Ideas for rewarding experience outside of combat

Adventurers get most of their experience points by killing monsters.

An orc is worth 100 XP. A drider is worth 2,300. An adult black dragon is worth a whopping 11,500.

But all the other stuff adventurers do - tracking down NPCs, recovering treasures, exploring dungeons, roleplaying their characters - are generally not counted whether you’re playing Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder.

But we have some ideas.

Instead of resting all the weight of the game on taking down monsters and dungeon bosses, you can also award XP for a variety of other happenings in your game.

The idea is to reward players for more than simply rushing into combat with swords drawn and intent to kill. Perhaps they’ll try a few new things if you reward them for it.

Completing quests. Other editions of D&D often provided XP totals for accomplishing quests set forth by knights, nobles, shopkeepers and anyone asking for help from a band of worthy adventurers. Maybe it’s time to bring that idea back to 5th edition.

Finding magic items. We’re not talking about finding that +1 longsword in a dungeon. But when you find a magic item of significance (a long-lost magic orb sought by a king, magic stones worshipped by a group of natives or a magic dagger that’s also being sought by a cult of assassins), it can be quite an accomplishment.

Claiming treasure. When a particularly large cache of gold, gems or weapons is discovered, you could sprinkle in a little XP.

Exploring dungeons. In addition to the XP earned by slaying monsters in a ruined castle, underground dungeon or cultist temple, throw some extra XP just for having cleared the place out. It’s a feat all its own.

Meeting with NPCs. Interactions with the characters of your campaign world should be a bigger deal. You can make it that way by awarding some XP when adventurers turn an NPC into an ally, rescuing them from harm or denying an opposing NPC an asset or benefit.

Solving puzzles. Working through a complex dungeon puzzle is a lot harder than swinging your greataxe.

Good roleplaying. If you’re playing 5th edition, you’re supposed to award inspiration for good roleplaying. But dropping a little XP whenever someone performs particularly well in-character will also encourage plenty of RP at the table.

Avoiding combat. If you were going to award XP for a combat encounter, consider awarding the same amount of XP if the party avoids the fight through negotiation, stealth or intimidation.

Illustration by Yngvar Apslund

Individual achievements. Typically, you’ll reward XP to the whole party whether they finish an encounter or accomplish any of the tasks above. But when a thief picks a particularly hard lock, the druid manages to forage some food in the forest or the bard plays a song to soothe an angry mob, drop them some individual XP.

Completing a chase. Running through the streets to catch a bad guy is a blast. It’s also hard to do successfully with all the possible things that could get in your way. If you do indeed get the bad guy, you should get some experience for that, too.

Doing something cool. This isn’t so specific. But sometimes players think outside of the box and do some wild stuff, thwarting enemies and destroying traps in ways you wouldn’t normally think. There’s also the occasion where a player makes a risky move in combat that pays off or scores a critical hit in just the right moment. 

Fantasy-Art-Adrian-Majkrzak-Mountain-Bash 

December Crate Overview

We hope you’re having a happy holiday.

And we hope it was made all the happier by our holiday crate!

Contained in December’s box of RPG loot are a whole lot of Christmas and winter-themed items as well as plenty of other gear you’ll find useful in any of your Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder games.

Let’s dig in.

Slashing Through the Snow

This month’s outing from Dungeon Crate Adventures takes the party to the frozen tundra. The jolly old elf who was a benefactor to the people of a small Northern town has been overtaken by an evil spirit, who has stolen all the town’s children. Frightful creatures such as evil snowmen, ice elemental and ice goblins inhabit the snow-covered town. and it’s up to the adventurers to stop them and save the children while navigating the endless blizzard that has overtaken the town. We hope your character packed mittens.

Evil Snowmen Miniatures

These three nefarious snow monsters from Reaper are perfect to use in “Slashing Through the Snow,” drop into your snow-themed adventures or paint up and discreetly insert into your family’s Dickensian Christmas village decorations. We won’t tell.

Holiday Ornaments

Merry Crit-mas! Our fine friends at Advanced Deployment created another set of holiday ornaments to hang in your tree (or wherever you show off your holiday-loving side). Long-time subscribers will remember we include these in every holiday crate.

Coins

This crate has lots of loot. Set of 15 coins from Rare Elements Foundry

Slime Miniature

Gross. This little piece from Dungeon Crawler depicts a skull being swept up in nasty green slime. It’s perfect to show something murky and dangerous lurking in the depths of any dungeon. It’s such a perfect sculpt, showing movement in a little splash of slime.

Giant Ant Miniature

If an ant can lift something 10 times its weight, what can this giant ant lift? Watch out when you encounter one of these in the dungeons. This mini from Dungeon Crawler is another great one.

Digital Crate

Once again, there are lots more digital goodies to be found at DungeonCrate.com that will enhance the items in your physical crate. December’s digital crate includes the full text of “Slashing Through the Snow,” in addition to extra artwork, DM and player maps, digital assets to run the adventure on virtual tabletops and the adventure’s complete bestiary, which includes several new monsters. 

Miniature makers for your tabletop RPG game

You like minis. We like minis.

The little plastic and pewter heroes and monsters make depicting your fantasy battles quite a bit of fun, but if you’re a longtime collector, you might be running out of places to find new miniatures.

We dug through the internet, asked friends and consulted expert painters to source some fantastic miniatures companies.

For this blog, we didn’t include pre-painted lines (WizKids for both D&D and Pathfinder) or the major fantasy wargames (Warhammer or Warmachine/Hordes) since most gamers are aware of them. We also limited our selection to companies in the U.S.

We hope this helps you expand your collection.

Reaper

Probably the biggest and most well-known company is Reaper Miniatures, which has loads of metal and plastic minis. One of the best things they have on their site is the figure finder, which lets you pick races, classes, equipment and other filters to find just the right mini.

Dungeon Crawler

A load of different fantasy minis come from Dungeon Crawler in either white unpainted plastic or full painted. Have you seen their Kraken? It’s massive, and it’s amazing.

CMON

If you paint or are into minis at all, you’ve probably spent a good amount of time on Cool Mini Or Not, and the site now has its own line of minis in the shop. They’re limited edition, and they’re great sculpts.

Dark Sword

These guys make some amazing pewter pieces, and they have the license to George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” as well as several lines of famous mini sculptors. And if you want to play any kind of anthropomorphic animal, they have what you need.

Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures and PathfinderDeep Cuts

WizKids makes all those pre-painted plastic minis, but last year they started producing unpainted lines for both D&D and Pathfinder. They come pre-primed and ready to paint. The PC minis typically come with two sculpts of the same character in one box, so you can have multiple poses.

Ral Partha

They’ve been around since the beginning of RPGs. They’re still here and still kicking ass.

Atlantis Miniatures

Have you seen these? Atlantis makes incredibly detailed pieces, and their fantasy minis include orcs, goblins, dwarves, trolls, giants and a variety of fantasy monsters. Their orc war boss riding a wyvern is incredible.

Soda Pop Miniatures

They make the board game Super Dungeon Explore, and their adorable chibi miniatures are excellent. Pick up some of their expansion packs for single miniatures or groups of monsters.

Wrath of Kings

This is a wargame, but their fantasy miniatures are insane. And insanely detailed.

Wyrd

You know these guys as the producers of Malifaux, the skirmish wargame. Not everything from their twisted world would fit your fantasy games, but a lot would.

ArcKnight Games

For something completely different. ArcKnight has a full line of 2D clear flat minis. These are two-sided front and back, and feature some amazing art. They also look amazing on the game table, even alongside other 3D minis and terrain. Speaking of they have lots of that as well. The flat minis come in various packs and travel well. Much better than tokens or cardstock stand up minis. We have had them in Dungeon Crate several times and we also use them ourselves in our games.

What are your favorites?

How to introduce someone to tabletop RPGs

Someone’s first session of D&D is very important.

Like anything else, that first impression is huge, and if you want them to enjoy the game, it’s critical that you get that first time at the table just right.

Whether it’s a daughter, a nephew, a co-worker, a friend or a significant other, you ought to plan for that first session by making everything welcoming and fun.

We know more than one person who was so turned off by their first D&D or Pathfinder session that it became their only session. Ever.

Here are some tips to (hopefully) turn that interested player into a longtime fan.

Ask them what they’re into. Most come to fantasy RPGs wanting, well, your standard fantasy story. But if they’re more into horror, you might try a horror adventure. If they’re more into sci-fi, you might try doing Starfinder instead of Pathfinder. If they’re way into “Game of Thrones,” you might want to try to slay some dragons.

Answer all their questions. We’ve been playing for a long time, so we get how the rules work. A newbie might get confused about attacks of opportunity, reach, skill checks and all the other multitude of crazy rules we all take for granted. When they ask how things work or where they find something on their character sheet, pause and help them out.

Be patient. In the same vein as above, inexperienced players might take a while to select their spells, make an attack or otherwise figure out what they’ll do on their turn. The more patience and helpfulness you have, the better experience it will be for everyone.

Start with an introductory adventure or a one-off. Rather than dumping a new guy into your long-running campaign, maybe start with something fresh. Introductory adventures are usually designed to be friendly to new players and low-level characters, and it will let them ease into the game. If you do want to bring your pal into your campaign, perhaps take a break from the big story and do a single session adventure that can similarly ease them into playing.

Use a pre-generated character. Creating a character helps someone understand how their character (and by extension, the game itself) works, but a character sheet, with all its empty boxes and bonuses, is incredibly intimidating. The first time around, it’s usually easier to give them a sheet and just let them enjoy the game.

Help them choose a character. Ask the new player what kind of character they want to play. Their answer could be something specific like a class or a race or it could be more vague such as a favorite movie or comic character. Then help guide them toward something that fits.

Let them have some of the glory. It’s their first game. Let them take big shots on the dragon or unlock the treasure chest or take lead on searching for traps. The more they’re involved in the game, the more they’ll be invested in the game.

Only explain rules when you need to. There’s no need to fill a new player’s head with rules. Ask them what they’d like to do and then guide them through that action. That’s better than overwhelming them with options and complicated rules explanations every time their turn comes up.

Don’t worry too much about roleplaying. Acting in front of a bunch of people might be intimidating for a newbie. Let them enjoy the story and work through some combat. If they’re a natural role player, that side of them will come out when it needs to. If not, they’ll get the hang of it after watching the more experienced players get into it. 

The adventures included in our Dungeon Crates make great one-off adventures that are easy to bring new players into. You can modify the difficulty of the adventures as well to start the players at any level you like. 

How to soundtrack your D&D game session

How to soundtrack your D&D games

You’ve got this Game Master thing down.

Your games of D&D are intriguing and exciting. Your players are invested in the story. You lay down massive maps for every adventure. You have a miniature for every monster in the Pathfinder bestiary.

But what about the background music?

Music and sound effects are the extra element that really sets the mood for your next tabletop session.

It’s easy to set the scene and create an ambiance that pulls your players even further into the game. You can certainly put on a playlist of your favorite bands, but we have some guidance that takes it quite a few steps further.

First, we have some tips on picking your music and how to play it on the table.

What kind of game are you playing? Is it a horror RPG? Or high fantasy? Are you sailing the high seas as pirates? Answering this question can help you determine what direction you want to go and make sure the music you pick matches up with the vibe you’re going for.

How are you going to play music at the table? Your best bet is to have a stereo, bluetooth speaker or TV set up and ready to go. (FYI, using your phone, tablet or laptop speakers might not sound very good.) Make sure your bluetooth connection is set up and the volume level is appropriate. (Too loud, and you won’t be able to hear each other. Too soft, and you won’t be able to hear the music.)

If you’re playing on a virtual tabletop, you can play music there, too. It takes a little forethought, but you can set up music and sound effects on most virtual tabletops. Roll20 has the jukebox.

Have different tracks queued up for different purposes. You’ll want different things for background music, combat and even different locales. The light background music won’t be as good once you roll initiative, and that sweeping orchestral score isn’t going to fit well when the players enter the tavern.

Try for variety. Your players might go insane if they hear the same song every time they do combat, or the same film score every time they sit at your game table. Change it up and keep them interested.

OK, we have that set. But what about sources for your soundtracking needs? We have some ideas for that, too.

Film and video game scores

The easiest things to procure are scores from movies and video games. You can find them on YouTube and any streaming service if you don’t own the tracks. Think of the vibe you’re going for in your game, and try to match it with a movie you know. If you’re playing in Ravenloft, try the “Dracula Untold” soundtrack. If you’re doing a high fantasy adventure, the “Lord of the Rings” soundtracks will work wonders. Video game music is also great because the songs are typically matched to specific scenes of gameplay such as battles, exploration or conversation.

Tabletop Audio

This site is amazing. TabletopAudio.com offers more than 100 of audio tracks full of music, sound effects and other ambient elements that make you feel like you’re in the local they describe. The site lets you narrow them by subject (fantasy, sci-fi, historical, etc.), create playlists and download the tracks. Each track is 10 minutes long, and you can loop them continuously.

Midnight Syndicate

This band has 13 full-length albums that are each a soundtrack for different genres of RPGs such as gothic horror, Christmas, dark carnival, zombies and more. (They even did the “official roleplaying soundtrack” for D&D.) Take a cruise through their albums and pick out some tracks for various things you might need. (They have jaunty songs for combat as well as chanting and other sorts of things.)

Syrinscape

You can certainly create some pre-made music, but Syrinscape lets you create your own background audio for your adventures. Think of it like a D&D soundboard. With a little advanced preparation, you can use it to generate the perfect audio. Basically, there are sliders for various musical elements and sound effects, so you can make a track that has battle music, clanging swords and the sounds of a fire-breathing dragon. Or change it up to have cheering rebels, shouting dwarves and exploding fireballs. It sounds really, really cool.

Battle Bards

These guys created a host of audio for your games including music, monsters, sound effects and even actors speaking in languages such as orc and draconic. It’s free to sign up, and some elements are also free, but you pick and choose what pieces you want to pay for. There’s also a soundboard and mixer, so you can weave your audio elements together.

Gift ideas for your favorite gamer

Dungeon Cat when he was skinny enough to climb in the tree. 

It’s time.

The holidays are nearly upon us. Unless you like getting everything at the last minute, you should already be looking for gifts.

And if your family and friends like to game, we’ve got some ideas.

Custom miniatures

Have you ever visited HeroForge? Visit their site, design your character and then have it 3D printed.

It’s easy, and it’s amazing especially since there are hundreds of options for faces, expressions, clothing, weapons, spells and whatever. If you have a friend who has a tough time representing their dwarven bard or tiefling sorcerer on the table, you can design them the perfect character. They also have gift cards.

Handmade Leather Dice Tray

These things are great for rolling dice, especially if you’re going to play games and you’re unsure how dice will roll on the table surface. The best part: They roll up and don’t take up much space in your gaming bag. Get one here.

Dice

What tabletop player doesn’t love dice? We’re sure every one of us has at least one bag of dice bursting at the seams from the weight of all that polyhedral plastic. Get metal dice. Get true-rolling dice. Get dice of all shapes and sizes. Or visit our pals at Elderwood Academy and get yourself a dice box, tray or book. (Those dudes make amazing stuff.) 

Mimic dice bag

Ditch the purple felt Crown Royal bag, and upgrade to this toothy beast. Made by Ultra Pro and the Dungeons & Dragons team, this little guy has a belly full of your dice, minis and other gaming accessories. Get one here.

Flat Plastic Miniatures

All those miniatures make for a storage problem. We know. We have lots.

 

But our friends at ArcKnight came up with a solution for that: Miniatures printed on laser-cut, clear plastic sheets. And they’re better than your average cardboard pawns because each mini has a front and back, and the clear plastic makes them look three-dimensional on the table. Plus, as we mentioned, they don’t take up much storage space.

ArcKnight has all kinds of sets, but we dig the DM Starter Set curated by SlyFlourish. Get one here. You can also get some exclusive Dungeon Crate sets at the Dungeon Crate Shop.

Dungeon Crate

Allow us to toot our own horn for a second. Every month, Dungeon Crate sends out a box of fantasy RPG goodies. Adventures. Maps. Miniatures. Dice. Tokens. Cards. All the stuff you use on your game table, many of which are exclusive and custom items.

• Every month is different, and every crate features loot you’ll actually use.
• You can subscribe month-to-month or prepay for 3, 6 or 12 months and save some gold.
• A box of loot is an awesome gift for any RPG gamer. Subscribe here.

Adventure Vault

Check out what Dungeon Crate has to offer with this one-off mystery box. It includes a selection of items from our previous crates that lets you sample Dungeon Crate. Plus, it’s cheap, and we guarantee its contents are far more valuable than the price tag. Get one here.

Dice wallet

Show everyone how much you love to roll. Dungeon Crate actually carries two dice wallets: One deluxe wallet (get one here) and one Mighty Wallet (get one here).

D&D and RPG shirts

Show off your love of D&D, Pathfinder and other fantasy RPGs with some awesome T-shirts. Our very own “Player” shirt is currently our hottest seller. (Get it here.) We love this amazing cross between Dunkin Donuts and D&D. (Get it here.) And then there’s the Mimic/Stop Copying Me shirt that only tabletop gamers will get. (Get it here.) 

Character portrait

Your favorite character deserves to be realized with a commission from our pals at Dungeon Doodles. Matt will take your character sheet and turn it into a full-color portrait. Your commission includes the original artwork. Get it here.

Building your campaign world

It’s time. You’re starting your own campaign.

While many of us are happy to introduce players to a published setting like the Forgotten Realms, Golarion, Tal’Dorei, Eberron or Greyhawk, you might want to create your own world in which to do adventure.

But how do you build a campaign world? It seems like a daunting task to create an entire planet or continent or country, but you can do it.

Since we’ve been building the world of Halcyon - check out our adventures and be on the lookout for our upcoming Halcyon world guide - we have a few tips to help you out.

 

Our best advice: Get started. Start by drawing a map. Start with a major conflict. Start with a set of characters. Just start. Once you get the ball rolling, its momentum will keep it rolling through to the end.

Start small. Unless your plans for running games in your world will involve a lot of globe-trotting adventure, it’s OK to start with a town, a city or a country. Map out what adventure may be found there. You don’t have to have an entire planet detailed, especially if your adventures will never go to every corner of the map.

You don’t need everything spelled out. One of the best ways to map out a campaign setting is to play in it. Find out what locales and types of players like, and fill in the details that way.

Pick some core assumptions. D&D’s wonderful Dungeon Master’s Guide has some great ideas for world-building. One idea that explains about D&D’s own settings is setting a few core principles, such as “much of the world is untamed” and “the world is magical.” Create some of your own core principles such as “monsters are everywhere,” “magic doesn’t always work,” “the gods are absent,” “outside of cities, the world is complete wilderness” or “much of the world is unexplored.”

Pick some core conflicts. What is going on in the world? We like the advice recently tweeted by Mike Mearles, D&D’s lead designer and the co-creator of 5th edition: “When creating a setting, remember that people make it come to life, not geography. Start with triumphs, tragedies, and betrayals, not maps.”

Make a map. OK, yeah, we know we just cited a prominent designer saying to forget geography, but for some gamers, it’s helpful to visualize the world. So, make a map. Start with a large landmass, then fill in forests, lakes, mountains and rivers. Then drill down even deeper with cities, towns, roads, bridges and other locales. It will spark some creative ideas about what types of adventure may be found in different locations.

Create a pantheon. What gods govern the world you’re creating? What are their roles? Are there even gods at all? Creating the religious aspect can help shape the world (perhaps each god has a portion of the world they helped create) and shape the people (what factions answer to what gods?).

Include plenty of variety. You can incorporate anything into your world, but to make it exciting, we suggest plenty of variety. Mountains. Islands. Swamps. Deserts. Throw in a little of everything to make the world exciting.

There be monsters. What sorts of monsters are in your world? Are they plentiful? Or do they only live in dungeons? You can certainly populate your world with established bestiaries, but don’t be afraid to create a few monsters of your own making.

Bad guys and bad situations. Of course, there will be benevolent kings, noble knights and respected religious orders, but you ought to identify the bad actors in your world. What secret societies, black cults, undead rulers, nefarious gangs and despotic dictators are active in the world? And consequently, what forces oppose them? A lot of adventure can be found here.

 Check out our adventures, maps, monsters, and more on our website! Dungeon Crate website