Part 4: How To Design Excellent D&D Encounters!
395⬇️ Download the notes and resources with the links below! ⬇️
Kelsey from The Arcane Library goes over how to develop well-designed encounters for a 5E one-shot. Some important elements we'll cover include enticement, pressure, interaction, and consequences (EPIC)!
Follow along in as we design a brand new 5E one-shot, The Bone Pavilion of the Shadow Hounds, from scratch in the fourth part of this live Adventure Writing series.
00:00 Sound check, getting situated
03:17 Getting started on encounter design
05:49 What's an encounter?
07:48 Enticement
09:06 Pressure
10:17 Interaction
11:33 Consequences
15:35 Encounter 1: Puzzle
17:33 Leave some mystery
24:55 Why does pressure matter?
26:30 Careful with consequences
31:39 Encounter 2: Trap
40:31 Pressure should not be a secret
44:24 Encounter 3: NPC Interaction
49:50 A slight twist on a trope
54:02 Pressure is a dial, not a switch
56:14 Delivering backstory
58:53 Roll play vs. role play
01:01:52 Encounter 4: Combat
01:09:27 Rolling a timer vs. setting one
01:14:25 Play out the combat mentally
01:18:51 Wrap up, plan for next time
Also, how did I confuse Radagast and Tom Bombadil?! It is Tom who is the most powerful!
Download the notes from the livestream here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r51692kpdko7iji/Part%204%20-%20Encounter%20Design.pdf?dl=0
Check out the full playlist of this series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsIJw22Nm-ctYiy8qK6TtrTgjnYbHsxiC
Jump on The Arcane Library's newsletter for a free 1st-level adventure, plus the adventure writing resources Kelsey shares out: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/pages/temple-of-the-basilisk-cult
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Title image copyright Tithi Luadthong / shutterstock.com