FAQ Help a [new] DM !

[Laharal]

Hello to all playgounders,

I am starting a campaign in a a week or so and I once again turn to the community to help me get my game a little better.
Since I know I'll have many questions in the following weeks I decided to start this thread that I'll be reusing over time.
I already use the great dnd 3.5 FAQ thread when appliable but sometimes you'd need opinions or unwritten laws or just an experienced DM :smallsmile:...

If any other fledging Dm has questions, feel free to use this space as I think that a FAQ for DMs should get stickied somewhere. (to be a reference for others and avoid the ''a question = a thread'' result)
I'd still appreciate more straightforward (or short discussions) questions/answers so endless argumentations about alignements/players' behavior etc. should be addressed somewhere else.

Please use the following pattern to keep things in order

Q1
A1

Best regards and happy gaming!

[Laharal]

Q1 Dnd 3.5
Challenge ratings (CRs) are adjusted for a 4 PCs party. Is there any official rules or generally accepted rules of thumb to calculate appropriate CRs for parties with more than 4 members? (In my case 5 Pcs)

Should I take the table 3-1 on p.49 DMG guide and always aim for a CR 1 level higher than the party level for encounters to be of ''medium/challenging" difficulty? 2 level higher?

Many thanks

[Beelzebub1111]

A1. One CR difficulty higher is still a bit much...but not impossible. Take the total levels of the party and divide by four to determine the average party level, and use that to determine appropriate challenges for larger groups. It's not an exact science, but it works for me.
Here's a tool I use for this occasion (http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tools/d20encountercalculator.htm)

[Laharal]

Q2
DnD 3.5
When calculating treasure (p.54 DMG etc) do I have to calculate everything that the NPCs have to par with the different charts for treasure (i-e expected wealth gain) or can I just wait at the end of the level and give the big treasure there?

Do you guys always have to assume that PCs will scavenge every corpse thouroughly?

Q3Any advice on treasure management in order to avoid overpowering the pcs?

[Kaww]

Relax, you have to improvise. Treasure should be around WBL, or at least far enough for you to be able to shoot it with a rifle if on a WBL line.

As for advice stick to WBL. Include even the wardrobes into the sum, since most PCs take everything not nailed down. When I play I take the nails too. Never know when you might need them...

[Tyndmyr]

A2: Either way is frequently used. Many modules use lump treasure instead of placing treasure on every encounter, and many vary between the two. If you prefer the lump sum method, I suggest tracking the encounters needed to get the lump sum, and basing the approximate total value on that.

A2.5: Assume that most corpses will be searched extensively. Note that treasure need not be on the corpse itself, but is often found nearby. For instance, a dragon likely has gold in it's lair, not all on itself.

A3: The WBL chart is considered a standard guideline. Note that as a guideline, not a rule, it need not be followed exactly, and even fairly significant deviations can be handled by small adjustments in the CR of challenges they face.

[Grelna the Blue]

Q3Any advice on treasure management in order to avoid overpowering the pcs?

Try to avoid things like rust monsters and disenchanters unless the game has gotten completely out of hand. It's all too obvious you're out to nerf the players' characters, and they naturally resent it.

However, there are still lots of ways:


Charged items or single use like wands and scrolls (often missing charges when found).
Duplicate low level items. It's great at first that everyone has a Ring of Protection +1, but after a while they just get sold.
Items that grant bonuses that don't stack with bonuses the party already has.
Items crafted by groups the party hates that bear distinctive markings identifying the bearers as members of that group. "Nice cloak--too bad it tells the world you're a follower of Lord Eeeevil."
Items that do nifty villain stuff that any any even vaguely good-aligned person would want to see destroyed.
Villains with Contingent Spell feat used upon themselves so they blow up when killed, destroying their items (or most of them). If you ever do this, DON'T do it more than once.
Items that are the wrong size. "I wish that great greatsword weren't so great..."
Theft. You might want to allow the party/PC to track down the thief/thieves to get their stuff back, but that just creates an adventure in which most of the treasure is items they had before, thus adding little to the party's overall power.
Items with a minor power usable all the time and a special power that's really nifty, but usable only once or a very few number of times. Once the special power is expended, the item is nonmagical.


I'm sure other posters will list more.

[WarKitty]

A3 cont'd:

Redundant treasure is also good. If you only have one person with heavy armor proficiency, give them two different sets of full plate with different magical properties. Your players will still feel like they're getting good treasure, but they're not going to be able to use it all at once.

[bloodtide]

A3

-Use 'alignment' based magic items. It the party is good, make things evil and such. You can even have normal items, like say a cloak made out of human skin, for example.

-Have NPC's have lots of little magic items. Things that do cantrip or level one spell effects. A ring of guidance 3/day or flare sticks.

-For normal treasure, make it big and bulky.

[Zherog]

A3, more info

I often take a "rob Peter to pay Paul" approach to dishing out treasure. For example, I'll give "trash" minions junky armor and weapons, and then give a bit more (or slightly nicer) stuff to the BBEG at the end.

For example, if I'm going to pit the 3rd level PCs against ogre overlord and four orc bodyguards, I might give the all the orcs masterwork chain shorts and normal greatswords (or whatever weapon). Then I'll give the ogre a +1 weapon and +1 armor --something he probably couldn't "afford" normally, but the overall treasure value of the encounter works the same.

Disclaimer: an ogre isn't the best example, since the weapon and armor will be Large. Ignore that aspect. ;) Also, note that I didn't actually check the numbers, I'm just making it up as I go. So it's more of a theory example than a practical example.

There is a caveat here, though. If you put so much treasure on one NPC as to make him/her/it significantly more powerful, you should probably adjust the CR up by at least one. Sticking with the poor example, if the PCs fought through a tribe of 50 orcs who had nothing but leather armor and a dagger and then fought the ogre overlord who had +2 armor and a pair of +2 weapons (totally unreasonable, bear with me), you probably ought to bump the ogre's CR by at least one, because he's going to be significantly harder than his normal challenge rating indicates.

*

As for what do PCs take... in my experience, they take everything that they can carry, and sometimes even more than that. I've seen PCs shove stacks of worthless books into their bags; I've seen them loot every wardrobe and chest of drawers of every article of clothing, including dirty underwear. I've seen them suck up every last copper piece, even when they were level 12 and copper pieces carried little actual value. I've seen them attempt to carry furniture, because they wanted the four-post bed for their room/house/whatever.

Your group might be different. Only you really know that. Generally speaking, I don't really care about things like furniture if they're just decorating with it - I don't count it against their WBL or anything like that. If they sell it, it counts though.

*

I'm going to disagree slightly with Grelna the Blue. I think things like rust monsters can be fun, if done right. The most important thing is to give a replacement as quickly as possible. If you destroy the fighter's masterwork longsword, she's going to be bummed out -- until she finds out that the BBEG they just killed had a +1 longsword that she can use to replace her destroyed item.

[Hanuman]

A0

http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/index.php/archives/category/podcasts

http://donjon.bin.sh/

http://www.superdan.net/dnd3.html

http://pifro.com/dnd/NEW/

http://pifro.com/dnd/NEW/nyu.php
(http://pifro.com/dnd/NEW/nyu.php)
http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/index.php

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/srd35

http://www.penpaperpixel.org/

http://www.d20srd.org/

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/ / http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html

http://www.goblinscomic.com/06252005/

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20040125a

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archives

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1002.0

Hope these help a bit.

[jebob]

Q4 How do I avoid bumping off the PCs?

I am considering a scenario where the players (low-level, perhaps level 3 in D&D) decide to rob a dragon. They sneak into the cave, find treasure beyond their wildest dreams and the dragons young, which they kill after a long and difficult battle. The elder dragon then returns and blocks the doorway, forcing the PCs to flee into the cave system.

How should I keep them alive, despite the dragon wanting the throw everything it has at them?

[WarKitty]

A4

For starters, give them a chance to hear the dragon coming. If they're smart they'll run before it finds them. If it does find them, pick a color that has a line attack and provide them cover.

[Hanuman]

A4
As an optional rule, give them their first 2-4 HD maxed out to give them a little bit of competence armor, or give them AP or a similar fate-based system where they can burn some expendable amount of true effort when they really really need to.

Having 1 or more redshirts with them is always a good idea as long as it's according to the cohorts rule, so MAXIMUM 1 competent redshirt per 1 party member, and the redshirt should be MAXIMUM 2 levels under the ECL of the party. Going above this only really ok if the redshirt cannot cast magic, and even then you'd be at risk of gandalfing or attempting a DMPC.

Allow haversacks! If no one in your party has one, give them one! One person should ALWAYS have one!

Giving your players a haversack allows you to fill it with all sorts of goodies, a 2,000g wonderous item like the haversack is great, but if you fill it to the brim like batman's utility belt for the price of 5,000g then it's going to make one of your players VERY happy if not all of them for all the trouble it will get them out of later.

------

For a more precise answer, lets say your players think about robbing the dragon.

Roll for each of them according knowledge checks for all the things they know they will have to face to get there, along the way, this will give you a chance to tell each player the dangers they know about, and imply to them a general sense of the risk. Perhaps none of your players have ever fought a dragon in DnD, but perhaps one of the characters has read some stuff about them.

Because you are saying each of these things to each of the players, they can quickly get a sense to form the idea that they don't want to do this so the discussion IC will be bias towards that side. Clever DMing.

[Silus]

Q5

Looking to start a planar jumping campaign as my first "serious" dive into DMing (will see about doing one-shots before the actual campaign is finished and ready for play). I plan on making most all source books for 3.5 open (As in all the D&D 3.5 books from Wizards), but I feel that this may be a bad idea. Is there anything that I should throw an instant "No" stamp on to keep the game from being outright broken?

[Kurald Galain]

Q5
Is there anything that I should throw an instant "No" stamp on to keep the game from being outright broken?

Not all that much. The only low-level things that are particularly game breaking are Alter Self and Shivering Touch.

[Grelna the Blue]

Not all that much. The only low-level things that are particularly game breaking are Alter Self and Shivering Touch.

Shivering Touch is very, very broken, although the example often given of being able to take out a seriously nasty dragon with one application of the spell ignores the fact that dragons are immune to paralysis, so technically cannot lose all their Dex. The book claims paralysis is the effect that results from losing all Dex. But you can take out plenty of other major baddies with that spell.

[Zherog]

Q4 How do I avoid bumping off the PCs?

I am considering a scenario where the players (low-level, perhaps level 3 in D&D) decide to rob a dragon.

The players themselves should make that decision. You made other assumptions about player actions, too (sneak into the cave, kill the young). When you're planning an adventure, you can't make those sorts of assumptions.

You can certainly lay the plot hooks out there, but if the players don't bite then you don't get to run the adventure. I know I would never take a 3rd level PC of mine on a dungeon crawl with a plan to kill a dragon.

[Hanuman]

Not all that much. The only low-level things that are particularly game breaking are Alter Self and Shivering Touch.
Low level planar jumping? What planes are they jumping to?

[Laharal]

Q6
Are the ''spheres'' for a sorcerer (Dragon magazine 330 p.94) seen as a good adjustement or a broken/failed one? I don't know if I'm letting my battle-sorcerer use it in our upcoming campaign (he asked me). I just read about the variant but haven't played with it and find little info about it elsewhere...

[Laharal]

Q7

What would be a good or the best or the most complete npc/monster generator for dnd 3.5?

Q7.5
A friend got me NPC designer is it a good choice?

[Hanuman]

A6
Seems to be similar to the Wu Gen's powers, or the D20 D2 Sorceress except min-maxier.
I also don't seem to see any cost in purchasing the Sphere mechanic?
Getting a -2 to sonic spells while gaining +1 to acid, or any working of that sort, doesn't seem to be a viable balance. Now, I understand the concept behind this but the balance doesn't work that way. A sorcerer just will not learn the opposing spell and it will never come up, so it's not like the rogue who never took the jump skill because he wanted to max his Cha skills and having an area that can be jumped lest peril, throwing stuff like that at your sorc won't matter because it doesn't make them face a difficult decision later, it all happens when they choose their stuff in the beginning, and there seems to be no room to grow like investing skillpoints once the lesson is learned.

I would say leave this to fluff and existing metamagics, searing spell, ect. do the job fine, they cost a feat and no matter how you look at it, anything costing a feat at least costs a feat.

As homebrew I suggest that at least make Sphere Sorcerer a feat, that way they can buy it with a flaw, which is insurance that they are ACTUALLY purchasing it for fluff.

A7
The best are in the links I posted, one specifically formats it for the homebrew section of this board.

A7.5
Might want to reread your Q :smallwink:

[Laharal]

Q 8


This part was already asked in the 3.5 FAQ thread

For flavour and actual gameplay, I'm looking for a way to have a place cursed/evil/tainted/whatever feels evil. The catch is that this crypt wasn't visited for decades and the Pc's will be the first to enter the place since a dark ritual took place.
I looked at the descrate spell and the spell duration doesn't fit my time frame (only lasts for some hours and not on the permanency spell list). Is there anything that might look like that in a ''flavour'' way? A way to make it a permanent spell?

This one is my question here for a wider discussion:
As a Dm could I just declare that the area is desecrated for as long as I wish? To end the spell one would only have to locate an object in the room on which the spell was cast and then use consecrate on it to void the desecrate. Does that seem fair?

[The Glyphstone]

Howbout Unhallow (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/unhallow.htm)? It's an Instaneous duration spell that taints an area with evil, making undead harder to turn and easier to rebuke. There is an option for tying a secondary spell to it, but that expires after a year, so you can forget about it.

[woodenbandman]

Q4 How do I avoid bumping off the PCs?

I am considering a scenario where the players (low-level, perhaps level 3 in D&D) decide to rob a dragon. They sneak into the cave, find treasure beyond their wildest dreams and the dragons young, which they kill after a long and difficult battle. The elder dragon then returns and blocks the doorway, forcing the PCs to flee into the cave system.

How should I keep them alive, despite the dragon wanting the throw everything it has at them?

let them die.

They robbed a frickin' dragon, therefore they get to die.

[Urpriest]

For example, if I'm going to pit the 3rd level PCs against ogre overlord and four orc bodyguards, I might give the all the orcs masterwork chain shorts

Orcs in masterwork chain short-shorts are particularly terrifying.

[Lateral]

A8: Ooh! Ooh! Taint rules! (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/campaigns/taint.htm)

[Zherog]

Q6
Are the ''spheres'' for a sorcerer (Dragon magazine 330 p.94) seen as a good adjustement or a broken/failed one? I don't know if I'm letting my battle-sorcerer use it in our upcoming campaign (he asked me). I just read about the variant but haven't played with it and find little info about it elsewhere...

I wrote that article. :) It was my very first published anything.

I don't have my copy of the magazine handy - I'm at work - and I know it was heavily changed from my submitted version to the published version (including a change to the rules that created an error in the example. As I recall, the version in my turnover document also included a penalty on opposed spells that came from devices.

I completely agree with Hanuman's assessment that most of the time a specialist sorcerer is just going to completely ignore his/her opposed sphere. (I've seen it once, where a fire sorcerer really wanted wall of ice and so took it, even though it had penalties.) The penalty applying to items as well as selected spells was intended to prevent sorcerers from loading up with wands and scrolls to completely avoid the penalties. But the editors decided it was too complicated and cut that part out.

Is it balanced? I dunno -- been too long since I've even looked at it. What I can tell you, though, is that a whole lot of stuff that was published in those Class Acts articles weren't meant to be 100% complete and ready to go. There just wasn't enough space, and it was assumed that DMs would tweak the new options presented in those sections to their liking.


Orcs in masterwork chain short-shorts are particularly terrifying.

Yay! Fun (or horrifying) typos for the win!

[Kol Korran]

A8 expanded: you're the DM, you're not bound by the normal spells for your descriptions, effects, monsters and what not. what you suggested sounds quite fair.

as a general rule i suggest to try and remain close to the rules, with variations to them explained somehow. also, enable players (and characters) to learn of these variations (such as by clever roleplaying or knowledge checks) so they'll have a more immersed feel in the world. give yourself a bit of "fit-into-the-world" explanation for the change you're putting. (the place was the place of an especially heinous evil, and some of it's aura stuck. it doesn't have to be complicated).

be warned however that players might want to exploit such an occurance. "a timeless desecrate? hey, can i learn how to make a timeless consecrate?"

i hope this helped,
Kol.

[Hanuman]

I wrote that article. :) It was my very first published anything.

I don't have my copy of the magazine handy - I'm at work - and I know it was heavily changed from my submitted version to the published version (including a change to the rules that created an error in the example. As I recall, the version in my turnover document also included a penalty on opposed spells that came from devices.

I completely agree with Hanuman's assessment that most of the time a specialist sorcerer is just going to completely ignore his/her opposed sphere. (I've seen it once, where a fire sorcerer really wanted wall of ice and so took it, even though it had penalties.) The penalty applying to items as well as selected spells was intended to prevent sorcerers from loading up with wands and scrolls to completely avoid the penalties. But the editors decided it was too complicated and cut that part out.

Is it balanced? I dunno -- been too long since I've even looked at it. What I can tell you, though, is that a whole lot of stuff that was published in those Class Acts articles weren't meant to be 100% complete and ready to go. There just wasn't enough space, and it was assumed that DMs would tweak the new options presented in those sections to their liking.



Yay! Fun (or horrifying) typos for the win!
Don't get me wrong, I use it for one of my characters, and the way I get around it with other spells is energy substitution.

It adds mechanical flavor to your character, thanks for writing the article.

[LansXero]

Q7

What would be a good or the best or the most complete npc/monster generator for dnd 3.5?

Q7.5
A friend got me NPC designer is it a good choice?

A7ish

The best monster finder I know of:

http://dspeyer.homelinux.org/search.html#

[Pigkappa]

Q9

The group is level 4 and the campaign is nearly core-only ("nearly" = if a low-tier character really wants to take something from a non-core book he can ask me).
The problem is: the party's fighter has a much greater AC then any other player. He has like 30 AC (1 Dex + 8 Full Plate + 4 Tower Shield + Dodge + Combat Expertise (+ Mobility)) while the other party members are around 18-20. I'm having a few problems challenging the party without using too many spellcasters, and I don't think a low-level party should always be fighting wizards or clerics. Most monsters need a natural 20 to hit the fighter; if I make them much stronger, the other PCs are going to die quite soon.

Thank you for any help.

[LansXero]

Q9

The group is level 4 and the campaign is nearly core-only ("nearly" = if a low-tier character really wants to take something from a non-core book he can ask me).
The problem is: the party's fighter has a much greater AC then any other player. He has like 30 AC (1 Dex + 8 Full Plate + 4 Tower Shield + Dodge + Combat Expertise (+ Mobility)) while the other party members are around 18-20. I'm having a few problems challenging the party without using too many spellcasters, and I don't think a low-level party should always be fighting wizards or clerics. Most monsters need a natural 20 to hit the fighter; if I make them much stronger, the other PCs are going to die quite soon.

Thank you for any help.

A9: What he also has is a sucky move speed and a HUGE armor check penalty. Work those in into the encounter (make encounters dynamic. Stuff breaks, rubble is set loose, water streams gush forth, etc.), The huge ACP will make him either get rid of SOME of that armor, or flaunder around helplessly.

Additionally, depending on his size bring in things that grapple / trip / etc. him, again, to bother him and giving him a choice between lowering his AC or becoming useless. Also, depending on where the adventure is, some monsters have touch attacks, and I think his touch AC is 11 :D

[Pigkappa]

I will try to make things more dynamical, that's a good idea. I don't really like dungeons but the last 4 or 5 encounters were actually in small rooms or tunnels.

His move speed isn't going to become much better if he changes his armor anyway - he's a dwarf.

What does "ACP" mean?

[Ilmryn]

What does "ACP" mean?

Armor check penalty.

Abbreviations can be a pain.:smallmad:

[Hanuman]

Q9

The group is level 4 and the campaign is nearly core-only ("nearly" = if a low-tier character really wants to take something from a non-core book he can ask me).
The problem is: the party's fighter has a much greater AC then any other player. He has like 30 AC (1 Dex + 8 Full Plate + 4 Tower Shield + Dodge + Combat Expertise (+ Mobility)) while the other party members are around 18-20. I'm having a few problems challenging the party without using too many spellcasters, and I don't think a low-level party should always be fighting wizards or clerics. Most monsters need a natural 20 to hit the fighter; if I make them much stronger, the other PCs are going to die quite soon.

Thank you for any help.
Fighter:
AC30
Flatfoot 26
Touch 14

You'll notice dragons have the same flaw.

Stick some reflex-or-dex penalties on there and watch the +2 reflex fighter drop to 12AC vs touch attacks. Proceed to sweep up.

But really, fighter have fort and armor, that's their strongpoint. They are weak vs anything that ignores fort or armor, like touch AC, reflex saves, will saves, and if armored, skillchecks.

[Kaww]

A river may challenge your fighter more than a dragon.

Contact/inhaled poisons, grease, ice, oil, flanking, net, Tanglefoot Bag... Anything that is not a direct weapon attack is very challenging for him.

[Zherog]

Q9

The group is level 4 and the campaign is nearly core-only ("nearly" = if a low-tier character really wants to take something from a non-core book he can ask me).
The problem is: the party's fighter has a much greater AC then any other player. He has like 30 AC (1 Dex + 8 Full Plate + 4 Tower Shield + Dodge + Combat Expertise (+ Mobility)) while the other party members are around 18-20. I'm having a few problems challenging the party without using too many spellcasters, and I don't think a low-level party should always be fighting wizards or clerics. Most monsters need a natural 20 to hit the fighter; if I make them much stronger, the other PCs are going to die quite soon.

Thank you for any help.

Barring house rules, remember that some of these things don't always apply to his AC, or only apply to a single target.

Dodge: The Dodge feat adds +1 to AC against a single target.

Combat Expertise: If he's making use of this feat, then he's reducing his attack bonus. Is that reduction reducing the amount of times he's hitting the monsters/villains? If so, just have them ignore him completely -- if he can't hit them (because he reduced his BAB) then he's not a threat to them. An intelligent foe will instead spend their time attacking things that can harm it -- the wizard, rogue, or cleric.

Mobility: Remember that this feat only grants its +4 to AC against attacks of opportunity caused by movement. It doesn't apply to anything else.

[Laharal]

Q10I want to set some puzzles/challenges in a game or two and I'm not quite knowledgeable with magic traps, traps and anti-magic.

What would be my ressources if I want to discourage magic usage to solve a puzzle/challenge?

(I saw a spell named anti-magic field but with a duration.. any way to make it permanent?Any magic proof walls?)

Browsing through through a 3.0 book I stumbled upon a glyph of warding trap using the dispel magic... is that a good and valid otpion?

Example: In a huge cave there is a huge canyon with 3 adjustable bridges and I designed a little lever puzzle for the bridges to line up correctly. If a want to prevent a spell-caster to fly over to the other ledge, what are possible options?

idea 1) Glyphs of warding traps with dispel magic on them placed on stalagtites.. so a flying dude woul fly by them and.. fall ;)

[LansXero]

Browsing through through a 3.0 book I stumbled upon a glyph of warding trap using the dispel magic... is that a good and valid otpion?

Example: In a huge cave there is a huge canyon with 3 adjustable bridges and I designed a little lever puzzle for the bridges to line up correctly. If a want to prevent a spell-caster to fly over to the other ledge, what are possible options?


Low ceiling and swarms of sleeping bats, imho. with running lava under the bridges that throw random sporadic licks of flame.

[Laharal]

Ok thanks ;) but what about traps? anti-magic tricks?

[Savannah]

Be very careful with anti-magic. Players don't like having their abilities negated without good reason (and rightfully so). If you're going to use anti-magic tricks, make sure that whoever set it would actually have the resources to use it and would feel the need to. A better course of action, in my opinion, is to design your puzzles so that magic won't mess them up. So what if the wizard flies over. Is he strong enough to carry everyone across? If not, it doesn't matter, the players will still need to solve the puzzle. If he can, think of a new way to set up the problem so that it isn't an issue. Either add natural reasons not to fly (strong winds, maybe?) or change the puzzle from bridges to something else.

Putting dispel wards on the stalactites is a jerk move. Who would trap a stalactite like that? No one. So the players take a logical action and are punished because you're too attached to your puzzle. That's bad DMing.

[Zherog]

Players don't like having their abilities negated without good reason (and rightfully so). ... A better course of action, in my opinion, is to design your puzzles so that magic won't mess them up.

These two sentences, I think, are solid gold advice for any GM, but especially newer GMs just starting out.

[Hanuman]

A10: There are plenty of sourcebooks that have good traps, another thread can be started to pool lists of these.

How to balance Magic, Skill and Combat?

How to balance these to Puzzles/Traps?

A lot of the time simplicity is the best weapon, and will seem the most fair. Instead of created a contrived plan to wrestle the power away from the casters, make it just part of the world.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0199.html
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0200.html

If you want to put the power in the hands of those with high STR and BAB, you might try throwing something at them they don't want to kill (grapple, pref. in 1 round (realistic), things like that are very very good as DnD really shouldn't be a game of "KILL FOE" unless it's evil or paladin

I'm totally a fan of punishing players for this ****, for example: monsters or raiders have recently attacked a group of hunters in their cabin, the players open the door and they hear something fall in the pantry (putting them on alert if they are highly combative), they fling open the door and a hunter comes out with a knife stabbing wildly, if the players kill him they do get everything in the cabin, but they miss basically all their roleplaying potential (i do award XP for this, non-stated), and additionally the worst thing is they lose a valuable contact. Contacts in my game are basically everything, they are the players macro-power, and without contacts they are just a group of a few people. Putting emphasis on long-term goals is a very good way to keep players in line as far as RP since they then realize that RP and contacts are as good as gold or XP. People say how broken leadership is, imagine if you didn't have a cap. Yeah, important.

To follow up, magic has WAY more weaknesses than AMF, and here are some basic rules of thumb:

Utility casters generally have low REF, FORT, STR and HP
Melee generally has low WILL
Spells generally have ASF and Concentration as weaknesses
Prepared spells are limited to scope
Spontaneous spells are limited to theme
Casters have spell theme, which is to say, divine tends to be more defensive and buffing, arcane tends to be more offensive.
Spells take a standard action, lots of utility spells require it to come into effect next turn, so always keep new things happening during an encounter, make the casters re-think their plans every round or two but pre-plan it, and make it make sense, if your casters are paranoid give them foreshadowing before each change to let them see that you are planning ahead, like if something slams against the wall in a mine have that wall collapse onto the enemy, that way the players don't complain when the entrance to the mine starts collapsing mid-combat. Casters should remain on their toes, because I know when I play wizard as soon as the first round is over a lot of the time I'm pretty cozy, even if things get dicey I still play as if I had high int, and that any bad things are just acceptable risk. Mix it up!
Obviously, casters cant do everything. Wizards have high skillpoints but not a lot of skillpoints for their class a lot of the time, so give them a wide range of fairly easy DC but dangerous skill checks while threatened, you casters will be sweating and your non-casters will probably have to catch them as they fall off a slippery ledge.
If worse comes to worse, pull a "ray dies" play, which is to say split the party away from the caster(s) and have the caster(s) do their own puzzle(s).



Huge tip: Don't underestimate the power of the player.
That is, your players are people IRL, they don't have special powers, but they can do complicated things if they pull together, so a big tip is to treat the players like level 1 commoners, design a puzzle, then re-design it in mind that they do have powers. That way, they can solve it without using their powers, which makes everyone equal (except with those with low mental stats =P).


As for traps, don't make them apparent, make them tucker's kobolds-like, or make consequences for their spells, like if it's a blast make it cause unexpected events like cave-ins or lighting the forest on fire, and trust me, no monster is as bad as a forest fire moving in your direction.