Dungeon Master For Dummies

Want to be a Dungeon Master? Get started or ramp up your skills with this fun and easy guide! Whether you′ve already run a few Dungeons & Dragons® games or you′ve decided to try Dungeon Mastering, this book′s for you. Here are all the basics of managing a game in the new 4th Edition plus everything that will take your skills to the next level: how to build a good story, design a great dungeon, craft a campaign, and so much more. Keep it moving — learn to build challenging encounters, make reasonable rulings, and manage disagreements Play in style — find your personal style and develop a game that plays to your strengths Be adventurous — understand the parts of an adventure, how to create maps, and how to run monsters and villains Risks and rewards — learn to keep the game in balance with level–appropriate rewards (experience points, treasure, and magic items) Campaign — build a campaign with exciting themes, memorable villains, and plots that keep players entranced Open the book and find: A sample adventure How to improve your narration How to tailor adventures for various types of players Tips for running published adventures Advice on building a continuing storyline How to draw dungeon maps and use D&D Dungeon Tiles How to create a campaign world How to keep adventures challenging through the paragon and epic tiers

Foreword. Introduction. Part I: Running a Great Game. Chapter 1: The Role of the Dungeon Master. Chapter 2: Preparing for Play. Chapter 3: Running the Game. Chapter 4: Narrating the Adventure. Chapter 5: Dealing with Players. Chapter 6: Teaching the Game. Chapter 7: Your First Adventure: Kobold Hall. Part II: Advanced Dungeon Mastering. Chapter 8: Running an Ongoing Game. Chapter 9: Choosing Your Game Style. Chapter 10: Creating Excitement at the Game Table. Chapter 11: Growing Your Game. Chapter 12: Using Every Available Resource. Part III: Creating Adventures. Chapter 13: Tools of the Trade. Chapter 14: The Dungeon Adventure. Chapter 15: The Wilderness Adventure. Chapter 16: The Event–Based Adventure. Chapter 17: The Randomly Generated Adventure. Chapter 18: Paragon and Epic Adventures. Chapter 19: Sample Dungeon: The Necromancer’s Apprentice. Part IV: Building a Campaign. Chapter 20: Building a Continuous Story. Chapter 21: Creating Memorable Villains. Chapter 22: Bringing the World to Life. Part V: The Part of Tens. Chapter 23: Ten Heroic Encounters. Chapter 24: Ten Paragon Encounters. Chapter 25: Ten Things to Avoid When DMing. Chapter 26: Ten Things to Do All the Time When DMing. Index.

James Wyatt is Design Manager for D&D and a lead designer of D&D 4th Edition. Bill Slavicsek is Director of Roleplaying and Miniatures Game Design. Richard Baker is a senior game designer and bestselling author of Forgotten Realms novels. All are associates of Wizards of the Coast, publisher of the Dungeons & Dragons® game. Bill and Richard are coauthors of Dungeons & Dragons® For Dummies.