Not that you’re looking, but in this instance where the monster was gimped I’d just reduce the exp points for it and let the players know why. I wouldn’t offer to re-fight the scene, just let them know that this is how you’ll handle the rare times it happens that you severely gimp a monster.

One rule of thumb I find helpful with long jump checks is that the distance you jump is equal to the result of the roll. A roll of 24 equals a jump of 24 feet (which rounds down to 4 squares). If the character doesn’t have a 2-square run up, halve the result.

The 1-to-1 equivalency is much easier to remember than the squares formula that the 4e rules use.

(I’ve never had to look at the high jump rules to see if there’s a similar equivalency there).

In the end, that’s the number one rule every single Dm has to follow. Make your table fun for your players.

What’s fun in a game where every single rule is being followed, every monster is acting perfectly, yet the players are bored? Nothing.

Thanks guys, I don’t feel too bad, although I will still try to correct these issues, while maintaining a fun table at the same time. If I slip, so be it.

And of cause, we have “PCs Union” as well, like “DM, the Player Union says that the attack from that monster should have a -2 concealment penalty.

Of cause, this “Union” talk is just for fun, but as we all try to get the game fair and square, it has been a polite way of correcting the DM.

Cheers,

/ Totte

Regarding maps – buy a chessex battlemap and a wet erase marker and just draw something. At the end of the day, players are more interested in playing the game than in whether your maps are cool. The vast majority of groups will take a bland map if it means they get to play more – and in a group of your groups’ size, maximize the time you’ve got.

The most important thing to remember is that players don’t always enjoy the same things DMs enjoy. And that’s OK because it reminds us not to get up our own asses with battlemaps, NPC relationship diagrams (my personal weakness), and everything else that adds to our prep time.

The lesson I’ve learned about DMing that’s most important is that I do my best work when I’m just bullshitting everything and improving a session. The second lesson I’ve learned is that I have to prepare a session like crazy – overprepare, really, considering I’ll throw everything out the window when we play – so that I’ll trust myself enough to improv like crazy.

But I run a game for 4 players, so it’s easier to make quick decisions when there are less people around the table. I’m about to start running a second campaign for assorted theatre graduate students (some in acting, which excites the hell out of me!), professors and PhD students like me. The catch is that this group will likely involve 5 or more players, which breaks just about every DMing preference I have.

So soon I’ll be in your world, running modules and reigning in a pack of nerd stallions. I suspect this will give me a new appreciation for the challenges of your sessions.

just this past week, i forgot to use a monster’s ability, but the overall combat came out really good, so i guess that’s the most important thing. i know next time they face the same monster, i won’t forget that ability.