Roger, you know what's wrong with the party in Ptolus?

[Sister Fracture]

Shit is too easy for you. You have not one, but TWO damage monkeys in the party, not counting the rogue when she gets sneak attacks. How the fuck am I supposed to challenge you when you can kill the boss in a single round?

 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Shit is too easy for you. You have not one, but TWO damage monkeys in the party, not counting the rogue when she gets sneak attacks. How the fuck am I supposed to challenge you when you can kill the boss in a single round?

 

Sneaky bastardism.  Use terrain, use hazards, and start thinking of frontal assaults as a pathology, not a tactic.

[Slyph]

How the fuck am I supposed to challenge you when you can kill the boss in a single round?

Rust monsters, Level drains, Permanent walls of force, Antimagic fields, Slow fields, NPC betrayal, homebrew monsters, areas with curses and taints from the Book of Vile Darkness, dispiriting Sophie's Choice plots and when all else fails, split the party.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

and when all else fails, split the party.

Good luck with that.  This ain't my first rodeo.

Exerpted from Roger's Rules of dungeoneering
1.  NEVER split the party.

2.  If you can't walk upright, find another way around.

3.  Stay the fuck out of the water.  There's nothing there but trouble.

4.  The plot wagon is your friend, the plot hammer is a sign of a sub-par DM.

5.  The cleric is NOT a front ranker.  That's what spears are for.

[Uncle Wallified]

What exactly do the terms "plot wagon" and "plot hammer" mean, anyway? I've seen you use them before.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

What exactly do the terms "plot wagon" and "plot hammer" mean, anyway? I've seen you use them before.

Plot wagon:  The DM's steering of the party along the plot.  Good players will go along.

Plot hammer:  As above, but the party has no choice, and is usually a spectator/slave to the plot, rather than the center of it.

[Uncle Wallified]

What exactly do the terms "plot wagon" and "plot hammer" mean, anyway? I've seen you use them before.

Plot wagon:  The DM's steering of the party along the plot.  Good players will go along.

Plot hammer:  As above, but the party has no choice, and is usually a spectator/slave to the plot, rather than the center of it.

Ah. I'll try to keep that in mind for when I DM.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

What exactly do the terms "plot wagon" and "plot hammer" mean, anyway? I've seen you use them before.

Plot wagon:  The DM's steering of the party along the plot.  Good players will go along.

Plot hammer:  As above, but the party has no choice, and is usually a spectator/slave to the plot, rather than the center of it.

Ah. I'll try to keep that in mind for when I DM.

Players that deliberately overturn the plotwagon are usually either too used to plot hammers, or total dicks.

[Slyph]

Splitting the party? unpossible?

Would alternating hexes of pit traps / reverse gravity on a delayed pressure trigger, leading to separate encounters work? It wouldn't be "plot hammer" per se, because it's for one combat, not to lead you towards different quests.

I have never played Dungeons and Dragons. I know these words because I have always wanted to. 

[Sister Fracture]

Shit is too easy for you. You have not one, but TWO damage monkeys in the party, not counting the rogue when she gets sneak attacks. How the fuck am I supposed to challenge you when you can kill the boss in a single round?

 

Sneaky bastardism.  Use terrain, use hazards, and start thinking of frontal assaults as a pathology, not a tactic.

Ohhh. Please explain the bolded more thoroughly?

[Slyph]

Elevate your rangers and spellcasters, obfuscate your stealthy types, have them attack from the rear etc. You know how when you're bowling, sometimes you knock down some of the pins, and you're left with that 7/20 split bullshit? Think in terms of that. Making shit *awkward*. Make your dudes have a choice between attacking the people fucking them up with axes or the people plinking away from the rear with bows. Consider a failed trap an opportunity for the "guys who have been stalking you for the past half hour" to cry "now" and charge in while the going's good.

Holy shit. I am actually a dungeons and dragons... groupie. Could somebody slit my fucking throat please?

[Uncle Wallified]

What exactly do the terms "plot wagon" and "plot hammer" mean, anyway? I've seen you use them before.

Plot wagon:  The DM's steering of the party along the plot.  Good players will go along.

Plot hammer:  As above, but the party has no choice, and is usually a spectator/slave to the plot, rather than the center of it.

Ah. I'll try to keep that in mind for when I DM.

Players that deliberately overturn the plotwagon are usually either too used to plot hammers, or total dicks.

I was initially going to say that my group is like that, but upon reflection, of the people I play with:
1 likes to play a barbarian, have ridiculously cool gear, and kill shit,
1 likes to be a dainty wizard type and worry and fret about the rash actions of the party,
1 likes to play high-charisma characters despite having absolutely no charisma himself, to the point of not even being able to roleplay a pleasant conversation,
and 1 is as the above barbarian, except that he always takes Chaotic Evil for his alignment.

That last one causes surprisingly little trouble, despite his habit of doing things like going into schoolhouses armed with a greataxe while class is in session.
Myself, I like to play spellcasters who do their best to keep the Chaotic Evil guy and the Charisma guy from getting into serious shit. Me passing off Charisma guy's complete lack of social skills as "assburgers" to guards has even become a running gag. We all have a grand old time.

[Sister Fracture]

What exactly do the terms "plot wagon" and "plot hammer" mean, anyway? I've seen you use them before.

Plot wagon:  The DM's steering of the party along the plot.  Good players will go along.

Plot hammer:  As above, but the party has no choice, and is usually a spectator/slave to the plot, rather than the center of it.

Ah. I'll try to keep that in mind for when I DM.

Players that deliberately overturn the plotwagon are usually either too used to plot hammers, or total dicks.

I was initially going to say that my group is like that, but upon reflection, of the people I play with:
1 likes to play a barbarian, have ridiculously cool gear, and kill shit,
1 likes to be a dainty wizard type and worry and fret about the rash actions of the party,
1 likes to play high-charisma characters despite having absolutely no charisma himself, to the point of not even being able to roleplay a pleasant conversation,
and 1 is as the above barbarian, except that he always takes Chaotic Evil for his alignment.

That last one causes surprisingly little trouble, despite his habit of doing things like going into schoolhouses armed with a greataxe while class is in session.
Myself, I like to play spellcasters who do their best to keep the Chaotic Evil guy and the Charisma guy from getting into serious shit. Me passing off Charisma guy's complete lack of social skills as "assburgers" to guards has even become a running gag. We all have a grand old time.

lol.

No one in my campaigns are allowed to take any Evil alignment. Roger occasionally lets people take LE, if they have a really good reason for it and it fits the story.

[Uncle Wallified]

What exactly do the terms "plot wagon" and "plot hammer" mean, anyway? I've seen you use them before.

Plot wagon:  The DM's steering of the party along the plot.  Good players will go along.

Plot hammer:  As above, but the party has no choice, and is usually a spectator/slave to the plot, rather than the center of it.

Ah. I'll try to keep that in mind for when I DM.

Players that deliberately overturn the plotwagon are usually either too used to plot hammers, or total dicks.

I was initially going to say that my group is like that, but upon reflection, of the people I play with:
1 likes to play a barbarian, have ridiculously cool gear, and kill shit,
1 likes to be a dainty wizard type and worry and fret about the rash actions of the party,
1 likes to play high-charisma characters despite having absolutely no charisma himself, to the point of not even being able to roleplay a pleasant conversation,
and 1 is as the above barbarian, except that he always takes Chaotic Evil for his alignment.

That last one causes surprisingly little trouble, despite his habit of doing things like going into schoolhouses armed with a greataxe while class is in session.
Myself, I like to play spellcasters who do their best to keep the Chaotic Evil guy and the Charisma guy from getting into serious shit. Me passing off Charisma guy's complete lack of social skills as "assburgers" to guards has even become a running gag. We all have a grand old time.

lol.

No one in my campaigns are allowed to take any Evil alignment. Roger occasionally lets people take LE, if they have a really good reason for it and it fits the story.

Yeah, I think I'll do that when my turn comes around. Most of my group likes to be chaotic, so it'll be fun to see how they fare on a continent dominated by paranoid communist dwarves.

[Sister Fracture]

What exactly do the terms "plot wagon" and "plot hammer" mean, anyway? I've seen you use them before.

Plot wagon:  The DM's steering of the party along the plot.  Good players will go along.

Plot hammer:  As above, but the party has no choice, and is usually a spectator/slave to the plot, rather than the center of it.

Ah. I'll try to keep that in mind for when I DM.

Players that deliberately overturn the plotwagon are usually either too used to plot hammers, or total dicks.

I was initially going to say that my group is like that, but upon reflection, of the people I play with:
1 likes to play a barbarian, have ridiculously cool gear, and kill shit,
1 likes to be a dainty wizard type and worry and fret about the rash actions of the party,
1 likes to play high-charisma characters despite having absolutely no charisma himself, to the point of not even being able to roleplay a pleasant conversation,
and 1 is as the above barbarian, except that he always takes Chaotic Evil for his alignment.

That last one causes surprisingly little trouble, despite his habit of doing things like going into schoolhouses armed with a greataxe while class is in session.
Myself, I like to play spellcasters who do their best to keep the Chaotic Evil guy and the Charisma guy from getting into serious shit. Me passing off Charisma guy's complete lack of social skills as "assburgers" to guards has even become a running gag. We all have a grand old time.

lol.

No one in my campaigns are allowed to take any Evil alignment. Roger occasionally lets people take LE, if they have a really good reason for it and it fits the story.

Yeah, I think I'll do that when my turn comes around. Most of my group likes to be chaotic, so it'll be fun to see how they fare on a continent dominated by paranoid communist dwarves.

That sounds fun. Do you write up your own stuff, or use pre-written?