“It’s not just the same old stuff you’ve heard time and again.

Inside you’ll find

amazing ideas and actionable advice that any game master will find useful.”
so you
-Monte Cook, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition
“I wish I had Justin’s book when I was 15. It would have made me a better
want
DM, like it will make you a better DM.”
to be a
-Matthew Colville, creator of Running the Game

master
game
Everything You
Need to Start
Your Tabletop
Adventure-
Thanks to tabletop roleplay, millions of fans are creating unforgettable collaborative for Dungeons
stories. No matter what roleplaying game you want to play, this book is the key to & Dragons ,
©

unlocking endless adventure! Pathfinder ,

©

Award-winning game designer Justin Alexander has created an incredible compendium and Other
of advice and maps, perfect for any aspiring game master. This book is packed with the Systems
strategies you need to create amazing dungeons, battles, roleplay encounters, and more.
Full of practical, hands-on advice and sample maps, just reading the first chapter of this
book will have you ready to run a game in less than an hour. From there, Justin teaches
you all the skills and techniques you need to explore dungeons, solve mysteries, steal
priceless artifacts, unravel strange conspiracies, and venture forth on epic journeys!
No matter what game you’re playing, this book is the key to unlocking the limitless
realms of your imagination.

Justin Alexander is the RPG Developer at Atlas Games and the

co-creator of the Infinity roleplaying game and the deluxe edition of Magical Kitties
Save the Day. He has previously worked Justin
Alexander
GAMES & ACTIVITIES / Role Playing &
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The Alexandrian, his Ennie Award–winning
website, is a huge online resource for
players and game masters alike. He lives in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. 9 781645 679158
Justin Alexander
Justin Alexander

Everything You Need to Start

Your Tabletop Adventure-
for Dungeons & Dragons ,
©

Pathfinder and Other Systems

©
Copyright © 2023 Justin Alexander

First published in 2023 by

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table of contents Part 4: Urban Adventures
The City
315
316
Downtime 332
Faction Downtime 342
Urbancrawls 347
Introduction 9 Social Events 354

Part 1: Dungeons 21 Part 5: Into the Wild 363

Step 1: The Ruling 24 Watches 365
Step 2: How to Run a Room 37 Routes 374
Homework: Your First Dungeon 41 Homework: The Route Map 387
Dungeon Adventure: Mephits & Magmin 46 Hexcrawls 391
Step 3: How to Run a Dungeon 65 Homework: Design a Hexcrawl 405
Homework: Design a Dungeon 93 Wilderness Pointcrawls 420
Advanced Dungeons 138 Homework: The Many-Headed Point 427
Dynamic Dungeons 176
Now You Are the Master! 198 Extra Credit 433
Creating Your Campaign 435
Part 2: Mysteries 201 Campaign Status Documents 448
Scenes 203 Learning a New RPG 458
The Three Clue Rule 217 The Open Table 463
Homework: Your First Mystery 226 Quick-and-Dirty Worldbuilding 471
Node-Based Adventures 239 Rumor Tables 476
Homework: 5 Node Mystery 260 Running Combat 486
Homework: 5 x 5 Campaign 263 Scenario Hooks 498
Supporting Cast 506
Part 3: Raids and Heists 267 Splitting the Party 525
The Raid 268
Running the Raid 278 To the Future! 533
Homework: Execute a Raid 302 Justin’s Favorite RPGs 535
The Heist 307 Acknowledgments 537
About the Author 538
Index 539
 Introduction

Y ou have chosen to enter a world of heroic

adventure. More importantly, you have taken your first step
toward unlocking those adventures for your friends. Unlike books,
movies, or other types of games, a roleplaying game (RPG) offers
infinite adventures, limited only by the power of your imagination.
And because it’s a game of imagination, it can be played almost
anywhere. Most games are played around a table, but you can just
as easily play via a video call, email, or special programs called virtual
tabletops (VTTs).
One member of the group—the one this book is about and whom
you’ve chosen to become—is the game master (GM). In Dungeons
& Dragons, one of the most popular roleplaying games, the GM is
known as the dungeon master (DM). As the DM, you’ll be respon-
sible for describing the fantasy world in which the game takes place:

As you come around the corner, you see that the corridor comes to a
dead end. Carved in bas-relief upon this wall is a giant face—a face
larger than you are tall. As your gaze alights upon it, the face begins
to move. Its granite lips form words—words that thunder down the
corridor. “WHO DARES TO TRESPASS HERE?”

The other players can now tell you what they’re going to do: Will
they talk to the face? Try to destroy it? Cast a spell to silence it? Or will
they try something completely different? The decision is up to them!
But the players don’t need to play as themselves. Instead, they’ll
create the role of a fantasy hero and step into their shoes. Perhaps
they’d like to play as a heroic knight pursuing quests of honor. Or as
an enigmatic wizard seeking the lost secrets of the cosmos. Or as an
ancient elf hoping that the companionship of the younger races will
help him to recover the youth he lost centuries ago. In a roleplaying
game, you can pretend to be anyone you want!
Playing an RPG is a little like performing in an improvised radio

9
 So You Want to be a game master Introduction

drama. It’s as if you were acting in a play or movie, but there’s no script Jason (DM): As you emerge through the rubble of the broken wall,
and the wonders of your adventure are not limited by even the most you see a large room of cream-colored stone. There are three
extravagant of special effects budgets. doors leading out of the room—a tall door of bluish steel directly
Anything you can imagine is possible in a roleplaying game. across from you and two smaller ones off to either side. In the
But an RPG isn’t just Make-Believe or Let’s Pretend. It’s also a corner of the chamber, a huge mass of debris has been piled high.
game. The players’ characters will face challenges—monsters, traps,
and the like—and their success is not assured. By rolling dice and Jason is running a dungeon scenario, in which the players’ char-
following the rules of the game, you’ll be able to determine the success acters (PCs) have descended into an underground vault filled
or failure of your characters’ actions. In other words, the players will with dangers to overcome and treasure to win. We’ll be looking
tell you (the DM) what they want their characters to do, and you’ll at how to run and create your own dungeons in Part 1, starting
use the rules (and your own creativity!) to figure out what the result is. on page 21.

Into the Dungeon Sarah (Tee): I’ll go check out the door of blue steel.
For many of you reading this, nothing I’ve written here will have come Dave (Agnarr): I’ll go dig through the garbage.
as a surprise. You’ve either played a roleplaying game before or read a Sarah (Tee): There’s no pile of filth too large or too small for Agnarr.
similar introduction in a rulebook or watched an actual play video fea- Jason (DM): (laughing) OK, Agnarr starts digging through the
turing other people playing the game. That’s why you picked up this trash. Tee, the door is locked.
book in the first place. In fact, you may have already run your first ad- S eth (Ranthir): Does it look like that last door of blue steel we found?
venture as a DM and are trying to figure out how you can do it better.
Jason (DM): Virtually identical.
But whether you’re taking your first steps or taking your game to
the next level, let’s take a peek at an example of what actually playing Sarah (Tee): Well, I won’t be able to pick the lock then. We’ll need
a roleplaying game looks like, how that relates to what you’ll be the password.
doing as a DM, and how this book is going to help you do that. 
A roleplaying game is a conversation. You’ll describe what
the PCs see, the players will respond by telling you what their
Jason is serving as the DM for a group of three players. Seth is characters do in response or by asking questions to clarify their
playing Ranthir, a young apprentice wizard with an endless thirst understanding of the situation, and then you’ll respond to them.
for knowledge and a penchant for carrying a dozen different bags It’s a loop, right? Your topic of conversation is the fictional world
and satchels packed full of various useful odds and ends. Sarah is of the game, and you’ll build that world—and the things that
playing Tithenmamiwen (Tee), an elven maid rebelling against happen in it—by actively engaging with that conversation.
her elders. Dave is playing Agnarr, a brash barbarian who has You’ll listen to each other. You’ll build on each other’s ideas. You
little regard for the cares or concerns of the civilized world. may even get emotional or interrupt or disagree with each other,
The group, also commonly referred to as a “party,” are currently just like any other conversation.
exploring an underground labyrinth once occupied by the Sons
of Jade—a group of scholars, loremasters, and magi who sought Dave (Agnarr): I hate those doors. (to Jason) Have I found any-
to unlock the secrets of the ancient and powerful Jade Magi of thing in the trash pile yet?
the Lost City of Shandrala.

10 11
 So You Want to be a game master Introduction

Jason (DM): Looks like a lot of glass and metal. Small stuff. Wisdom is a different ability score from Intelligence, and Med-
Seth (Ranthir): Anything interesting? icine is a different skill from Arcana. Different characters will
Jason (DM): Give me an Intelligence (Arcana) check. have different ability scores and be proficient in different skills.
Figuring out which mechanics to use is an important part of
Seth (Ranthir): (rolls some dice) 13. making a good ruling.
Jason (DM): There’s a bunch of alchemical equipment. You think
it might be the remains of a rather large laboratory. Agnarr’s
Jason (DM): Hard to say for certain. Probably at least a couple of
smashing a lot of it, but it doesn’t look like it was worth much
weeks. They’re pretty badly decomposed.
to begin with.
Seth (Ranthir): Okay. I guess I’ll keep an eye out over Agnarr’s
Seth (Ranthir): Carry on. shoulder. If he comes across anything valuable, I’ll try to stop him
The character is attempting an action and the DM isn’t certain before he destroys it.
of the outcome, so he calls for a skill check, using the mechanics of Jason (DM): A couple layers down from the corpses, Agnarr
the game to determine the outcome. The player rolls a 20-sided suddenly unearths a perfectly preserved box of cherry wood
die, then adds their Intelligence modifier and, because they’re with a mosaic design of inlaid jade. It seems to be completely
proficient in the Arcana skill, their proficiency bonus. The result unmarred—a stark contrast to the broken junk around it.
is 13, which the DM compares to the difficulty of the action. Seth (Ranthir): I cast detect magic.
Because the check was equal to or higher than the difficulty,
Ranthir succeeded in identifying the alchemical equipment. 
Detect magic is the name of a magical spell. Some characters,
including wizards like Ranthir, are capable of casting powerful
This is called a ruling: As the DM, you are figuring out how dweomers. This spell allows Ranthir to detect the presence of
the rules of the game can be used to determine what happens in other magical effects.
the game world. This is more or less the most basic skill of being
a DM: When the player says, “I want to do X,” how do you
respond? We’ll break this skill down into a simple procedure,
Jason (DM): (to Sarah) Tee finds the door unlocked.
starting on page 24. Sarah (Tee): I’ll open it.
Jason (DM): (to Ranthir) As soon as your spell comes into effect,
Jason (DM): As you shove aside a particularly large mass of debris, you can see a faint magical aura around the box.
you reveal the corpse of a dead goblin. The sickly sweet smell of Seth (Ranthir): (to Dave) May I please see that, Master Agnarr?
decay washes over you in a thick wave. What are you all doing? Dave (Agnarr): (with a shrug) Sure. I hand it over.
Sarah (Tee): Tee doesn’t even look. She wants no part of whatever’s Seth (Ranthir): I’ll try to open the box.
making that smell. She’s going to head over to the door on the left Jason (DM): (to Seth) You open the box to find a perfectly preserved
and see if she can get that open. pack of love letters. They appear to have been written by a woman
Dave (Agnarr): I’ll keep digging! named Athara and are addressed to a man named Oliss. (to Sarah)
Sarah (Tee): Of course you will . . . The door swings open with a loud, rusty creak. The narrow hall be-
Jason (DM): There are a couple more goblin corpses after the first. yond the door is choked with thick, ropelike webs. The webs near-
est to the door have been hacked apart and hang forlornly from the
Seth (Ranthir): How long have they been dead? (rolls some dice) I
walls in tattered wisps. About 15 feet away, you can see another hall
got a 17 on my Wisdom (Medicine) check.

12 13
 So You Want to be a game master Introduction

intersecting this one. At the intersection, the hacking of the webs Sarah (Tee): I SLAM THE DOOR SHUT!
comes to an end and you can see that the corpses of two large Jason (DM): You slam the door shut. I need initiative checks.
spiders—spiders nearly the size of a small cow—lie belly-up on the
floor there.
Sarah (Tee): (rolls some dice) 7.
Dave (Agnarr): (rolls some dice) 16.
A dungeon adventure is divided into separate rooms. Every- Seth (Ranthir): (rolls some dice) 10.
thing up until this point has taken place in one room, and Jason
has known what’s in that room—for example, what’s hidden In D&D there’s a special set of rules used to resolve combat.
inside the pile of garbage—by looking at his notes for that room. When combat starts, every character—including the giant
We call those notes the room key. Now Sarah has opened a door spiders being controlled by the DM—rolls for initiative. The
and is looking into another room, so Jason flips through his notes highest initiative result goes first, followed by the second highest,
to the key for that room and can describe what Sarah sees there. and so forth.
Knowing how to create, read, and run a room key is, of course, By forcing everyone to take turns, the conversation during combat
a fundamental part of running a successful dungeon adventure. becomes more formal. This will help you (and the players!) keep
track of a situation that might otherwise be hopelessly complex.
See page 37 for more information on running a room.
On page 486, we’ll dive into techniques that can make running
combat even more fun, and we’ll also find other situations in
S arah (Tee): Uh, guys, I think you should come over here and look at which a more formal structure will help you run the game.
this. (to Jason) Do I see anything unusual about the spider corpses?
Jason (DM): Give me a Perception check. Jason (DM): (rolling dice for the spiders) Okay, Agnarr, you’re first.
Seth (Ranthir): I’ll close the box and head over to Tee. Dave (Agnarr): I throw my shoulder against the door to hold it
Sarah (Tee): (rolls some dice) Awesome! Natural 20 for a total of 28. shut. I’ve got oil! Anyone got a fire?
Jason (DM): At first everything seems okay. But then one of the Sarah (Tee): Uh . . . You’ve got your flaming sword.
corpses starts to twitch. Dave (Agnarr): Oh. Right. Well, I don’t think I can open the door,
Sarah (Tee): That’s bad. throw the oil, and light it before the spiders get through.
Jason (DM): Actually, you’re pretty sure it’s not the corpse itself. Sarah (Tee): Throw the oil over here. (to Jason) Can we have him
Something on the corpse—or inside it?—is crawling and yank the door open while I throw the flask, and then he can hit
squirming around. it with his sword in midair?
Sarah (Tee): That’s very, very bad. Jason (DM): Sure.
Seth (Ranthir): (pretending he doesn’t know what only Tee can see) Dave (Agnarr): Awesome. Okay, I toss my flask of oil to Tee and
What’s wrong? get ready to open the door. FOR THE GLORY!
Sarah (Tee): Something very, very bad! (to Jason) I slam the door Jason (DM): All right. As Agnarr shouts the command word for his
shut. sword, it bursts into flame. He yanks open the door as Tee throws
Jason (DM): As you reach for the door you see five smaller spiders— the oil. The flaming greatsword sweeps through the air, shattering
these are only about the size of a large dog—burst out of the the flask and sending a cascade of burning oil over the bustling
larger corpses and start skittering toward you. mass of spiders just inside the door. Not only the oil but also

14 15
 So You Want to be a game master Introduction

the thick, dry webs burst into flame. (rolls some dice) Two of the Sarah (Tee): I close the door. I say we just wait for it to burn out.
spiders—on fire—come bursting out of the conflagration. One Dave (Agnarr): Sounds good to me.
crawls up Agnarr’s leg and buries its fangs into his thigh.
Sarah (Tee): Should we try the other door?
Dave (Agnarr): Get it off! Get it off!
Seth (Ranthir): Actually, I’ve got an idea. (to Jason) I take out the
Jason (DM): (rolls some dice) You take 4 points of damage. And I’ll packet of love letters we found. I’m going to stand in front of the
need a Constitution saving throw. door of blue steel and start reading them out loud.
Characters have hit points (HP), which represent their vitality. Jason (DM): Umm . . . okay.
When a character takes damage, they lose hit points. When Sarah (Tee): What are you doing?
a character runs out of hit points, they fall unconscious and Seth (Ranthir): If the door of blue steel has a password, then it
may die. must have been known to the Sons of Jade when they worked
here. And if these letters were written at the same time, the
Dave (Agnarr): (rolls some dice) 18. password might be mentioned.
Jason (DM): Okay, you can feel the acidic burn of the spider’s venom, J ason (DM): (rolls some dice) How long are you going to keep reading?
but you manage to shake it loose before it can deliver a full dose. It Seth (Ranthir): Until I’ve finished the letters.
falls back to the floor at Agnarr’s feet. (to Seth) The other spider is Jason (DM): After 22 minutes of reading, Ranthir begins a new
scuttling straight toward Ranthir. What do you do? letter: “I am sorry I have not written to you sooner, but the old
Seth (Ranthir): I cast magic missile. (rolls some dice) 3, 4, and 5 points taskmaster has been working us hard again. Athvor Krassek may
of damage. think himself to be . . .” But he trails off. At the name of “Athvor
Jason (DM): Three blasts of eldritch force lance out from Ranthir’s Krassek,” the door of blue steel begins to swing open . . .
fingertips, striking the spider mid-scuttle. It gives a high-pitched
screech as it collapses into a small, smoldering ball. (to Dave) It’s
Agnarr’s turn again.
Active Play
One of the coolest things about a roleplaying game—and you can see
Dave (Agnarr): With a howl of rage, Agnarr smites the little it happening in this example of play—is that nobody knows what’s
bastard. (rolls some dice) 16 to hit. going to happen until it happens.
Jason (DM): The spider, shaken free from Agnarr’s leg, is still If Jason were writing a story for someone else to read, obviously
skidding across the floor as Agnarr’s greatsword smashes down on he’d be in complete control. He’d know that A would happen and
it. Give me damage. then B would happen and then C would happen. But Jason isn’t an
Dave (Agnarr): (rolls some dice) 14 points of damage plus 3 fire author writing a story. He’s a dungeon master playing the game with
damage. his friends.
Jason (DM): Agnarr’s sword cleaves the spider in twain. A great So the players, for example, don’t know that there are spider hatch-
gout of greenish ichor geysers into the air. lings hiding inside the mother’s corpse (ick!). Jason does, because he
Sarah (Tee): Are there any other spiders moving in the hallway? created the scenario and plays the nonplayer characters (NPCs), but
he doesn’t know that the players’ characters are going to light the
Jason (DM): No. It looks like the flaming oil killed them. But the corridor on fire.
fire back there is getting quite intense. It’s being fueled by the
thick webs . . .

16 17
 So You Want to be a game master Introduction

Similarly, Jason knows that the password for the blue steel door After that, you’ll design an adventure for the first time and run
is “Athvor Krassek,” a former administrator of the laboratory, but he that, too. You’ll be amazed at just how simple it can be! We’ll build
wasn’t anticipating Ranthir’s player deciding to read the love letters on that foundation to make your adventures more dynamic and
in front of the door. Does the name “Athvor Krassek” even appear exciting, and then you’ll be ready to choose new types of adventures
in those letters? Jason doesn’t know that, either, so he decides to roll to explore—heists, mysteries, conspiracies, and more.
some dice to figure it out.
Moments like these are created through active play: The players
Other Roleplaying Games
are actively playing their characters. In response, the DM is actively
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a fantasy RPG set in a world
playing all the other characters, and is also constantly putting toys into
inspired by the works of authors like J. R. R. Tolkien, N. K.
the fictional world—the love letters, the door, the discarded alchemy
Jemisin, George R. R. Martin, and Robert E. Howard. But
equipment—that everyone gets to play with.
there are many other RPGs! If you enjoy cyberpunk stories,
Active play is the fundamental principle of a roleplaying game.
you might check out Cyberpunk RED or Technoir. Like horror
And the secret to being a great dungeon master ultimately boils down
movies? Check out Unknown Armies or Call of Cthulhu®. You
to (a) prepping cool toys for you and your players and then (b) playing
can also find licensed RPGs based directly on fictional universes
with them freely and creatively together.
you already love, like Star Wars, A Song of Ice and Fire, Alien,
Everything else is just a matter of technique.
or Doctor Who.
For the sake of simplicity, the examples in the first section of
Taking Your First Steps this book are going to assume that you’re playing the current
This book isn’t a roleplaying game. It won’t teach you the rules. If edition of Dungeons & Dragons. But the vast majority of the
you want to play Dungeons & Dragons, you’ll want to pick up either book—and the skills you’ll learn—will be useful no matter
the D&D Starter Set (for a quick, playable introduction) or the three what RPG you’ve chosen to master.
rulebooks that contain the full game (the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon
Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual). In fact, from this point forward
I’ll be assuming that you’re familiar with the rules of D&D.
The rulebooks will teach you how to play, but you want to do
more than that. You want to be a dungeon master. You want to create
adventures and entire worlds to share with your players. You want
to invite them into the wondrous vistas you’ve imagined and forge
unforgettable stories with them. But where do you even begin?
Just turn the page.
Imagining an entire universe may feel daunting right now, but
we’re going to break this down step by step. Starting in the dungeon,
we’ll walk through running an adventure. That’ll go a lot faster than
you might think. You could be DMing your first game tomorrow if
you wanted to!

18 19
 Part 1

Dungeons
 So You Want to be a game master Dungeons

D u ngeo ns & D r agons was born in the dungeon, with

Dave Arneson—the creator of the modern roleplaying game—
On the map you can see the various rooms that make up the dun-
geon, and each room has been labeled with a number. In the dungeon
carving out the labyrinths beneath Castle Blackmoor and giving his key, each numbered room has been given a full description, telling
players the opportunity to delve down into its depths. you everything you need to know when the PCs enter that room.
As a new dungeon master, you’re going to start your adventures in Imagine that you’re sitting at a table with your friends and running
the dungeon, too. The classic dungeon is an underground complex; a dungeon scenario. The PCs are currently standing in one of the
a maze of corridors linking rooms filled with monsters, traps, and rooms of the dungeon, so you look at the dungeon key for that room
treasure. The heroes in a dungeon adventure enter the maze, defeat and describe to the players what their characters see. The players will
the monsters, avoid the traps, and claim the treasure for themselves. respond by telling you what they want their characters to do in that
(Or maybe they’ll flip the script, ally with the monsters, and donate room, and you’ll tell them what happens as a result. (Think about
the treasure to the local orphanage. You never really know what will Agnarr rooting through the garbage pile or Ranthir reading through
happen during play!) the love letters.) When the players have done everything they want to
A dungeon scenario—the adventure that you’ll be running for do in that room, they’ll be able to choose one of the exits from that
your players—is presented in two parts: the dungeon map and the room—a doorway, an archway, a hallway, a secret passage—and go
dungeon key. to a new room, which you can then look up in the dungeon key and
A dungeon map will look something like this: describe to them.
And that’s it. You just keep repeating that loop—describe the
room, resolve the players’ actions, go to the next room, describe the
room—until the adventure is done. It’s very simple. It’s also very
straightforward for the players because they’ll never be left wondering
what they should be doing next: Either there’ll be something in the
current room that they want to do, or they can always pick an exit and
go to the next room.
To get ready for running your first dungeon, we’re going to break
the dungeon loop into two parts and look at each of them separately.
First, how you resolve the actions declared by the players, a process
that we call a ruling. Second, how the dungeon key works and how
you can use it to describe and run each room.

ROLLING DICE
Roleplaying games often refer to dice using an XdY notation,
which means that you roll X number of Y-sided dice and add
the results together. For example, 3d4 means that you should
roll three four-sided dice and 3d6 - 2 means that you should
roll three six-sided dice and then subtract two from the result.

22 23
 So You Want to be a game master Dungeons

Step 1: The Ruling Either way, though, I’m pretty sure you were able to come up with a
response for every one of these declarations.
So the first thing to take away from this exercise is that rulings are
If playing an RPG is a conversation between you and your friends, something you can already do. They’re not an arcane ritual and they
then the most basic element of that conversation is the ruling. After don’t require special skills. They’re a basic act of creativity and your
you’ve described what’s going on in the game world and a player re- imagination has just proven itself equal to the task.
sponds by saying that they want their character to do something, what What we do want to do, though, is to make our rulings easier,
happens next? As the DM, that’s what you get to figure out and create! faster, and more reliable. Since we’re playing a game, we’ll also want to
Once you do figure it out, of course, you’ll describe the outcome integrate our rulings with the game mechanics.
to your players. Hearing this updated version of what’s going on in There’s a fairly basic procedure you can follow for this, and it starts
the game world will prompt one or more of them to say what the by defaulting to yes.
next thing they want to do is. At which point, of course, you’ll make
another ruling. Which will prompt a response that will prompt a
ruling, which will prompt a response, and so on. Default to Yes
It’s easy to see that, although a lot of other stuff may happen while The easiest ruling for a DM to make is “No.”
you’re playing an RPG, this ruling-response cycle really forms the core
of your conversation; it’s the backbone of everything that happens Player: I want to jump over the chasm.
during the game. This also means that making good rulings is the DM: You can’t.
most basic skill you’ll want as a DM.
For example, players might say things like:
Player: I’m going to the library to research parasite demons.
“I want to jump over the chasm.” DM: You don’t find any information.
“I open the door.”
“I’m going to the library to research parasite demons.” Player: I attack the orc with my sword!
“I attack the orc with my sword!” DM: You miss.
“I’m pulling out my thieves’ tools. Let’s see if I can pick this lock.”
When you use “No,” everything is simple: There are no complica-
Take a moment and think about each of those declarations. You’re tions. No consequences. You don’t have to create anything.
limited because we don’t really have the full context in which these But that’s exactly why you almost never want to use it. “No” stag-
declarations are being made—how wide is the chasm? what type of nates the action. It leaves the situation unchanged. Instead of giving
door is it? who are the characters involved?, etc.—but let whatever the players a new situation they can react to, you’re instead asking
first pops into your head roll around for a bit. What would be your them to come up with a new reaction to the same situation.
response to each declaration? Why? Can you imagine a different What you want to do is almost exactly the opposite: Default to yes.
response to the same declaration?
You might find this exercise easy. (But, no, really. Actually stop Player: I want to jump over the chasm.
reading, take a minute, and do it.) You might find it difficult. DM: Okay, you’re on the other side.
You might find it easy for some declarations and tricky for others.

24 25
 So You Want to be a game master Dungeons: The Ruling

Player: I’m going to the library to research parasite demons. the truth is that we also want to overcome obstacles. It’s only by
DM: You find a book of lore written by a scholar named Sagrathea. triumphing over adversity that we can truly feel accomplishment, and
He reports that parasite demons can be revealed by splashing holy we can’t enjoy the hero’s thrilling escape unless we first hang them off
water on their host. the cliff:

Player: I attack the orc with my sword! Player: I want to jump over the chasm.
DM: You mercilessly stab the orc. With a shocked look in her eyes, DM: You leap across, but come up a little bit short. Slamming into
she slumps to the floor in front of you. the edge of the abyss, you barely manage to grab onto a thick vine
before plummeting into oblivion.
“Yes” moves the action forward. It creates a new situation that
both you and the players will now be forced to respond to. Now that This is the Yes, but . . . Yes, you succeed, but there’s a complication
they’re on the other side of the chasm, what will they do? Where are or a consequence or a challenge.
they going to find a supply of holy water? How are they going to hide The great thing about, “Yes, but . . .” is that you’re not negating
the orc’s corpse? the player’s contribution to the conversation. They wanted to get to
At a more basic level, defaulting to yes also makes sense because the other side of the chasm, and they’ve done that. What you’ve done
people mostly succeed at the stuff they do. Walk down to the corner is add your own contribution to what’s happening, creating interest or
store? Say hello to an old friend? Read a book? If someone wants to do confronting the player with a new challenge to solve.
those things, they’ll almost certainly have no problem doing so, and The flip side of this coin is the No, but . . .
that also applies to most of the things that the players tell you their Imagine for a moment that the player says they want to do some-
characters are going to do. thing that you know is impossible. For example:
Another thing to keep in mind is that the players are generally
going to propose doing things they want to see happen. So if you Player: I’m going to the library to research parasite demons.
default to yes, you’re really just giving your audience what they want,
which is almost always a winning move. Plus, your players probably But you know that there’s no library in this small town. Or, if there
already know how they want to respond to success. They wanted to is, that it’s too small to have the collection of rare paranormal books
jump across the chasm because there was something they wanted to necessary to do meaningful research on parasite demons. This is a spe-
do on the other side. cific reason for not saying yes, which makes it a perfect time to say no.
To boil all that down: Unless you have a specific reason for NOT When you make a ruling like this, though, it can be useful to take
saying yes, your ruling should always be, “Yes, you do that and this is a step back, think about what the player’s actual goal is (e.g., finding
what happens.” information about parasite demons), and offer an alternative method
for doing that:
I Like Big Buts
There are limits to this, however. Saying yes some of the time is good. DM: No, the local library is too small to have specialized information
But the problem with saying yes all the time is that it eliminates the like that. But you know that the Bodleian Library has a large
challenge from the game. While we always want to achieve our goals, collection of paranormal texts, so you could take the train up
to Oxford.

26 27
 So You Want to be a game master Dungeons: The Ruling

In practice, the difference between “Yes, but . . .” and “No, but . . .” Here’s an example where failure isn’t interesting or meaningful:
can be razor-thin or even nonexistent at times. That’s fine. We’re not
trying to classify every ruling we make with scientific precision. We Player: I try to pick the lock.
just want to have a few useful rules of thumb that we can use to make DM: You fail. What do you do?
effective and entertaining rulings for our players.
Player: I try to pick the lock again.
DM: You fail. What do you do?
Making a Check Player: I try to pick the lock again.
Player: I attack the orc with my sword!
DM: Okay, but you’ll need to succeed on an attack roll. You can see the problem. Because nothing meaningful happens
as a result of failing to pick the lock, the game ends up just kind of
Sometimes the answer you’re looking for is neither yes nor no. Instead, spinning its wheels.
it’s “maybe” or “I’m not sure” or “Let’s find out together!” Does this mean you should never call for an ability check to pick a
When that’s the case, you’ll want to use the rules of the roleplaying lock? Not at all. Failing to pick the lock might be meaningful because:
game to determine the character’s success or failure. If that’s an attack
roll in D&D—like trying to stab an orc with your sword—then the The door is trapped, and failing to pick the lock will trigger the trap.
rules are very specific about how the action is to be resolved: The They’re trying to pick the lock during combat, and each time
difficulty of the roll is equal to the orc’s Armor Class (AC), so you they fail to open the door their companions have to survive
simply roll a 20-sided die, add your attack bonus, and compare it another round of enemy attacks.
to the AC. If you rolled equal to or higher than the difficulty, you They’re in a hostile area, and if they fail to pick the lock, a guard
successfully stabbed the orc. If you didn’t, then you missed the orc. patrol will discover them in the act.
But what if it’s not a combat action? What if the PC is trying to
accomplish something else? There are a number of different rules in Failure is meaningful (and interesting) when it creates an obstacle
D&D, but the most basic is an ability or skill check. When in doubt, or consequences, forcing the PCs to create a new path to their goals.
you can just pick an ability score or skill, set the Difficulty Class (DC) There are many ways to achieve this, but the easiest way of imple-
of the check, and ask the player to roll the dice. menting meaningful failure is to simply not allow retries on the check:
Before we pick up the dice, however, let’s double-check our check. If you failed to pick the lock on the door, that failed check tells us that
Should we even be making a check? In fact, how do we know when it’s you’ll never be able to pick that lock. You did your best; it didn’t work.
the right time to call for a check? Now what? Kick it in? Cast a spell? Look for a different entrance?
Well, let’s review. If the players ask to do something and success is Look for a key? Seduce the housekeeper? I dunno. You tell me!
trivial or certain, then we should default to yes. If success is impossible As you can see from these alternatives, each new path created from
(there is no local library, there’s an invisible wall blocking the far side meaningful failure creates interest: The PCs are leaving evidence or
of the chasm, etc.), then the answer is no. Flipping that around, we engaging in further exploration or creating new relationships. Argu-
can see that a check should be used if success is possible but not cer- ably all of these are, in fact, more interesting than if they’d simply
tain. (And, equally so, if failure is possible but not certain.) picked the lock and gone through the door!
Let’s go one step further, though, and consider the potential failure (With that being said, it’s equally true that success should be meaning-
state. Failure should be meaningful, interesting, or both. If it’s neither, ful, interesting, or both. This usually takes care of itself, though, because
then you shouldn’t be rolling the dice. players rarely try to do something unless they want to see it happen.)

28 29
 So You Want to be a game master Dungeons: The Ruling

Wisdom (Animal Handling) to calm or train your triceratops and

SUCCES S IS STILL GO OD Dexterity (Animal Handling) when attempting a difficult maneuver
A trap you can fall into here is thinking, “Well, if failure is while riding the triceratops.
better, then I should just force everything to be a failure!” There’s Once you’ve identified the skill (or tool or ability score), the next
a long discussion about all the problems this could create, but step is setting the difficulty of the check. In D&D, there are a couple
the short version is this: Success is also important if, for no other ways of doing this:
reason, than that the players will become increasingly frustrated
if they can never actually accomplish anything. So let the dice fall Look at the list of Difficulty Classes on the next page and choose
where they may! the one whose description best matches your understanding of
how hard the action would be. (Is it easy? Hard? Very hard?)
Ask yourself what level of skill someone would need in order to
accomplish this task routinely and assign that as the difficulty.
Now that you’ve chosen to make the skill check, you need to
(Is this something an apprentice could do more or less at will? A
identify the skill and set the difficulty of the check. professional? A grand master?)
Identifying which skill to use is pretty straightforward. You can
usually just scan down the list of skill names and easily spot which one
best fits the action the character is attempting. There are, however, a
couple of curveballs that a game can throw at you here. D&D ABILITY Deception D&D COMMON
S CO RES History ADVENTURING
If there’s more than one skill that seems as if it would work, just Strength TO O LS
Insight
allow either skill to work. (“Give me an Acrobatics or Athletics Alchemist’s
Dexterity Intimidation
check.”) Players may also propose an alternative check, and you Supplies
can usually just default to yes and let them use their preferred Constitution Investigation
skill. (“Can I make a History check to identify the ruined fane Intelligence Disguise Kit
Medicine
instead of Religion?”) Wisdom Forgery Kit
Nature
If you don’t see a skill that seems appropriate, check the list Charisma Gaming Set
Perception
of tools to see if the character should be making a tool check Herbalism Kit
instead (e.g., using thieves’ tools to pick a lock or jeweler’s tools Performance
D&D SKILLS Jeweler’s Tools
to identify a rare gemstone). Persuasion
Acrobatics Musical
If there’s neither a skill nor tool for the check at hand, default to Religion Instrument
the most appropriate ability check. Animal
Handling Sleight of Hand Navigator’s
Arcana Stealth Tools
If you use the variant rule in D&D for combining skills with
different ability scores—which I recommend, because it can give you Athletics Survival Thieves’ Tools
a lot more flexibility in making rulings—you’ll also need to identify Tinker’s Tools
which ability score should be used with the skill. For example, you Vehicle
might use Intelligence (Investigation) checks to search a room and
Charisma (Investigation) checks to canvass a neighborhood, or use

30 31
 So You Want to be a game master Dungeons: The Ruling

D iff ic u lt y C l as s saying no (and trying to provide the no, but . . .), or

Task Level o f Training
(D C )
making a check.
5 Trivial Untrained
8 Very Easy Apprentice If you choose to make a check, then you

10 Easy Professional identify the skill,

15 Challenging Master determine the difficulty, and
20 Hard Grand Master roll the dice.
25 Very Hard Mythic Master
Now, whether you default to yes or make a check, what you’ll be
30 Nearly Impossible Legendary Master left with is the outcome of that action: You know what happened, and
you get to describe that to the players! What do they see on the other
A third option that can work well in other RPGs is to start with side of the chasm? What do they learn about parasite demons? If they
a “default” difficulty and then adjust it up or down by considering killed the orc with their attack, what does that look like? Did they
factors that would logically modify that difficulty. skewer the orc? Chop off their head? Knock them into the chasm?
In D&D, for example, you might start with DC 12 as your default The truth is that narrating outcome is as much art as science. There
difficulty and, as a rule of thumb, adjust it up or down by two points is no “right” answer as to how the orc died or how you describe this
for every relevant factor. For example, if the PCs were making a Wis- to your players. That’s something that you get to create, and the truly
dom (Perception) check to see if they spotted an elephant stampede in great thing is that nobody else will (or can!) create it exactly the way
the distance, you might drop the difficulty by two (because a herd of that you do. That’s what’s so exciting about playing and mastering a
elephants is quite large and hard to miss) and then another two (because roleplaying game.
the stampede is also making a lot of noise), resulting in a DC 8 check. With that being said, there are two key questions that you need to
If the check was being made in the middle of a thunderstorm, however, answer when describing an outcome.
you might bump the difficulty back up by a couple of points to DC 10. If the result is a success, the questions are:
This method can get a little muddled in D&D, however, because
some of these factors (like the thunderstorm) would be considered How does the intention succeed?
situational modifiers and would normally be handled using the advan- Are there any complications (i.e., unintended side effects)?
tage/disadvantage system. For now, if you want to keep things simple, (There don’t need to be and, perhaps, often won’t be.)
just use the Difficulty Class table above to make quick rulings.
If the result is a failure, the questions are:
Narrating Outcome How does the action fail?
To briefly review, after a player has announced their intention to take an
action, you’ll make a ruling on how the action will be resolved by either: What are the consequences for failure? (There should be
consequences, as they are what make failure meaningful.)
defaulting to yes,
We’ll explore more advanced techniques for framing and describing
saying yes, but . . . ,
outcomes later, but for now I can offer a few quick tips to get you started.

32 33
 So You Want to be a game master Dungeons: The Ruling

“Your character did well” or “Your character screwed up.” But it can
OUTCOME FACTO RS be useful to remember that external factors can play a key role in suc-
Skill cess or failure. This can be particularly useful when describing failure,
Knowledge because it doesn’t belittle the PCs’ competency: Your blade strikes the
orc right in the chest, but it’s turned aside by the orc’s breastplate. You
Power know which book you need, but it’s been checked out. You cleared the
Finesse chasm just fine, but the ledge crumbles under your feet as you land.
Environment
Time
The Dungeon Master’s Secret Weapon
Now that you’ve wrapped your head around making a ruling, you’re
Luck ready for the big secret: Being a dungeon master is easy. It’s much
The Target easier than being a player.
This might seem absurd right now. Easier? How is that possible?
Bystanders You have an entire world to run. The players can ask you almost any-
Tools thing and you always need to have an answer ready to go. What if you
don’t know what should happen next? Everyone else is depending on
you! The whole thing will fall apart!
First, keep it short. Rich, beautiful descriptions are great, but you’ll But it’s easy because you have a secret weapon: “Yes, that happens.
rarely go wrong by throwing the ball back to your players as quickly as Now what do you do?”
you can. Remember that the outcome of the action—whether success As the DM, it can feel as if you’re the one who’s always being put
or failure—has created a new situation for the players to respond to, on the spot. That at any time the players can force you to be creative
and they’re likely eager to do so! on demand. In reality, though, the exact opposite is true because you
Second, you probably already know what the description is! If the control the entire world.
character succeeded, they did whatever it was the player said they were When a player says they want to do something, you may have an
trying to do. You can just repeat that back to them: “You leap over the immediate creative response to it: some interesting twist or obstacle or
chasm and land on the other side” or “You stab the orc.” bit of flavor that leaps into your mind and would enhance and build
On the other hand, if the character failed, then there was a reason on what they said. If so, great! Do that.
you thought failure would be meaningful. (If there wasn’t, you would But if not, then all you need to say is, “Yes, that happens. Now
have just defaulted to yes, right?) Was it because they might fall into what do you do?”
the chasm? Or get caught by a guard patrol while picking the lock? It’s a convenient bit of judo, and it means that the DM is never
Whatever it was, you can just tell the player that it happened. truly put on the spot, because at any time they can simply flip the
Finally, it can be useful to think in terms of why the attempt failed player’s action back and put the player on the spot. It is, in fact,
or succeeded. In the sidebar above, you can see a list of factors that can the players, not the DM, who are ultimately responsible for driving
affect the outcome of an action. If you’re struggling to come up with the game forward.
a description, just pick one and explain how it caused the outcome. Ideally, of course, you’ll want to dress up, “Yes, that happens,” and
The character’s own skill is often an easy default. “You rolled well” make it pretty. So rather than this . . .
or “You rolled poorly” often gets translated, for whatever reason, to

34 35
 So You Want to be a game master

Player: I want to jump over the chasm.

DM: Yes, that happens. Now what do you do?

You’d say something like this . . .

Player: I want to jump over the chasm.

DM: You take a running start and leap, easily clearing the gap and
landing on the cobblestones on the far side. Now what do you do?

As you’re dressing up your default to yes, you may find these two
corollaries to your secret weapon useful:

“How are you doing that?” and

“What are you trying to do?”

If you can’t figure out how the yes happens, it’s usually because
the players haven’t given you enough information about what they’re
doing. Don’t be afraid to ask them.

Player: I want to find out more information about parasite

demons.
DM: How are you doing that?
Player: Hmm . . . Maybe I could do some research at the local
library?
DM: You can do that. What information are you looking for, exactly?
Player: I’d love to know how we could detect them.
DM: Sure. You find a book of lore written by a scholar named
Sagrathea. He reports that parasite demons can be revealed by
splashing holy water on their host.

So no matter what happens as you work and play your way through
the rest of this book, if you’re ever feeling lost, adrift, or overwhelmed,
just remember your secret weapon.

36 37
 So You Want to be a game master Dungeons

Now You Are Alternatively, you might want to check out the Extra Credit
section at the back of the book. These specialized tools and techniques
the Master! can be added to your game at any time, and will often enhance many
different scenario structures. So you should feel free to reach out and
grab anything that looks useful whenever the fancy strikes you:
You’ve learned a lot! And, if all’s gone well, you’ve run your first
adventure. Ideally, you’ve run several of them. You’re starting to get Creating Your Campaign (see page 435), including how you
comfortable as a DM, and you’ve started experimenting with larger, can find players, pitch your game, create characters, and learn
more complicated, and more dynamic scenarios. new roleplaying games.
What’s next? Campaign Status Documents (see page 448), a tool for
That’s up to you! organizing your campaign notes.
The location crawls you’ve been running so far are an incredibly
The Open Table (see page 463), an alternative way of running a
versatile scenario structure, and you’ll find them cropping up in al- campaign that can make playing an RPG as easy as a board game.
most every adventure you ever run. (It turns out no matter where you
Quick-and-Dirty Worldbuilding (see page 471), with guid-
go . . . there’s a location.) But it probably won’t surprise you to learn
ance for the essential material you need to start running games
that they’re not the only scenario structure. There are many other types in a world of your own creation.
of adventures to be had!
Running Combat (see page 486), a grab bag of tips and tricks
The rest of this book is an instruction manual for several different
for improving your combat encounters.
scenario structures you can use to prep and run these adventures:
Scenario Hooks (see page 498), aka how you get the players to
play your adventures.
Mysteries (see page 201)
Supporting Cast (see page 506), another grab bag of tools and
Raids and Heists (see page 267)
tricks for creating and running memorable NPCs.
Urban Adventures (see page 315), including urbancrawls, social
Splitting the Party (see page 525), or what to do when the PCs
events, and conspiracies
want to do multiple things at the same time.
Wilderness Adventures (see page 363), including hexcrawls
and pointcrawls
Of course, you can also just keep reading the book from cover to
cover by simply turning the page! That’ll work just fine and nobody
You’ll likely recognize many of these concepts from the movies,
is going to stop you.
books, graphic novels, and other media you enjoy. If there’s one that
Whichever path you choose, remember the most important lesson:
looks particularly exciting or enticing to you, you can skip straight to
Have fun!
that section.

198 199
 So You Want to be a game master

About the Author index

A C downtime, 332–341
advanced dungeons campaign design faction downtime,

J ust in A le xa nd er has been a game master for 5 + 5 Dungeon model, briefing packet, 342–346
144–150 439–440 gazetteer, 321–323
over 30 years and has been designing RPGs professionally archetype ratio, 144 campaign concept, hybrid encounters, 325
since he was in high school. He’s currently the RPG developer at bespoke encounters, 162 437–438 introduction, 328–332
Atlas Games and has previously worked with Fantasy Flight Games, beyond 5 + 5 campaign pitch, 439 landmarks, 322, 323,
Dungeons, 143–144 campaign status 324, 326, 327, 332
Modiphius, Goodman Games, Steve Jackson Games, Dream Pod 9, campaign status document, 172, 199, location destinations,
and many others. In addition to more than 200 published books, document, 172, 199, 448–458 326–327
articles, and reviews, he’s the co-creator of the Infinity roleplaying 448–458 character creation, location key, 324
combined encounters, 440–447 map, 317–320, 324,
game and the second edition of Magical Kitties Save the Day. 164, 186 episodic campaigns, 448 329
Justin is also the creator of the Ennie Award–winning Alexandrian, custom restocking, 168 players, 435–437 scenic encounters,
a website perhaps best known for the Gamemastery 101 series, dedi- dungeon key updates, structure, 448 324–326, 327
171–173 worldbuilding, shared district
cated to exploring the many arts of running and playing roleplaying environmental activity, 471–476 encounters, 326
games. (Drop by when you’re ready to take your game to a whole 139 character design social events, 354–362
new level!) expedition-based play, character background, time management, 328
140 445 triggered districts, 352
He can also be found on YouTube and Twitch as The Alexandrian, goals, 139 character details, urbancrawls, 347–353
and on Twitter as @hexcrawl. At home, he’s the proud daddy of a little level connections, 443–444 combat
girl and the happy husband of a wonderful wife. 144–150 creating as group, 440 1st-level characters, 190
megadungeons, creating in secret, 441 action groups, 179–180
140–141, 174–176 e-mail collaboration, advanced adversary
procedurally generated 445 rosters, 181–185
encounters, 162–163 game mechanics and, adversary rosters,
procedural stocking, 442 177–181
169, 170 GM integration, 446 best practices, 486–490
random encounter knighthood, 443–444 bosses, 131–132
tables, 160–165 party background, cheat sheets, 486–487
restocking, 165–170 446–447 defaulting to, 85
room variety, 144 party creation, 446–447 description queues,
variety in, 139 player concepts, 494–495
xandering techniques, 441–442 diplomacy with, 52
139, 152–159 public integration, as dungeon action, 78
442–445 ending, 495–498
B rulebooks and, 442 enemy stat sheet,
battlemaps worldbuilding, 472 487–488
generic tokens, 494 cities faction conflict,
hallways, 292 adventure sites, 323 193–197
software tools, 100 background events, 332 fight room design, 123,
theaters of operation, basic encounters, 325 129–132
294 district encounters, 325 generic tokens, 494
token play descriptions, districts, 319–320, 325, guardians, 130
493 348, 352

538 539
 So You Want to be a game master Index

hit point malleability, elevation shifts, 156 sub-levels, 155 dynamic dungeons random encounters, F
496–497 elevators, 147 teleports, 147 1st-level characters, 190 80–86, 92, 119, factions
hit points, 16 environmental hazards, transportation between adversary rosters, 160–165, 184–185 conflict example,
initiative order, 488 125–126 levels, 150 177–181 route encounters, 378, 196–197
initiative rolls, 15, 45, esophageal level trapdoors, 145 dynamic encounter 383, 388 conflict tables, 194–195
490–491 transport, 150 traps, 125, 147 design, 186–188 scenic encounters, creation, 192–193
joint initiative lists, 532 ethereal travel, 148 underwater passages, factions, 190–197 324–326, 327 downtime, 342–346
mobile groups, 180 features, 111–112, 120 148 lairs, 190 shared district dynamic dungeons,
mooks, 130–131 goals, 97 unexpected endings, precious encounter encounters, 326 190–191
multi-die resolutions, hallways, 114 134 design, 189 triggered districts faction clocks, 343,
492 homebrew keys, unusual paths, 155 compared to, 352 344–346, 431
multitasking, 491–492 113–115 windows, 145 E enemies random conflicts,
narrating, 488–490 idea combinations, 99 worldbuilding, encounters active forces, 273 193–197
noise effect, 78 inspiration for, 94–95 471–476 1st-level characters, 190 advanced adversary
on-deck players, 491 ladders, 145 xandered dungeons, basic city encounters, rosters, 181–185 H
patrol groups, 180 landmarks, 123, 159 152–159 325 adversary rosters, 451 heists
roleplaying, 520–521 linear dungeons, dungeon keys bespoke encounters, bosses, 131–132 flashback mechanic,
room exploration and, 150–151, 239 5 + 5 Dungeon, 162 challenge rating, 95, 312–313
39 location samples, 96 121–122 combat design, 170, 275 information gathering,
rulebook for, 45 map key, 102–104 corridor themes, 115–119 contextualized 308–309
rulings, 45 map design, 100–102, 112–113 combat noise and, 78 encounters, 82 introduction, 307
sentries, 130 121–122 dungeon features, combined encounters, creativity with, 81–82 mystery scenes with,
stationary groups, 181 megadungeons, 111–112 164, 186 dynamic adversary 228
target number sharing, 174–176 hallways, 114 diplomacy, 52 rosters, 177–181 objective, 308
492–493 multi-level chambers, homebrew vs. distance, 85 generic tokens for, 494 onsite surveillance,
token play descriptions, 147 published, 113–115 district encounters, 325 guardians, 130 309–310
493 multiple entrances, 154 rooms, 105–111 dungeon turns, 66, hit point malleability, operation, 310–311
multiple level symbols, 103–104 73–74 496–497 planning, 314
D connections, 154 updating, 171–173 dynamic encounter mooks, 130–131 prep work, 310, 311
dungeon design mysteries, 228 dungeon turns design, 186–188 passive obstacles, 273 raids compared to, 277
5 + 5 Dungeons, published keys, dungeon actions, encounter design, patrols, 274 reluctance toward
119–122, 137 113–115 77–79, 88, 92 115–119, 129–132, raid defenses, 273–274 planning, 314
5 + 5 Valley, 149 puzzles, 127–128 Dungeon Running 186–188 restocking, 165–170, hexcrawls
basket & pulley, 148 random encounter Sheet, 69–73, 137, encounter frequency, 185 campaign structure, 391
brainstorming, 93–99, tables, 119 432 142 sentries, 130 compasses, 402
121 restocking, 185 encounters, 66, 73–74 factions, 190–197 stat sheets, 487–488 crossing, 397–398
brute force level rivers, 148 formalized, 67–68 frequency, 142 traps with, 91 designing, 405–419
transport, 150 rooms, 101–102, megadungeon hexcrawls, 393, 395, XP values, 44–45 encounters, 402–404
chutes, 145 105–111, 120–121, customization, 402–404 experience points (XP) finding specific
collapsed passages, 149 123–136 142–143 hybrid urban calculating, 44–45 locations, 400
combat encounters, scenario concepts, 94, movement, 67 encounters, 325 downtime and, 337 hexmaps, 391,
115–119 120, 122 notetaking, 69 origins, 83, 164–165 enemy types and, 45, 406–408, 409–410
corridor themes, scenario updates, 171 player-unknown pointcrawls, 428 164 hex size, 397
112–113, 120 secret paths, 155 structures, 68 precious encounter as expertise award, 460 keying, 408, 411–413
discontinuous level skill-based challenges, raids, 298 design, 189 milestone award, 45 lairs, 404
connections, 126 resolutions, 66 procedurally generated as project award, 341 landmarks, 393, 399,
154–155 slopes, 145 ticks, 66 encounters, 162–163 raids and, 275 401, 413
divided levels, 156 social challenges, time and, 67 procedure loop, 73–74 as room award, 134 lost characters, 399,
dungeon features, 128–129 traps, 87–92 raid scenarios, 275 training and, 337 401–402
111–112, 120 stairs, 145 navigation, 399

540 541
 So You Want to be a game master Index

observational distance, characters, 214 activities, 242 O entrances, 272–273, remixed rooms, 133
398 clues, 228–229, characters, 242 open tables 304–305 reward rooms, 123
open table hexcrawls, 232–236 clue lists, 258 campaign options, executing, 302–306 rewards in, 134–136
406, 470 context, 206 conclusions, 246–248 470–471 failing forward, room keys, 14, 39, 105,
routes, 378 descriptions of, dead ends, 252–254 dedicated table 280–281 111, 451
rumor tables, 476, 479 203–204 events, 242 compared to, familiarity and, 277 sanctuary rewards, 135
running, 393–398 empty time, 204–206 funnels, 248–249 463–464 heists compared to, 277 scenario goal rewards,
starting in a hex, 397 ending, 215–216, 226 Layer Cakes, 250–251 hexcrawls and, 470 introduction, 278–279 136
status quo design, essential revelations, locations, 241 megadungeons and, locations, 271–273, 277 scenic rooms, 106–107,
417–419 237 loops, 252 466, 470 mobile locations, 273 121, 123–125
stocking, 413–417 evidence, 220 node-based revelation preferred characteristics, mystery scenes with, 228 secret areas, 133
hit points (HP) fleshing out, 230, 232 lists, 256–259 471 objectives, 269–270 themed rooms, 124
expedition-based play framing, 208–211, 231 node clouds, 259 running, 468–469 raid actions, 295 trick rooms, 132
and, 140 given circumstances, non-linear design, session conclusion, raid turns, 295 twist rooms, 123,
fudging, 496–497 215 243–244 469–470 running, 278–301 132–134
function, 16 heists with, 228 organizations, 242 session schedules, surveys, 274, 276–278, utility rooms, 124
rest and, 54 hook, 226 proactive nodes, 466–468 279 variety in advanced
investigation scenes, 254–255 sponsored sessions, 467 theaters of operation, dungeons, 144
L 227, 240 scenarios as, 243 structure, 464–465 290–294 routes
learning an RPG leads, 220 structure, 245–255 table caps, 467 rooms advanced routes,
cheat sheets, 459 locations, 213–214 nonplayer characters waiting lists, 467 active play and, 39 380–381
hierarchy of reference, logic clues, 225 (NPCs) anatomy of, 105–107 cross-route elements,
461–462 micro-dungeons, 228 agendas, 512–514, 524 P boon rewards, 135–136 379–380
one-shot runs, 459 node-based, 241–259 appearance, 508 pointcrawls boxed text, 38 designing, 378–380
player expertise, 460 non-essential background, 509, 510 hidden routes, 425 campaign status encounters, 383, 388
reference time limits, revelations, 237 briefing sheets, 508, non-wilderness document, 451 hexcrawls, 378
461 perfect crime fallacy, 512 adaptation, 429–432 challenge rooms, 123, hidden pointcrawl
rule book, 459 236 combat roleplaying, off-point character 125–129 routes, 425
rule-highlighting permissive clue-finding, 520–521 handling, 426 clue rewards, 135 identifying, 387, 389
sessions, 460 222–223 connections to, 514 playtesting, 432 combined archetypes, landmarks, 376, 378,
teaching an RPG, 462 prepping vs. framing, function, 506 pointmaps, 420–422, 133 384, 388
231 improvising, 521–524 423–425 descriptions, 23, map homework,
M proactive clues, key information, procedure, 428–429 107–108, 109–110, 389–390
megadungeons 223–224 511–512 recordkeeping, 432 111 navigation, 383–384
campaign and, 141 raids with, 228 Law of Conservation, dimensions, 109 optional routes, 389
characteristics, 140–141 red herrings, 221 514 R elements, 108, 111 re-running, 388
difficulty, 175 running, 237–238 mannerisms, 509, 512 raids exits, 23, 40, 109 running, 381, 388
dungeon turn scenario concept, 226 names, 508, 522–523 action group exploration, 39 selecting, 375–378
customization, Three Clue Rule, node-based mysteries, management, fantastic features, skipping, 374–375, 386
142–143 217–220, 222–225, 242 296–297 124–125 time-tracking, 382
exiting, 141 237–238, 239, reincorporating, 515 action groups, 275 featured rooms, 105 travelogue, 384–386
open tables and, 466, 240–241 roleplaying, 509–510 activation, 299–300 fight rooms, 123, ruling-response cycle
470 transitions, 206 stat blocks, 512 alarm cascade, 301 129–132 challenges and, 26–28
preparation, 174–176 template example, 513 alarms, 274, 301 multi-level chambers, combat and, 45
rumor tables and, 476 N Universal Roleplaying combat rounds with, 147 Difficulty Class table,
mysteries node-based mysteries Template, 507–512 298 names, 38 32
ancillary revelations, 5 Node Mystery, villainy principles, defenses, 273–274 notable elements, 39, “DM’s secret weapon,”
229–230 260–262 515–520 dungeon turns with, 105–107 35–36
“the bang,” 211–212 5 x 5 Campaign, 298 numbered rooms, 23, example, 12
breadcrumb trail, 217 263–265 enemy XP budget, 275 38, 101–102

542 543
 So You Want to be a game master

failing forward, long-term hooks, spells with, 87

280–281 504–505 steps to avoid, 91
failure state, 35–37 meaningful hooks, trap-sign, 88
meaningful failure, 503–504 triggering, 88–89,
28–29 multiple hooks, 90–91
“No, but . . .” responses, 500–501 trigger reaction, 91
27–28 player-provided hooks,
“No” responses, 25, 33 502 W
outcome factors, 34 treasure maps, 506 wilderness
outcome narration, twisted scenario hooks, food requirements, 370
32–34 501–503 foraging, 370
as prompts, 24 scenes hexcrawls, 391–419
reference time limits, “the bang,” 211–212, landmarks, 376, 378,
461 453–455 380, 381, 384, 385,
successes, 35–37 cliffhangers, 527–528 388
success-prompt crossovers, 528–529 making camp, 371
combination, 35–36 cutting in middle, navigation, 371
“Yes, but . . .” responses, 526–528 pack-pullers, 371
26–28, 32 “lone-wolf spotlight,” pointcrawls, 420–432
“Yes” responses, 25–26, 531 resting, 371
32, 223 split parties and, routes, 374–386
rumor tables 526–527, 526–528, scouting, 372
actionable rumors, 530 sentinels, 372
480–481 standing orders, 366
function, 476 T terrain, 369
hexcrawls and, 476, 479 time management traveling, 366–369
megadungeons and, alien worlds, 374 watch actions, 370–373
476 cities, 328 watches, 365–366
opportunistic delivery, downtime, 332–341 water requirements, 370
483 faction clocks, 343,
proactive delivery, 344–346, 431 X
481–482 progress clocks, xandering techniques
reactive delivery, 333–335 balance with, 158–159
482–483 project clocks, 334, 339 bilateral exploration,
repeating, 485 routes, 382 157–158
restocking, 485 split parties and, 529 discontinuous level
rumor worldbuilding and, 472 connections,
contextualization, traps 154–155
484 10-foot-pole procedure, divided levels, 156
rumor delivery, 92 elevation shifts, 156
481–484 action triggers, 89 landmarks, 159
rumor focus, 479–481 description of, 89 loops, 153–154
rumor sources, 479 disabling, 89 midpoint entry,
stocking, 478–481 dungeon design and, 157–158
125 multiple entrances, 154
S enemies with, 91 multiple level
scenario hooks finding, 88 connections, 154
bait hooks, 505 level access with, 147 secret paths, 155
foreshadowing, 505 ongoing effects, 91 sub-levels, 155
function, 498–499 proximity trigger, 89 unusual paths, 155

544