IX. Game Master

Contents

• Chance Die
• Resource Attrition
• Diseases
• Curses
• Other Harmful Effects
• Buying Mundane Items
• Buying Magic Items
• Quest for It
• Expected Number of Magic Items

• Home

Chance Die

When in doubt how to resolve an unexpected situation, use the Chance Die. Make a rough estimate of the probability of an outcome and assign it a value between 1 - 6. Then roll a d6 to determine the outcome. For example, a character asks a wandering merchant if they have hempen rope for sale, a reasonable probability would be 4-in-6. Roll d6, on a 1 - 4 the merchant has rope, on a 5 - 6 the merchant does not.

Attrition

With the exception of climactic set piece battles, characters should be challenged by resource attrition as opposed to overwhelmingly difficult opponents. Minimize single encounter days and strive to meet the recommended 6-8 encounters before letting up the pressure on the characters.

Do not use random encounters while traveling as they becoming trivially easy single encounter days. Instead, only interject traveling encounters to provide the players with diversions or branching storylines; these encounters should serve as on-ramps to new adventures.

Diseases

Diseases can be trivially resolved by a level three character with Lesser Restoration. Diseases should not be thought of in the traditional sense of the word but rather as temporary combat afflictions.

Curses

Curses can be trivially resolved by a level five character with Remove Curse. Curses should not be thought of in the traditional sense of the word but rather as temporary combat afflictions.

Other Harmful Effects

Other harmful effects, such as petrification, charm, reduction to a character's ability scores, or reductions to a character's hit point maximum can be used to challenge low level parties. However, these effects can be trivially resolved by a level nine character with Greater Restoration. For high level parties, these effects should be considered temporary combat afflictions.

Buying Mundane Items

Unless the player character is in a major city, do not automatically grant them access to the full mundane item list. Instead, ask the player what item they are seeking and then estimate the likelihood the item would be present in a certain area. Err on the side of the item being available but do not give the players carte blanche.

Buying Magic Items

Buying magic items should range between difficult and impossible. Use the rules in Xanathar's Guide to Everything (XGtE, pg. 126) to determine item availability, pricing, and complications. Follow through with the complications as described to create meaningful friction for the character acquiring the item.

Quest for It

If a player has a specific magic item in mind for their character, remind them to Quest for It. Then follow through with creating the opportunity for the player to do so.

Expected Number of Magic Items

Use the following distribution of magic items to keep the characters power level in check. These tables contain the total number of items for the entire party, not individual characters (XGtE, pg 135).

Minor Magic Items

Minor items are those listed on Magic Item Tables A through E in the Dungeon Master's Guide (pgs. 144 - 145).

Major Magic Items

Major items are those listed on Magic Item Tables F through I in the Dungeon Master's Guide (pgs. 146 - 149).