Really appreciate that your opinion and methodology isn't half explained through 27 minute of unedited footage but actually respect people's time and took the effort to synthetise it clearly inn less than 5 minute, thanks!
Feng shui did a smart thing. Instead of everyone having a penalty in bad environments and everyone missing all the time, the prepared person just gets a bonus over everyone else.
I didn’t realize Feng Shui is a game and I read this comment as referring to the concept or reality of feng shui principles and I thought it was profound.
If I may make a suggestion without screwing with your acronym, I would go with "Introduce a Consequence" in place of "Impose a Penalty." All penalties all the time is one-dimensional. You can get just as much if not more engagement out of your players if you create environmental effects that they can turn to their advantage sometimes, especially if they are paying attention. Not only does this principle allow for more variety, it allows characters who are particularly suited for certain environments (rangers and druids for wilderness, rogues for urban settings, etc.) to shine.
@graysontowler136 That's a great suggestion! And makes a lot of sense both for the positive and negative side of things. Really appreciate your comment and take on this.
Yeah, if every environment my group traveled through imposed a penalty, I could see the players starting to take it personally and assume they’re being screwed with.
@@nw42 I agree, which is why I like @graysontowler136's suggestion about a consequence. At the very least it informs players to expect the unexpected, whether good or bad.
What's great is that this makes things more interesting even when you don't do it. For example the next time that party has to trudge through a swamp they're going to be much less casual about it. They will start to pay more attention to their surroundings and start asking the GM questions. This makes the setting more immersive right off the bat. And some players might try to come up with ways to get proactive. So it also gives room for player agency and creativity!
No, in actuality, what you are training the players to do is to expect that at some point no matter the environment they are in, even when it makes no logical sense, the "environment" is going to be unreasonably dangerous. Also known as railroading players into encounters that could/should have been avoided.
@@schemage2210 Why would this train them to "expect environment to be unreasonably dangerous"? Did the example in the video unreasonable? Did the video tell you to do it every time there is an exploration? When you receive advise from someone, are you the type of people to take their word literally and think the advice is the rule to be follow exactly?
@schemage2210 how is it unreasonable that environments can get more dangerous? Dangerous and even extreme environments and weather conditions are pretty logical. Hardly railroading. Even the most skilled outdoorsman can get caught in a sudden downturn.
@@energyvampire7831 When a person claiming to be, or is proven to be, an authority on a given topic such as a plumber, a doctor, or even yes a youtuber claiming to have expertise in D&D, says that x is what should be done, why wouldn't I listen to that advice? What's the point in listening to a professional if you are just going to dismiss what they have to say out of hand? As for the topic of this video, to be blunt, it trains the players to expect an adversarial DM. One who is going to, with a degree of frequency, who is going to use the environment or combat encounters to kill the PCs even when such shouldn't be the case or even necessary.
I’m in the process of doing a re-write for all of the homebrew I’ve written over the last 6-7 years to bring everything in line with each other, and one of the things I’m including in the mechanics are “Harsh Weather Conditions” that are somewhat in line with this idea. I wanted to have some easy reference for exploration challenges that don’t have to do with combat
@@EmergentGM I have been mainly streamlining the mechanics, fleshing out worldbuilding-type descriptions where there weren't any before, re-categorizing everything to be more organized, hyperlinking everything within the document itself, etc. I'm just about to finish the 7th class that I am re-writing, so I've got 11 more to go with that, then I start work on re-writing Races/Ancestries. It is already 100+ pages, and it will likely end up closer to 200. I'm also currently running a game for the party who will be converting their characters once I finish the re-writes
@avalon1007 Wow 100-200 pages! That’s a huuuge homebrew! Are you planning to run it like a westmarch with many groups or a long campaign with just one?
@ Basically whenever I’m DMing for folks now, this is what I run. Right now I have rough details for 1 out of maybe 5-6 continents and a map for 1 country on that continent so there’s plenty of room for me to keep writing new ideas and whatnot. I just got to a point where all the writing is done over the past years needed to be consolidated and re-balanced
I have a trick that can be really fun for an in person session. Actually RECREATE the environment. Like I got those multicolor lights hooked up to my phone and when its night in the game, i dim them, when its a cloudless day, they are bright, etc. When its cold, they shift blue, etc etc. But heres one you can use sparingly that can really be fun if used only once or twice. One time my players found themselves in a massive storm at sea while sailing, and i turned up a bunch of fans to max, had the lights flickering with blue every once and a while for lighting, but a storm sound effect thing going. There was so much wind that their hair was blowing everywhere and they were holding down papers, and when they roleplay spoke to eachother they actually had to speak over the "storm" to hear. DEFINATELY dont do this every storm, but it is a fun little experience if done just once, maybe twice.
The quicksand mechanic you mention seems quite reminiscent of the description of the "Transmute Rock to Mud" spell in AD&D 2nd Edition. That was weakened in 3rd Edition so that characters only sank up their chest and didn't suffocate/drown as they has in earlier editions and, in 5e mud/quicksand was reduced to merely a medium that hampers movement. It probably fits more with an "OSR-style" game than with the more modern "story-telling" themed games with plot-armoured characters.
I’ll be running a snowy campaign that I’ve been preparing for over a year. I needed to make several adjustments to travel, rest, and weather, two eight-page documents of changes. The most noted changes I made was the introduction of the cold system. It’s equal to half a player’s CON score plus or minus any additional modifiers from armor, feats, or race. There are tons of ways to manipulate your cold level that you usually slowly gain through travel throughout the day and going over your capacity gives levels of exhaustion incentivizing management of your resources. This couples well with my 3D6 weather system, which breaks the weather down into 3 categories (temperature, wind speed, and cloud cover) which have certain effects on the environment and the players when certain values are met. Lastly my travel and rest overhaul gives players means to actively participate in their parties efforts to set up camp or explore. Your methods will help greatly in micro-environments and to create greater tension I’m looking for.
@ERBanmech Wow that sounds intense!!! I hope everything you prepped for works out for you and glad that this little trick can help bring to life what you envision.
@@EmergentGM that's not the half of all the changes I made, but it is what is mandatory for the campaign. I added special weapon actions, an opt-in critical fumble table, magical diseases, hirelings, and overhauls to several niche feats. The total count comes roughly to 60 total pages, essentially a small adventure book, but many of these things are designed to be easily reused in other campaigns I run so the effort should be worth it in the long run.
@@EmergentGM I have made DM reference cards that I laminated, it essentially compresses a lot of the campaign-mandatory information into an easy to understand space and the lamination means I can use dry erase on them. I even made reference cards for my players for things like weapon actions, hirelings, and player cold levels so I don’t have to do that for them and they already have a convenient space to keep track of it. It helps that a good quarter of my stuff is just changes to feats and races which players will be writing down anyways when they make characters and at least half of my stuff isn’t mandatory, only tools players may choose to interact with and to their benefit.
I'm a big fan of weather tables. Very simple, really easy add-on to bring the game to life. Wind and rain are slowing the party down or giving disadvantage to ranged weapon attacks, really simple, everyday stuff, but effective.
@@EmergentGM Homebrew. This one's for a frozen steppe (like Mongolia). The party were on a clock to get to their destination - hence the lose time/make time aspects. On a d12: 1.Snow. Make a Survival DC14 check or lose a day of travel 2.Fine weather. You make good time and the day passes without incident. 3.Heavy Snow. Impossible to move. Lose a day of travel. 4.Easy ground. You make excellent time and make up a day's travel 5.Heavy sleet. Take a point of exhaustion and you do not get a long rest that night 6.Sleet. Make a Survival DC10 or lose a day of travel 7.Fine weather. You make good time and the day passes without incident. 8.Poor camping. You are unable to take a long rest that night due to the cold 9.Poor camping. You are unable to take a long rest that night due to the cold 10.Snow. Make a Survival DC14 check or lose a day of travel 11.Easy ground. You make excellent time and make up a day's travel 12. Frozen bog. Lose a day of travel to avoid it, or skill challenge DC15/two successes to pass through
An incredibly simple way to implement this in the vast majority of overland travel is rain and mud. You already mentioned this in the swamp encounter, but literally any road that isn't a major one will be horribly muddy after it rains enough because most roads in a medieval setting will be dirt roads. Torrential rain and mud were the bane of all travelers and footsoldiers for over a thousand years, and it should be treated as such in a game with an emphasis on exploration and travel.
@ArvelDreth That's a great point! I think we underestimate how harsh environments can be given the wrong weather conditions. I've lived through typhoons and walked through knee high floods and they are not fun.
Rain will also rust iron armour and weapons and has the potential of ruining food supplies too - not much Tupperware in most fantasy settings. Rain will reduce visibility, increasing the chance of getting lost. Rain can make rivers impassable and introduce the risk of flash floods. If you give thought to the perils of the environment then you don't need to raid the Monster Manual quite so often.
I'm gonna be the black sheep: I don't like this method at all. Specifically, this is destined to already bored players I guess? But for a standard party, unless you are specifically playing horror, sometimes it's good to 'take a break' and have some calm and meaningless interactions. If every leaf, every pond, every branch is an enemy, you're gonna make your players either sedentary or a bunch of psychotic always-on-alert kill-on-sight murderhobos. That is some OSR shit, and I prefer to embrace different approaches. Dnd could take a hint form the One Ring system for travels for example. In that system every journey needs a map because the party has to actively decide which routes to take, and you need to cover roles for the trip such as guide, explorer, etc. I think it is more fair amd realistic and engages your players perfectly without punishing every movement.
@MoonlitKnight12 thanks for your comment. I agree with you it shouldn’t be used in every exploration or encounter, in every session. It’s designed to challenge the players using environmental cues. Quiet moments during travel is always an option, and I use it regularly. I agree other systems have done it better, especially the way cubicle 7 handled adventures in middle earth travel. Not sure if it’s the same as The One Ring.
In in those 35 years, how many times have you seen this "advice" implemented poorly to the point where we now have the phrase "rocks fall and everyone dies"? Or, you know, railroading!!!
Some of the old D&D material is good for this sort of thing; the 3e supplements - "Frostburn", "Sandstorm", and "Stormwrack" are great for inspiration as to how the environment can be a threat, as well as providing some solutions. Going back further, so with more work to adapt for 5e, the 1e supplement "AD&D Wilderness Survival Guide" has some good content too but not as detailed.
@davidmorgan6896 I agree with you it’s part and parcel of the world building job of a DM. IMO it depends on the depth, complexity, and variety you want to introduce to your world to give the impression that it’s alive.
I like this. Simple and usable information. I also like incentivising exploration by handing out lots of rewards. If they find a great old sword in a lake, King Arthur style, they’re going to look around lakes and stuff more. Works for me anyway.
I like this a lot but would love to see how you apply it to more settings like you did for the swamp! Like in a forest, a city, a dungeon, a desert etc. I'm currently running my friends through a forest and I feel like I'm missing a lot of fun stuff but can't figure it out!
@macoppy6571 Fair point! I usually describe different environmental conditions when players explore. Like in the swamp case: musty stench, murky water, dense vegetation. But which of these will affect my players the most? That's the appropriate one I focus on. In my case, I chose: quicksand cuz I could hide it in the dense vegetation. Turning every little condition into a challenge, or having every scene/room/environment have its own conditions that players need to overcome, would be inappropriate. That will slow the game down, which I want to avoid. Hope this helps clarify! If not let me know.
Perhaps require a Constitution Save for every section of time or risk a level of Exhaustion, until the PCs find some method of mitigate the the threat of the arid heat such as covering up or finding a ready source of water. Potentially sandstorms that can effectively blind the PCs, separate them, or cover the approach of other threats. Canyons in particular could be a threat to loose ground, rock slides, and so on.
I agree with @dungeonguy88 👍🏻 to build on what was suggested: Cold Nights - sharp temperature drops after sunset could cause hypothermia without proper shelter. A CON or Survival check could work to mitigate it. Flash Floods - sudden downpours of torrential rain can turn terrain muddy making it difficult to walk, or could lead to flooding in canyons. Rockslides - heavy rocks can fall into crevices by natural or forced means. Canyons in particular can suffer from this. On the beneficial side: hidden sources of water, rock shelters, wild flora like cactus for sustenance, can be used to make environments feel more lively.
@@EmergentGM That is an interesting facet about many extreme environs, like deserts. The popular image of them is usually just how they are MOST of the time. As mentioned above, arid regions get bitingly cold at night and do tend to have massive rainy seasons. This could be examined for ideas for other regions that could present unexpected challenges. Plains and pastoral regions might be calm and idyllic most of the time, but have seasons of extreme wind storms. Wintry regions could be snowy and white for most of the year but be plagued by muddy wetter, warmer seasons. A forest might seem like the classic average and stable of biomes for an adventurer. But during the Summers might be prone to wild fires that completely change the tone of the area. A lot of good ideas for making environments interesting or engaging, would be thinking about what factors come up in the real-world for such regions. This might even start to give idea for more supernatural and magical regions and what environmental variables might be present there.
This is something you do sparingly, or when you want to add another dimension to certain combat encounters. Punishing some players by tying it to a single stat across the board, is never going to be viewed well, as it will make players seem as though it is showing favoritism to certain classes, as it puts others at a severe disadvantage. Instead make it a skill type challenge, where each player has to think of a clever way to use their characters predominant skill/s to over come it. Also to make your world not seem static you need to constantly put different and interesting scenarios in front of them all the time, not having moving parts is what makes it seem static. If you describe things with no life than your world is lifeless. So fill it up with scenarios , and they do not have to all be encounters, just interesting things happening that the players are witness to. There is never nothing happening, even when there is nothing happening.
@ParkerKent-r7z definitely! And love your point that to make the world interesting, it doesn’t always have to be an encounter. And i agree this shouldn’t be used every game, and I mention towards the end to “sprinkle where appropriate.” What I failed to mention is that you can be flexible with the skill checks given the players’ input. If a player wants to “yank his friend out with all his might” I could ask for a strength check for the action followed by the dex save to see if they lost their balance in the process. Certain classes will do better at certain challenges IMO. A rogue could cross a 1 foot narrow ledge on an icy cliffside better than a Paladin could. I don’t think it’s favouritism, it’s more the situation as it happens to be.
Very cool, dynamic environment making travel actually matter. I really do not like the hand wave method, or the "It is too much trouble to track resources." Approach. I don't think all fights should be balanced encounters either, but that is a complaint for another time. But, I do think that if you are in a fair/ balanced fight, then you showed up to the wrong fight! This goes for the monsters, too.
@JeffBostic-u4y thank you! Agree with you there about balanced fights and it’s possible to make the case that imbalance creates a more exciting encounter than a balanced one. Not to mention the idea of “balanced” is a subjective thing.
I reciently made my players take a long journey and during the trip they had to survive a microburst. they were flung around like rag dolls. it was great.
@@EmergentGM oh yes indeed, one of them blasted straight into a tree. Nearly died. I love D&D it's so much fun. It's just a challenge on how to torment your players today. I enjoy the hell out of it.😁
I've tried to find ways to put some danger or excitement to it. I've had mixed success, lol. Mostly through random event tables that make sense for the area; good, bad, etc. I make a habit of never sticking to one method all the time, so I can feel out how different approaches mesh with my DMing. Always looking for suggestions from long time DMs. 🙂 Recently I've been trying to visualize the idea of group skill challenges, but I have a real hard time conjuring up what they could be on the fly; especially for travel situations.
@karsonkammerzell6955 yeah that's a problem especially in travel situations. Cubicle 7 came out with a Lord of The Rings TTRPG called Adventures in Middle Earth (I think) and it handled travel and exploration very well. Worth looking into if you can find a copy. For group skill checks, are you thinking of a challenge that everyone has to overcome together (ex. acrobatics over a ledge), or a challenge that each player can contribute to solving?
@JakubWojciechowski933 a few ideas: • Thick underbrush or foliage can reduce movement speed, making players slower • fog or heavy mist can reduce visibility, which makes perception or ranged attacks harder • slippery moss can cause players to slip and fall prone • poisonous plant life cause the poison condition
"Everybody gave chase, but nobody realised that they were walking into quick sand", because duh, you didn't tell them they were walking into quicksand nor did the "antagonist" seemingly fall for this trapped environment (if a party of trained adventurers have to cease their pursuit because they didn't see the quicksand, how likely is it that the antagonist got away). Had you described ahead of time, "hey ranger, you notice what could be quicksand" to which the player might ask to roll nature and actually determine there to be quicksand ahead, therefore guiding the party around the trap. No instead, you ambush your table with the "shift the setting" phase to deliberately imperil the party in the attempt to ramp up tension. This is also called being a jerk GM (for sterner language that I prefer in this circumstance is not allowed on youtube). Or to put it yet another way, railroading. Or, rocks fall and all but those that make some nebulous, chosen in the midst of the session that will be high enough so that at least someone will always fail, DC will die. Maybe if you do this once, maybe even twice, a great many sessions apart, you will get away with it, but do this on EVERY journey your PCs take and they will resent you as they will rightfully realise that every environment is deliberately and unreasonably out to kill them all the time. Fact is most travel along a road, or when camping in a safely scouted location, is boring. There are only so many quicksand pits, snow storms, cyclones, or unbearably hot weather days that you can throw at a party. Worst sin of all, is that you assume the PCs to be incompetent. That you spring these circumstances on them when in fact, a relatively decent modifier in a skill represents actual training. A ranger should see a sandstorm or quicksand coming. A wizard should recognise arcane runes that might be some form of magical trap. The only reason why they won't is because you didn't describe those things ahead of time so that the players will be "surprised" by the "trap".
@schemage2210 I can see why you would think this would be railroading. I agree this works once or twice and shouldn’t be used every time. Which is why I said use where appropriate. It's also not meant to be a hammer to abuse players with. That's not what I'm advocating here. It’s the case that if the setting is harsh and unforgiving, the environment would be dangerous and life threatening too, and would have conditions players need to work through. To the degree and frequency that happens is up to the DM to decide. I also don't assume PCs are incompetent. Quite the opposite, I have very high respect for my players and treat them as such. I'm taking the game as it happens. How familiar is the ranger with this part of the swamp? Was the bandit’s attack enough to distract him that he missed the signs of danger? It’s not just describing the danger ahead of time, it’s also whether or not their skill and dice rolls hold up given the situation. In this case they missed it. Does the wizard understand that the arcane runes in the ancient language long forgotten enough to discern that it’s a trap? Or are they too eager to unlock it's secrets that they fail to decipher their meaning? Even the most skilled and trained professionals can make mistakes, and can never be fully prepared for every possible outcome. Thank you for your reply.
@@EmergentGM "Even the most skilled and trained professionals can make mistakes, and can never be fully prepared for every possible outcome." I knew you were going to make some bogus claim to this effect. And sadly despite claiming to respect the competence of the PCs and players, this assertion spits in the face of that. Claiming that "even the most skilled and trained professionals can make mistakes" is to hand wave away the fact that the DM is going to do as the DM pleases. You cannot assume the PCs are competent and yet explain away encounters (as these environmental challenges are strictly speaking), by claiming that the PCs just didn't see it coming. The worst crime a DM can commit, in my experience, is saying the words, "because I'm DM and I said so" and that is the very attitude your technique fosters. I have seen DM abuse, many times, suffered because of it, and I will not sit quietly while wannabe youtubers promote techniques that when used improperly (which is easy to do when you use the logic "if the setting is harsh and unforgiving") will lead to that very same culture of adversarial DM'ing. Your technique might not be intended to abuse players but it is the logical conclusion to the use of it. Particularly when your video does not speak to the dangers of overusing this technique. I called this railroading because that is what it is. Do better, or not do this at all.
@schemage2210 I’m sorry to hear you’ve had many experiences with bad DMs. And heck I’d be upset too if the encounter didn’t make sense or if there was no way of overcoming the challenge. How long have you been playing if you don’t mind my asking? And how would you define this better you’re telling me to strive for?
@@EmergentGM I started playing back in mid 2017, so fast approaching my first ten years with D&D. And while I don't know everything and am always eager to learn (particularly on something so challenging as exploration), I was not pleased to see bad advice, packaged in an overly short box, that will not lead to good outcomes. Remember, I have been around the block, you might have had good intentions, but I know where that slippery slope leads. You claim, in various comments, that you mentioned aspects of how this technique is ripe for abuse and should be used sparingly, but did you honestly spend the time to clearly communicate that to your audience? Your video isn't even 5 minutes long, so honestly the answer is most certainly not! Am I wrong in that? Would you tell your students any differently? If you honestly want to do better, make longer videos, spend more time, not only describing the technique but any pitfalls in using it AND BE SUPER CLEAR, if there are pitfalls. And don't speak as an expert with titles like "This ONE Thing Will Improve Your D&D Exploration FOREVER" if you are honestly just speaking your opinion. If you are not an authority on all things D&D and how to run D&D, don't imply that you are, which you did do.
Really appreciate that your opinion and methodology isn't half explained through 27 minute of unedited footage but actually respect people's time and took the effort to synthetise it clearly inn less than 5 minute, thanks!
@elouenandril6671 you’re most welcome! Glad you found it helpful too. Happy and safe holidays ahead :)
Feng shui did a smart thing. Instead of everyone having a penalty in bad environments and everyone missing all the time, the prepared person just gets a bonus over everyone else.
@Brainstrain That's a great flip on the idea! Never thought of that one.
I use this one all the time.
I didn’t realize Feng Shui is a game and I read this comment as referring to the concept or reality of feng shui principles and I thought it was profound.
@@_brianm I thought it was another UA-camr but 2nd thought was a game. DnD is the only TT game I play so I know there's a lot more out there
If I may make a suggestion without screwing with your acronym, I would go with "Introduce a Consequence" in place of "Impose a Penalty." All penalties all the time is one-dimensional. You can get just as much if not more engagement out of your players if you create environmental effects that they can turn to their advantage sometimes, especially if they are paying attention. Not only does this principle allow for more variety, it allows characters who are particularly suited for certain environments (rangers and druids for wilderness, rogues for urban settings, etc.) to shine.
@graysontowler136 That's a great suggestion! And makes a lot of sense both for the positive and negative side of things. Really appreciate your comment and take on this.
Yeah, if every environment my group traveled through imposed a penalty, I could see the players starting to take it personally and assume they’re being screwed with.
@@nw42 I agree, which is why I like @graysontowler136's suggestion about a consequence. At the very least it informs players to expect the unexpected, whether good or bad.
What's great is that this makes things more interesting even when you don't do it. For example the next time that party has to trudge through a swamp they're going to be much less casual about it. They will start to pay more attention to their surroundings and start asking the GM questions. This makes the setting more immersive right off the bat. And some players might try to come up with ways to get proactive. So it also gives room for player agency and creativity!
@4saken404 Most definitely. Thanks for pointing that out!
No, in actuality, what you are training the players to do is to expect that at some point no matter the environment they are in, even when it makes no logical sense, the "environment" is going to be unreasonably dangerous. Also known as railroading players into encounters that could/should have been avoided.
@@schemage2210 Why would this train them to "expect environment to be unreasonably dangerous"? Did the example in the video unreasonable? Did the video tell you to do it every time there is an exploration? When you receive advise from someone, are you the type of people to take their word literally and think the advice is the rule to be follow exactly?
@schemage2210 how is it unreasonable that environments can get more dangerous? Dangerous and even extreme environments and weather conditions are pretty logical. Hardly railroading. Even the most skilled outdoorsman can get caught in a sudden downturn.
@@energyvampire7831 When a person claiming to be, or is proven to be, an authority on a given topic such as a plumber, a doctor, or even yes a youtuber claiming to have expertise in D&D, says that x is what should be done, why wouldn't I listen to that advice? What's the point in listening to a professional if you are just going to dismiss what they have to say out of hand?
As for the topic of this video, to be blunt, it trains the players to expect an adversarial DM. One who is going to, with a degree of frequency, who is going to use the environment or combat encounters to kill the PCs even when such shouldn't be the case or even necessary.
I’m in the process of doing a re-write for all of the homebrew I’ve written over the last 6-7 years to bring everything in line with each other, and one of the things I’m including in the mechanics are “Harsh Weather Conditions” that are somewhat in line with this idea. I wanted to have some easy reference for exploration challenges that don’t have to do with combat
@avalon1007 That sounds like a lot to rewrite. Hope you're able to streamline everything!
@@EmergentGM I have been mainly streamlining the mechanics, fleshing out worldbuilding-type descriptions where there weren't any before, re-categorizing everything to be more organized, hyperlinking everything within the document itself, etc. I'm just about to finish the 7th class that I am re-writing, so I've got 11 more to go with that, then I start work on re-writing Races/Ancestries. It is already 100+ pages, and it will likely end up closer to 200. I'm also currently running a game for the party who will be converting their characters once I finish the re-writes
@avalon1007 Wow 100-200 pages! That’s a huuuge homebrew! Are you planning to run it like a westmarch with many groups or a long campaign with just one?
@ Basically whenever I’m DMing for folks now, this is what I run. Right now I have rough details for 1 out of maybe 5-6 continents and a map for 1 country on that continent so there’s plenty of room for me to keep writing new ideas and whatnot. I just got to a point where all the writing is done over the past years needed to be consolidated and re-balanced
Don't overuse this or you risk turning your game into a huge grind.
@GaiusMarcus Yup! I mention that towards the end of the video, but if it wasn’t clear, apologies. Last thing you want is a slog.
How can a thrilling encounter, even one with the natural environment, be a grind?
Exactly!
Ironically, 'swamp slog' would be a perfect description marker for this engagement.
I have a trick that can be really fun for an in person session. Actually RECREATE the environment. Like I got those multicolor lights hooked up to my phone and when its night in the game, i dim them, when its a cloudless day, they are bright, etc. When its cold, they shift blue, etc etc.
But heres one you can use sparingly that can really be fun if used only once or twice. One time my players found themselves in a massive storm at sea while sailing, and i turned up a bunch of fans to max, had the lights flickering with blue every once and a while for lighting, but a storm sound effect thing going. There was so much wind that their hair was blowing everywhere and they were holding down papers, and when they roleplay spoke to eachother they actually had to speak over the "storm" to hear. DEFINATELY dont do this every storm, but it is a fun little experience if done just once, maybe twice.
@Tesla7 That's fire! I will tell my online players to blast their fans in their faces next time they encounter strong winds... For effect. Lol!
The quicksand mechanic you mention seems quite reminiscent of the description of the "Transmute Rock to Mud" spell in AD&D 2nd Edition. That was weakened in 3rd Edition so that characters only sank up their chest and didn't suffocate/drown as they has in earlier editions and, in 5e mud/quicksand was reduced to merely a medium that hampers movement. It probably fits more with an "OSR-style" game than with the more modern "story-telling" themed games with plot-armoured characters.
I’ll be running a snowy campaign that I’ve been preparing for over a year. I needed to make several adjustments to travel, rest, and weather, two eight-page documents of changes.
The most noted changes I made was the introduction of the cold system. It’s equal to half a player’s CON score plus or minus any additional modifiers from armor, feats, or race. There are tons of ways to manipulate your cold level that you usually slowly gain through travel throughout the day and going over your capacity gives levels of exhaustion incentivizing management of your resources.
This couples well with my 3D6 weather system, which breaks the weather down into 3 categories (temperature, wind speed, and cloud cover) which have certain effects on the environment and the players when certain values are met.
Lastly my travel and rest overhaul gives players means to actively participate in their parties efforts to set up camp or explore.
Your methods will help greatly in micro-environments and to create greater tension I’m looking for.
@ERBanmech Wow that sounds intense!!! I hope everything you prepped for works out for you and glad that this little trick can help bring to life what you envision.
@@EmergentGM that's not the half of all the changes I made, but it is what is mandatory for the campaign. I added special weapon actions, an opt-in critical fumble table, magical diseases, hirelings, and overhauls to several niche feats. The total count comes roughly to 60 total pages, essentially a small adventure book, but many of these things are designed to be easily reused in other campaigns I run so the effort should be worth it in the long run.
@ERBanmech Ok more intense than I imagined haha! How do you keep track of all that? Especially when you're running the game?
@@EmergentGM I have made DM reference cards that I laminated, it essentially compresses a lot of the campaign-mandatory information into an easy to understand space and the lamination means I can use dry erase on them. I even made reference cards for my players for things like weapon actions, hirelings, and player cold levels so I don’t have to do that for them and they already have a convenient space to keep track of it.
It helps that a good quarter of my stuff is just changes to feats and races which players will be writing down anyways when they make characters and at least half of my stuff isn’t mandatory, only tools players may choose to interact with and to their benefit.
@@ERBanmech Quite a feat! Good to hear your players are into tracking all the changes too. Hope this game becomes as epic as it's shaping up to be! :)
I'm a big fan of weather tables. Very simple, really easy add-on to bring the game to life. Wind and rain are slowing the party down or giving disadvantage to ranged weapon attacks, really simple, everyday stuff, but effective.
@MarkoSeldo Simple and effective indeed! Do you have one that you reference available online? Or is it your own homebrew?
@@EmergentGM Homebrew. This one's for a frozen steppe (like Mongolia). The party were on a clock to get to their destination - hence the lose time/make time aspects. On a d12:
1.Snow. Make a Survival DC14 check or lose a day of travel
2.Fine weather. You make good time and the day passes without incident.
3.Heavy Snow. Impossible to move. Lose a day of travel.
4.Easy ground. You make excellent time and make up a day's travel
5.Heavy sleet. Take a point of exhaustion and you do not get a long rest that night
6.Sleet. Make a Survival DC10 or lose a day of travel
7.Fine weather. You make good time and the day passes without incident.
8.Poor camping. You are unable to take a long rest that night due to the cold
9.Poor camping. You are unable to take a long rest that night due to the cold
10.Snow. Make a Survival DC14 check or lose a day of travel
11.Easy ground. You make excellent time and make up a day's travel
12. Frozen bog. Lose a day of travel to avoid it, or skill challenge DC15/two successes to pass through
@MarkoSeldo That's so interesting! Do you roll it once the day begins? How and when do you trigger the table?
@@EmergentGM Yeah, I just rolled it each day. Usually the party would walk 8-10 hours a day and then rest, and I'd roll it at the end of the rest.
An incredibly simple way to implement this in the vast majority of overland travel is rain and mud. You already mentioned this in the swamp encounter, but literally any road that isn't a major one will be horribly muddy after it rains enough because most roads in a medieval setting will be dirt roads.
Torrential rain and mud were the bane of all travelers and footsoldiers for over a thousand years, and it should be treated as such in a game with an emphasis on exploration and travel.
@ArvelDreth That's a great point! I think we underestimate how harsh environments can be given the wrong weather conditions. I've lived through typhoons and walked through knee high floods and they are not fun.
Rain will also rust iron armour and weapons and has the potential of ruining food supplies too - not much Tupperware in most fantasy settings. Rain will reduce visibility, increasing the chance of getting lost. Rain can make rivers impassable and introduce the risk of flash floods.
If you give thought to the perils of the environment then you don't need to raid the Monster Manual quite so often.
I'm gonna be the black sheep: I don't like this method at all. Specifically, this is destined to already bored players I guess? But for a standard party, unless you are specifically playing horror, sometimes it's good to 'take a break' and have some calm and meaningless interactions. If every leaf, every pond, every branch is an enemy, you're gonna make your players either sedentary or a bunch of psychotic always-on-alert kill-on-sight murderhobos. That is some OSR shit, and I prefer to embrace different approaches. Dnd could take a hint form the One Ring system for travels for example. In that system every journey needs a map because the party has to actively decide which routes to take, and you need to cover roles for the trip such as guide, explorer, etc. I think it is more fair amd realistic and engages your players perfectly without punishing every movement.
@MoonlitKnight12 thanks for your comment. I agree with you it shouldn’t be used in every exploration or encounter, in every session. It’s designed to challenge the players using environmental cues.
Quiet moments during travel is always an option, and I use it regularly. I agree other systems have done it better, especially the way cubicle 7 handled adventures in middle earth travel. Not sure if it’s the same as The One Ring.
I'm an experienced DM (been DMing for over 35 years) and I have to say that this is great advice.
@DorsonKieffer Much appreciated sir!
In in those 35 years, how many times have you seen this "advice" implemented poorly to the point where we now have the phrase "rocks fall and everyone dies"? Or, you know, railroading!!!
I'm sure @DorsonKieffer is experienced enough to know the difference.
@@EmergentGM I'm sure he does, the question still stands, because it's a valid question. Unless you rather not hear the answer?
@@schemage2210 I'm game for it.
Some of the old D&D material is good for this sort of thing; the 3e supplements - "Frostburn", "Sandstorm", and "Stormwrack" are great for inspiration as to how the environment can be a threat, as well as providing some solutions. Going back further, so with more work to adapt for 5e, the 1e supplement "AD&D Wilderness Survival Guide" has some good content too but not as detailed.
@FrostSpike Thank you! I'll check out those supplements. Sounds like they have some great ideas in there!
Turn the environment into an encounter - brilliant!
Great advice keep up the good work sir!
@ssnitro thank you very much!
Travel and weather are a huge part of all my campaigns and actually effects my players choices in characters, feats, etc.
@Eden_North Right? It might take a little extra work, but it adds a bit of flavour to the game.
@@EmergentGMHow does it add work? This is running the campaign. You need to create the impression of a living world where player choices matter.
@davidmorgan6896 I agree with you it’s part and parcel of the world building job of a DM. IMO it depends on the depth, complexity, and variety you want to introduce to your world to give the impression that it’s alive.
I like this. Simple and usable information.
I also like incentivising exploration by handing out lots of rewards.
If they find a great old sword in a lake, King Arthur style, they’re going to look around lakes and stuff more.
Works for me anyway.
@RolltoMissRPG That's a great point, and something I'll consider in the future. Reward the struggle!
Solid advice! It's a new kind of encounter!
@Mystic-Arts-DM very much appreciated. Thank you for stopping by to watch!
excellent-instant subscription
@DrXtoph Thanks for your time and sub! :)
I like this a lot but would love to see how you apply it to more settings like you did for the swamp! Like in a forest, a city, a dungeon, a desert etc.
I'm currently running my friends through a forest and I feel like I'm missing a lot of fun stuff but can't figure it out!
I like this, going to add it in next time I DM
@EmergentGM says: don't overuse, use when appropriate.
Provides no further information about appropriate vs. Inappropriate 🤨
@macoppy6571 Fair point! I usually describe different environmental conditions when players explore. Like in the swamp case: musty stench, murky water, dense vegetation.
But which of these will affect my players the most? That's the appropriate one I focus on.
In my case, I chose: quicksand cuz I could hide it in the dense vegetation.
Turning every little condition into a challenge, or having every scene/room/environment have its own conditions that players need to overcome, would be inappropriate. That will slow the game down, which I want to avoid.
Hope this helps clarify! If not let me know.
It's weirdly meta how well done the storytelling of this video is, since it's about environmental storytelling. S tier, +1 subscriber!
@otaviolagranha192 Thank you for the sub and the time! :)
Thanks. That's quite helpful.
@biffstrong1079 Glad you found it useful!
What sort of environmental interactions would you consider for a desert/badlands/canyons campaign?
Perhaps require a Constitution Save for every section of time or risk a level of Exhaustion, until the PCs find some method of mitigate the the threat of the arid heat such as covering up or finding a ready source of water.
Potentially sandstorms that can effectively blind the PCs, separate them, or cover the approach of other threats.
Canyons in particular could be a threat to loose ground, rock slides, and so on.
I agree with @dungeonguy88 👍🏻 to build on what was suggested:
Cold Nights - sharp temperature drops after sunset could cause hypothermia without proper shelter. A CON or Survival check could work to mitigate it.
Flash Floods - sudden downpours of torrential rain can turn terrain muddy making it difficult to walk, or could lead to flooding in canyons.
Rockslides - heavy rocks can fall into crevices by natural or forced means. Canyons in particular can suffer from this.
On the beneficial side:
hidden sources of water, rock shelters, wild flora like cactus for sustenance, can be used to make environments feel more lively.
@@EmergentGM That is an interesting facet about many extreme environs, like deserts.
The popular image of them is usually just how they are MOST of the time.
As mentioned above, arid regions get bitingly cold at night and do tend to have massive rainy seasons.
This could be examined for ideas for other regions that could present unexpected challenges.
Plains and pastoral regions might be calm and idyllic most of the time, but have seasons of extreme wind storms.
Wintry regions could be snowy and white for most of the year but be plagued by muddy wetter, warmer seasons.
A forest might seem like the classic average and stable of biomes for an adventurer. But during the Summers might be prone to wild fires that completely change the tone of the area.
A lot of good ideas for making environments interesting or engaging, would be thinking about what factors come up in the real-world for such regions.
This might even start to give idea for more supernatural and magical regions and what environmental variables might be present there.
Great ideas. Thanks for this
@syrupchugger421 You're welcome! Hope it helps :)
A lot of good insights here, good advice thats also from AD&D 1st edition
@xyonblade Oh I didn't know that! I got my start with 2e, and from the player side of things. Very cool.
This is something you do sparingly, or when you want to add another dimension to certain combat encounters.
Punishing some players by tying it to a single stat across the board, is never going to be viewed well, as it will make players seem as though it is showing favoritism to certain classes, as it puts others at a severe disadvantage.
Instead make it a skill type challenge, where each player has to think of a clever way to use their characters predominant skill/s to over come it.
Also to make your world not seem static you need to constantly put different and interesting scenarios in front of them all the time, not having moving parts is what makes it seem static.
If you describe things with no life than your world is lifeless.
So fill it up with scenarios , and they do not have to all be encounters, just interesting things happening that the players are witness to.
There is never nothing happening, even when there is nothing happening.
@ParkerKent-r7z definitely! And love your point that to make the world interesting, it doesn’t always have to be an encounter.
And i agree this shouldn’t be used every game, and I mention towards the end to “sprinkle where appropriate.” What I failed to mention is that you can be flexible with the skill checks given the players’ input. If a player wants to “yank his friend out with all his might” I could ask for a strength check for the action followed by the dex save to see if they lost their balance in the process.
Certain classes will do better at certain challenges IMO. A rogue could cross a 1 foot narrow ledge on an icy cliffside better than a Paladin could. I don’t think it’s favouritism, it’s more the situation as it happens to be.
Good tips!
@Daves_Channel Thank you!
Very cool, dynamic environment making travel actually matter. I really do not like the hand wave method, or the "It is too much trouble to track resources." Approach. I don't think all fights should be balanced encounters either, but that is a complaint for another time.
But, I do think that if you are in a fair/ balanced fight, then you showed up to the wrong fight! This goes for the monsters, too.
@JeffBostic-u4y thank you! Agree with you there about balanced fights and it’s possible to make the case that imbalance creates a more exciting encounter than a balanced one. Not to mention the idea of “balanced” is a subjective thing.
TLDR: Use Traps ahead of the BBEG's room for a more dynamic playing experience.
Great idea!
I reciently made my players take a long journey and during the trip they had to survive a microburst. they were flung around like rag dolls. it was great.
@CeroToTheFace Love it. I'm sure they had a blast! :)
@@EmergentGM oh yes indeed, one of them blasted straight into a tree. Nearly died. I love D&D it's so much fun. It's just a challenge on how to torment your players today. I enjoy the hell out of it.😁
Exuse me sirr, that's really good advice.
@matthewmcguigan4293 Thank you sir! Glad you found it helpful.
I've tried to find ways to put some danger or excitement to it. I've had mixed success, lol. Mostly through random event tables that make sense for the area; good, bad, etc.
I make a habit of never sticking to one method all the time, so I can feel out how different approaches mesh with my DMing. Always looking for suggestions from long time DMs. 🙂
Recently I've been trying to visualize the idea of group skill challenges, but I have a real hard time conjuring up what they could be on the fly; especially for travel situations.
@karsonkammerzell6955 yeah that's a problem especially in travel situations. Cubicle 7 came out with a Lord of The Rings TTRPG called Adventures in Middle Earth (I think) and it handled travel and exploration very well. Worth looking into if you can find a copy.
For group skill checks, are you thinking of a challenge that everyone has to overcome together (ex. acrobatics over a ledge), or a challenge that each player can contribute to solving?
What king of penalty could be introduced in a forest?
@JakubWojciechowski933 a few ideas:
• Thick underbrush or foliage can reduce movement speed, making players slower
• fog or heavy mist can reduce visibility, which makes perception or ranged attacks harder
• slippery moss can cause players to slip and fall prone
• poisonous plant life cause the poison condition
Awesome 😎
seems like four things 🤔
@danacoleman4007 Lol! Thanks for watching nonetheless.
"Everybody gave chase, but nobody realised that they were walking into quick sand", because duh, you didn't tell them they were walking into quicksand nor did the "antagonist" seemingly fall for this trapped environment (if a party of trained adventurers have to cease their pursuit because they didn't see the quicksand, how likely is it that the antagonist got away). Had you described ahead of time, "hey ranger, you notice what could be quicksand" to which the player might ask to roll nature and actually determine there to be quicksand ahead, therefore guiding the party around the trap.
No instead, you ambush your table with the "shift the setting" phase to deliberately imperil the party in the attempt to ramp up tension. This is also called being a jerk GM (for sterner language that I prefer in this circumstance is not allowed on youtube). Or to put it yet another way, railroading. Or, rocks fall and all but those that make some nebulous, chosen in the midst of the session that will be high enough so that at least someone will always fail, DC will die.
Maybe if you do this once, maybe even twice, a great many sessions apart, you will get away with it, but do this on EVERY journey your PCs take and they will resent you as they will rightfully realise that every environment is deliberately and unreasonably out to kill them all the time. Fact is most travel along a road, or when camping in a safely scouted location, is boring. There are only so many quicksand pits, snow storms, cyclones, or unbearably hot weather days that you can throw at a party. Worst sin of all, is that you assume the PCs to be incompetent. That you spring these circumstances on them when in fact, a relatively decent modifier in a skill represents actual training. A ranger should see a sandstorm or quicksand coming. A wizard should recognise arcane runes that might be some form of magical trap. The only reason why they won't is because you didn't describe those things ahead of time so that the players will be "surprised" by the "trap".
@schemage2210 I can see why you would think this would be railroading. I agree this works once or twice and shouldn’t be used every time. Which is why I said use where appropriate. It's also not meant to be a hammer to abuse players with. That's not what I'm advocating here. It’s the case that if the setting is harsh and unforgiving, the environment would be dangerous and life threatening too, and would have conditions players need to work through. To the degree and frequency that happens is up to the DM to decide.
I also don't assume PCs are incompetent. Quite the opposite, I have very high respect for my players and treat them as such. I'm taking the game as it happens. How familiar is the ranger with this part of the swamp? Was the bandit’s attack enough to distract him that he missed the signs of danger? It’s not just describing the danger ahead of time, it’s also whether or not their skill and dice rolls hold up given the situation. In this case they missed it. Does the wizard understand that the arcane runes in the ancient language long forgotten enough to discern that it’s a trap? Or are they too eager to unlock it's secrets that they fail to decipher their meaning?
Even the most skilled and trained professionals can make mistakes, and can never be fully prepared for every possible outcome. Thank you for your reply.
@@EmergentGM "Even the most skilled and trained professionals can make mistakes, and can never be fully prepared for every possible outcome."
I knew you were going to make some bogus claim to this effect. And sadly despite claiming to respect the competence of the PCs and players, this assertion spits in the face of that. Claiming that "even the most skilled and trained professionals can make mistakes" is to hand wave away the fact that the DM is going to do as the DM pleases. You cannot assume the PCs are competent and yet explain away encounters (as these environmental challenges are strictly speaking), by claiming that the PCs just didn't see it coming. The worst crime a DM can commit, in my experience, is saying the words, "because I'm DM and I said so" and that is the very attitude your technique fosters.
I have seen DM abuse, many times, suffered because of it, and I will not sit quietly while wannabe youtubers promote techniques that when used improperly (which is easy to do when you use the logic "if the setting is harsh and unforgiving") will lead to that very same culture of adversarial DM'ing. Your technique might not be intended to abuse players but it is the logical conclusion to the use of it. Particularly when your video does not speak to the dangers of overusing this technique.
I called this railroading because that is what it is. Do better, or not do this at all.
@schemage2210 I’m sorry to hear you’ve had many experiences with bad DMs. And heck I’d be upset too if the encounter didn’t make sense or if there was no way of overcoming the challenge. How long have you been playing if you don’t mind my asking? And how would you define this better you’re telling me to strive for?
@@EmergentGM I started playing back in mid 2017, so fast approaching my first ten years with D&D. And while I don't know everything and am always eager to learn (particularly on something so challenging as exploration), I was not pleased to see bad advice, packaged in an overly short box, that will not lead to good outcomes. Remember, I have been around the block, you might have had good intentions, but I know where that slippery slope leads.
You claim, in various comments, that you mentioned aspects of how this technique is ripe for abuse and should be used sparingly, but did you honestly spend the time to clearly communicate that to your audience? Your video isn't even 5 minutes long, so honestly the answer is most certainly not! Am I wrong in that? Would you tell your students any differently? If you honestly want to do better, make longer videos, spend more time, not only describing the technique but any pitfalls in using it AND BE SUPER CLEAR, if there are pitfalls. And don't speak as an expert with titles like "This ONE Thing Will Improve Your D&D Exploration FOREVER" if you are honestly just speaking your opinion. If you are not an authority on all things D&D and how to run D&D, don't imply that you are, which you did do.
my environments are not boring but thank you