DM:   "The heavy, battered oaken door ahead of you is cracked open just a bit, allowing a few wispy yellow-orange tendrils of light to shine into the small alcove you find yourself in. You hear festive snarly noises coming from the other side of the door, with the occasional cracking of bones added in amidst the crude laughter and some truly awful music. The room you are in appears to be a storage room, roughly 25 feet square. There are two long chests against the west wall and several decrepit cloaks are strewn haphazardly over unknown objects laying on the floor near the east wall. The door is to the north. You have gained entrance to this alcove via a secret door in the south wall."

Frmzid the Bold:   (whispering) "Sounds like orcs on the other side of that door, about 15 I'd say."

Drattit:  (whispering)"Great. Just what we need, an orc-hestra."

Frmzid the Bold:   I cuff her with the palm of my hand and groan inwardly at the pun.

Sheilagh-nyl:   I slap her shoulder too and groan inwardly.

Zarek:   I cuff Drattit also and groan at the wicked pun.

Murch the Barbarian:    I fail to understand the humor but cuff Drattit also. Perhaps it is a ritual with these new friends of mine.

Slurhpii the Gnome:   (giggling and whispering) "Well done, Drattit! Excellent humor, lass."

DM:   "Erin. Roll (the dice) to see if your character, Drattit, stays on her feet, with almost everyone hitting her."

Erin:   (still laughing hysterically at her character's pun) "Oh Drat! Didn't make it."

DM:   Dratit loses her balance and lands awkwardly amongst the decrepit cloaks and unknown objects on the floor, stirring up dust and making a bit of a rattling noise. The party behind the door is too loud and their sound fortunately drowns out the noise of Dratit's fall and subsequent sneezing fit.

Zarek:   "Frmzid and Murch, guard the door! Sheilagh, help me pick up Drattit." I move toward Drattit to help her up.

Sheilagh-nyl:   I also move toward Drattit to help her up, being careful not to stumble over any objects on the floor.

Frmzid:   I examine the door then try to peer around it into the other room.

Murch:   I try to peer around the door too. Food smells edible.

Drattit:    (giggling and sneezing) "Oooh, it hurts to laugh and sneeze at the same time. Why'd you guys shove me? I think I banged my knee on something hard."

Zarek:   Sheilagh and I lift Drattit to her feet and move her away from the cloaks. I check her knee.

DM:   You find it slightly swollen with a nasty cut across the kneecap. Her torn legging fabric is becoming soaked with blood.

Zarek:   I yank off my pack and get out our bandages and compress the wound. "Sheilagh, set her back down, easily. I've got to fix her knee."

Sheilagh:   I ease Drattit to the floor and help Zarek apply some healing potion to her kneecap wound.

Frmzid:   "If you open the door a little more, Murch, I think I can heave a fireball in there and really warm things up. Wonder why the door is mangled on this side."

Murch:   "I can open door more."

Zarek:  "Wait, you two! Wait until we get Drattit taken care of and can back you up. Is the room big enough to take a fireball without the backlash getting us in here?" I tie the bandage compress around Drattit's knee.
     "That should heal up, Drattit. Didn't mean to cause you injury. How does it feel? Can you walk on it?" Sheilagh and I help her up onto her feet.

Drattit:  "It is sore, Zarek. I can walk okay though. I can feel the potion working. Kinda tingles. Thanks for patching me up. What did I fall on?"

Frmzid:   "I don't think we'll get any backlash from the fireball. The room seems to be long enough. Hopefully there isn't any treasure in there that will melt, though."

Zarek:  "Is there anyone else out there that isn't an orc? I'd hate to toast a prisoner or two."

Slurhpii:   I have moved over to the cloaks to look for any gems and to see what damaged Drattit's knee. I am being careful, moving the cloaks with my short sword.

DM:   You find two greenish gems beside a small chest that is unlocked. It has a now-dented metal gargoyle ornament atop the lid.

Slurhpii:   I deftly palm the gems and slip them into a pouch, hoping no one has seen them. "Looks like she ruined the value of this small chest. Bent the ornamental gargoyle over." I prod the chest with my sword.

DM:   No one saw you snatch the two gems, Slurhpii. Prodding the chest causes no side effects. Just then, something gets thrown against the door from the other side and clatters noisily to the floor.

Zarek:   We jump back against the wall behind the door, weapons drawn, adrenalin pumping.

Frmzid:    Murch and I step back behind the door. I ready a fireball spell.

Slurhpii:   With everyone's attention to the door, I open the chest and peer inside.

Murch:  "It was just a tankard. Getting rowdy in there."

Zarek:  "I sure hope there's no prisoners in there. Frmzid, you ready to throw?"

DM:  Slurhpii, you see a few more greenish gems, a small lumpy leather bag, and a ring with a blue gemstone set into the gold.

Slurhpii:   I take the gems and the ring and put them in my pouch. I then pick up the bag. Can I guess what is inside?

DM:   You feel coins and an unknown oddly-textured object.

Slurhpii:   I shrug and store the bag inside my shirt. I get ready to charge into the other room with the others.

Sheilagh:   "I don't sense anyone of good alignment within. I believe it is only orcs. I have a water spell ready to douse the ensuing fire."

Zarek:  "Murch, open the door and then duck. Frmzid, toss your fireball inside. Make sure it goes through the doorway this time. Everyone else, wait until Sheilagh casts her dousing spell."

Murch:  I open the door and duck down in front of Frmzid and hope he throws it through the doorway this time.

Frmzid: "So I slipped last time. Why make a big deal of it?" I cast the fireball into the room and duck behind Murch.

     Kinda makes you wish you were heading into battle with them, doesn't it? Well, a good DM can make you feel like you are characters in a book that hasn't been written yet. Some DMs do write books based on their players' characters' adventures. When I have the time, perhaps I will as well. This is only an alcove in a castle, but you get the idea. Write a descriptive screenplay and then adlib as the players work their way through the script and the environment you set up for them. Don't set out to slay their characters. Let them interact within the environment. Dice rolls, stupidity, bad luck and chaos theory will generally cause players to lose their characters. Always have some spare NPCs on hand in case a player loses his or her character and still wants to play the game but doesn't want to set up a new character. I tell the players before the game (if they are only roleplaying one character) to make sure they have a couple of spare already-created characters they can use if their main character dies and can't be revived. Of course, you have to check their characters out to see that they don't upset the balance of the game or aren't stronger than any monsters/NPCs you have lined up for their gaming session.
     The DM's interaction with the character Slurhpii would require passing notes back and forth to the player roleplaying Slurhpii, unless you have the rare good fortune to be DMing for players who can keep what they learn from their characters they roleplay, who haven't learned it yet. The DM is not involved in the actual roleplaying per se, but rather acts more like a narrator. He or she tells the players what their characters' senses are telling them.

     I enjoy DMing for players whose characters range in level from 1 to 10. After Level 10, you have to work harder to be more creative at coming up with stronger foes for the players to interact with. With the guidelines I use though, it is possible for the 10th Level Paladin with the Vorpal Blade and protective armor (AC-6) to get seriously injured by 3 goblins and a dryad. But then, that's another adventure....

Last updated, March 14, 2008. Copyright © 1997-2008 Terry L. Karkos.