6. Defend your teammates. If the squishy people don't have to worry about defence, they'll be that much more helpful!
7. More damaging hits are better against damage reduction, more accurate against higher AC, more numerous against lower AC.
8. Aid another! If there's nothing better to do, give modifiers in combat and place yourself in a better position.
9. Don't be a one-trick pony. Versatility will save your hide. If you have a weak save or AC, deal with it somehow! Either prevent it coming into play or boost it up.
10. The player who does no damage is just as important as the player who does the most damage, and every ratio in between. Don't be discouraged if your DPS is low, because you're contributing in other important ways.
11. You're not playing a video game! Try to act in-character, but don't use that as an excuse to drain fun away. Fun comes first.
12. A solid concept and back-story make a character so much more memorable. Try some mannerisms or accents, but keep them tasteful and subtle.
13. On that line, develop in-character relations with the party! Your PC should have opinions on the swarthy dwarf, the bookish wizard, and the sly rogue!
14. Formulate plans even before the encounters start. Have a procedure set up, so that things go by even quicker and safer.
15. You need to be able to contribute to the goals of the party outside of combat. Don't completely commit yourself to fighting and be useless out of it! Casters can have utility spells, anyone can grab social skills, etc!
16. However, don't be useless inside of combat! A pure social fop is going to get killed quickly. Use feats, skills, and class dips to keep relevance in the red zone.
17. Know when enough is enough. Casters shouldn't burn through many high-level spells unless the situation is dire. Pace your per-day abilities, and make sure you're not being redundant. Filling a missing role will usually be more effective than doubling or tripling up.
18. POTIONS! It bears repeating as far too many players forget them. Doff them before initiating a fight, or (especially with quick draw) drink one in the surprise round if you have nothing better to do with your standard action.
19. Keeping out of game chat to a minimum not only allows the DM to focus, it will allow everyone more focus to get through things quicker, leading to a funner, better session.
20. Be respectful! If you have issues, politely raise them at the appropriate time. If in doubt, man up and deal with it or leave.
Right then, added to the tips-sticky. Glad you like them
Regarding your phrasing of "man up and deal with it" - not all D&D players are men, y'know.
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I know, but the female players can "man up" as well I really don't mean anything by it.