dungeon masters guide - core rule book

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UNODUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE2

ROLEPLAYING GAME SUPPLEMENTJames Wyatt Bill Slavicsek Robin D. Laws


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CREDITSDesign

james Wyatt (lead),Bill Siavicsek, Mike Mearls, Robin D. lawsAdditional Design

Andy Collins, Rob Donoghue,johnn Four, Greg Gorden,Vacine "Vax" Merzouk, Stephen Radney-MacFarland,

Stephen Schubert, Matthew SernettDevelopment

Stephen Schubert (lead),Andy Collins, Stephen RadneyMacFariand

EditingMichele Carter (lead),Kara Hamilton, Miranda Horner, Cal Moore

Additional EditingGreg Bilsland, Torah Cottrill

Managing EditingKim MohanText Review

George Stray onDirector of D&D R&D and Book Publishing

Bill SiavicsekD&D Creative Manager

Christopher PerkinsD&D Design Manager

james WyattD&D Development and Editing Manager

Andy CollinsD&D Senior Art Director

jo n Schindehette

Art DirectorMari KolkowskyGraphic DesignerSoe HemmiCover IllustrationWayne ReynoldsInterior IllustrationsSteve Argyle, Ryan Barger, Kerem Beyit, Zoltan Boros& Gabor Szikszai, Nicole Ashley Cardiff, Chippy,julieDillon, Vincent Dutrait,jason A. Engle, Randy Gallegos,Tomas Giorello, Ralph Horsley, Howard lyon, RavenMimura, lucio Parrillo, Georgi Simeonov "Calader,"Amelia Stoner, Eva WidermannCartographerjason A. EngleD&D Brand Teamli z Schuh, Scott Rouse, Kierin Chase, Sara Girard,Martin DurhamPublishing Production SpecialistErin DorriesPrepress Managerjefferson DunlapImaging TechnicianCarmen CheungProduction ManagerCynda CallawayGame rules based on the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ' rulescreated by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and the latereditions by David "Zeb" Cook (2nd Edition);jonathan Tweet,Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, andPeter Adkison (3rd Edition); and Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins,and james Wyatt (4th Edition).

Dedicated to the memory of Dave Arneson

620 -2 4206000 -001 EN987654321First Printing:September 2009

ISBN: 978-0-786952441

U.S. ,CANADA , ASIA , PACIFIC,& LATIN AMERICAWizards of the Coast LLCP.O. Box 707Renton WA 98057-0707+1-800-324 -6496

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DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, 0&0 , d2 0 , dl O System, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, EBERRON, FORGOTTEN REALMS, Player 's Handbook, Dunaeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual, Advenwr;Vault, Arcane Power, Dunaeon Delve, Draconomicon: Chromatic Draaons, Martial Power, Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead, Primal Power, all other Wizards of the Coast prodnames , and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast lLC in th e U.S.A. and other countries. All Wizards characters and the distinctive likenesses thereof-property of Wizards of the Coast LLC. Thismaterial is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the materor artwork contained herein is prohibited without th e express written permission of Wizards of the Coast LLC. Any similarity to actual people. organizations. places. or eveincluded herein is purely coincidental. Printed in the U.S.A. 20 09 Wizardsof the Coast LLC.

VISlT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WIZARDS.COM/DND


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OCT10N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Skill Challenge Examples . . . . . . . . . 89 Emblem of Ossandrya . . . . . . . . . 15 4Closing the Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Rash and Reckless . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

cture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9~ ~ " d , , , Arcs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

of Characters . . . . . . . . . . 13 e World BUilding . . . . . . 16. g Hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22e vards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

r Players Want . . . . . . . . . 26" Characters . . . . . . . . . . . 27

_ -;}, ngs Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Opening the Ninth Ward . . . . . . . 90Hunting the Mastermind . . . . . . . 90Chasing the Bandits . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Traveling Through Gorgimrith . . . 92The Restless Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93The Rushing River. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Wa r by Other Means . . . . . . . . . . . 96Moving Through Suderham . . . . . 98

4: CUSTOM1Z1NG MONSTERS .. .102Monster Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 4

Using Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 4Themed Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Rod of Seven Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Standard of Eternal Battle . . . . . 159Organizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Recurring Villainy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Political Complications . . . . . . . . 162Rivalry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Belonging to an Organization . . . 163Shifting Relationships . . . . . . . . . 163Power Struggles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 4Organization Elements . . . . . . . . 165Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Campaign Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 8Breach Smashers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

e as Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.' ations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42;. for Large Groups . . . . . . 50

rs for Small Groups . . . . . . 51rs and Attrition . . . . . . . . . 52

Demogorgon Cultist . . . . . . . . . . 106Feywild Denizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Goblin Allies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Legion of Avernus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112lolth's Chosen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Orcus Blood Cultist . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Pillars ofthe State. . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Blood and Treasure . . . . . . . . . . . 171The Mobius Trippers . . . . . . . . . . 172Dungeoncraft:

The Campaign Arc . . . . . . . . . . 174=. . ................... 52 Snaketongue Cultist . . . . . . . . . . . 118 6: PARAGON CAMPA1GNS . . . . . . 176

o ement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

-astic Terrain . . . . . . . . . . 58overs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

-r aps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Solo Traps . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 66,Iaiden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Those Who Hear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Tiamat's Red Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Applying a Template . . . . . . . . . . 124Functional Templates . . . . . . . . . 125

Beast of Demogorgon . . . . . . . 125Champion of Bane . . . . . . . . . . 125Chaos Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Cursed Guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Paragon Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Reaching Paragon Tier. . . . . . . . . 178Crowns and Thrones . . . . . . . . . . 178Masters of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 0Down to the Depths . . . . . . . . . . 181Darkness in the light . . . . . . . . . . 183World Hopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 4Masters of Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Masters of Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185I'on Portcullis . . . . . . . . . 67

to .rlIing Chamber . . . . . . . 67g Walls Room . . . . . . . . 68

~ o l l i n g Boulder . . . . . . . . 69

Dragontouched Destroyer . . . 126Grizzled Veteran . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Hellbound Soldier. . . . . . . . . . . 127Mad Alchemist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Sigil, The City of Doors . . . . . . . . . . 18 6Origin Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 6The Impossible Place . . . . . . . . . . 18 6Portals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 8Strangler Statue . . . . . . . 70

tal Tiles . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 71::; .=.....,,,"' Hunter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Slithering Idol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Spectral Assassin . . . . . . . . . . . 130Spiderblessed Spinner. . . . . . . 130

The lady of Pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 0Rules and Governance . . . . . . . . . 191Sigil's Businesses

Terrifying Haunt . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 and Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Victim of the Mad Dance . . . . 131 The Wards ofSigil. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 4

Class Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Faces of Sigil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 2Creating Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Typical Street Encounter. . . . . . . . . 20 4

- '- ""LLENGES . . . . . . . . . 78"e Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Challengeork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80


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PLAYER'S HANDBOOK 2 introduced eightnew classes and five new races to the D&D "" game.It presented racial paragon paths, character backgrounds, and new feats and rituals for every character.

Monster Manual fO 2 presented over 30 0 new monsters to the game, covering every level and role. Fromthe humble ankheg broodling to the mighty Princeof Demons, Demogorgon, it's full of monsters to challenge your players and add new life to your dungeons.

So what's in Dun8eon Master's Guide 'ID 2 that willmake your game better?JUICY RULES BITSLet's start with the juicy rules bits you can drop inyour game right away-like the eight pages of newtraps in Chapter 2. You also get solid guidelines forcreating your own traps, covering everything fromgetting the numbers right to making sure your trapthreatens the characters-not the fun of your game.

Chapter 2 also includes new types of fantasticterrain you can add to your encounters, as well asintroducing the concept of "terrain powers"-attackpowers built in to an encounter's environment.

Chapter 4 is about tweaking and adjusting monsters. It rounds out the rules presented in the first 4thEdition Dun8eon Master's Guide with additional rulesfor making minions and refined guidelines for eliteand solo monsters. It presents new templates, including class templates for the classes in Player's Handbook2, and introduces monster themes-a great way totweak the flavor and powers of a monster to make itfit whatever kind of adventure you want to run.

You'll find new artifacts in Chapter 5, includingold favorites such as the Rod of Seven Parts and theCup and Talisman ofAI'Akbar (both of which appearedin the original Dun8eon Master's Guide back in 1979)as well as all-new artifacts deSigned to appeal to pairsor whole groups of characters.Chapter 5 also sets out a new system of rewardsyou can use instead of (or as a supplement to) magicitems. Divine boons represent gifts from the godsor their agents, legendary boons express the accomplishment of great deeds of power, and grandmastertraining reflects what happens when a player character learns from a legendary master.Near the end of Chapter 1, you'll find rules forcompanion characters-a great way to round out asmall party or bring an important NPC along for the

ride with your player characters. That chapter alsoincludes handy rules for altering a character on thefly so he or she can fit in with a party of characters ofmuch higher or lower level.EXPERT ADVICEA Dun8eon Master's Guide isn't just about rules, it'sabout helping you be a better Dungeon Master.Whether you're a veteran DM or a first-timer, thisbook has ample expert advice to improve your game.

Chapter 1, "Group Storytelling," focuses on thecooperative experience of creating a dramatic narrative. Whether you're looking to inject a little moredrama into your game or you want a group-createdstory to drive your campaign, you'll find advice thatwill help you bring the characters at your table to life.

Chapter 2, "Advanced Encounters," extends thatadvice to the level of the individual encounters thatmake up your adventures, offering advice to helpmake each encounter an important part of the plot.This chapter also includes advice on how to tailorencounters for different player motivations, how todeal with large and small groups, how to encouragemovement in combat, and how to pace encountersto build dramatic tension. If you've wondered howto encourage characters to press on without takingan extended rest, or how to handle a long fight withwave after wave of onrushing enemies and no timefor a short rest, this chapter has the advice you need.

Chapter 2 ends with a sample encounter thatpulls many of the elements discussed in the chaptertogether into a Single, dynamic fight.

Chapter 3, "Skill Challenges," focuses on usingskill challenges in your game, combining extensive,detailed advice with lots of examples. It sums up thebasic rules of skill challenges (as al ready expandedand clarified in rules updates found on www.wizards.com), moves on to discuss five key elements of skillchallenges, and wraps up with a series of examples.

In among the rewards and artifacts in Chapter5, "Adventures," you'll also find plenty of advice tohelp you build your campaign. Sample campaignarcs, including a hands-on example of how to builda campaign arc, help you form the skeleton of yourcampaign, and information about using artifacts andorganizations can help you flesh out the details.

If the characters in your campaign have advancedto paragon level, be sure to take a look at Chapter 6 ,"Paragon Campaigns." This chapter offers tips and


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for campaigns set in the paragon tier,the city of Sigil as a home base for char-

through the paragon tier, andshort adventure for 11th-level characters.

D INSIDERthis book, you'll find excerpts of material

the pages ofDun8eonTM magazine, particularlyRadney-MacFarland's "Save My Game"n and James Wyatt's "Dungeoncraft" column.other material in this book originally appeared

ll Challenges" column by Mikein Dra80nTM magazine.

and features are part ofD&Dan online subscription-based service

bring new life and new ideas to yourInsider is a suite of content and

for better gaming, including:magazine, which features new material and

make your characterscampaigns more fun and more compelling:ampaign set

and more. Dra80n magazineprint products, giving you the opportuo share your feedback with the Wizards of the

design and development teams.

Dun8eon magazine, which proVides three to fivenew adventures every month-something for eachtier of play (heroic, paragon, and epic)-so you'llalways have a game that's ready to run. Whetheryou run those adventures, or play your own homebrewed adventures and campaigns, Dun8eon offersa continuous source of articles, features, hints, andtips, to help make the job ofDMing even easier. The D&D Character Builder, a stand-alone application that puts information from every printedbook and online article at your fingertips as youbuild and level your character. In addition to providing an updatable and easy-to-read charactersheet, the Character Builder generates powercards for you to quickly reference and track yourcharacter's powers.

The D&D Compendium, a searchable online database of the complete rules text for every race, class,paragon path, epic destiny, skill, feat, power, item,and ritual- from every D&D rulebook and onlinemagazine article.

Wizards of the Coast is working constantly to expandand improve the tools and content available on D&DInsider, so be sure to check www.dndinsider.com forthe latest updates. And if you like the excerpts fromD&D Insider you find within these pages, become asubscriber and check out what you've been missing!

PUTT1NG IT ALL TO USEDun8eon Master's Guide in 2008,

game has grown. Besides Player'S Handbook 2 andManual 2, you and your players might own Martial

"', Draconomicon '": Chromatic Dra80ns, Open Grave"',Vaulf", the FORGOmN REAlMS"" or E B E R R O ~ Cam-

Guide and Player's Guide, and any number of otherand adventures. How do you put it all to work

game?by knOWing when to say no. If a player brings a

option to your table that doesn't fit in your game,the player to hold on to that idea untilyou (or someone else in your

starts something new. Balance this, of course, withMaster's Guide), but know the limits you want

game and don't be afraid to enforce them.rs are eager to try a new class or build theyin Player's Handbook 2 or a power source book suchPower'", check out the sidebar on page 35, which

how to let players take on multiple characters.characters when new options become available. If

druid in your party wants to become a swarmonce Primal Power'" comes out, and the player canthat change without doing violence to the story of

.

The D&D Compendium, part of the D&D Insider suiteof tools, is a great way to keep track of information thatappears in multiple books. If you're trying to find the callerin darkness, the Compendium can tell you quickly that itappears in Open Grave: Secrets of he Undead (and that it'sa level 19 elite soldier). Using the Compendium to buildencounters keeps all the information from your books atyour fingertips.

Loot freely. For instance, you don' t have to be running agame set in the world of Eberron to find something worthusing in the EBERRON Campai8n Guide. Maybe the idea ofcharacters with dragon marks tied to a mysterious prophecy fits in with the ideas you have for your own campaign.Letting your characters take dragon mark feats-and thenpitting them against agents of the Chamber and the Lordsof Dust-makes everyone at the table happy.Delves (short, three-encounter adventures), lairs, andeven single encounters are easy to work in to whateveradventure you're running, whether it's a published adventure or one of your own creation. If you craft your ownadventures but find yourself underprepared for a session,picking up a delve from Dun8eon Delve"',a dragon lair fromDraconomicon, or even a couple of encounters from one ofthe dozens of adventures found in Dun8eon magazine is agreat way to keep your game on track

- James Wyatt


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dungeon masters guide - core rule book

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