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By Maximilian Hart - February 17, 2020

Monster Motivations

If your players are anything like mine, nothing is ever quite a “normal” encounter.

Throwing a few goblins in a room or a corrupted tree in a clearing would be a simple fight to some players, but not to mine.

As such, I always have to take a second when I’m planning each encounter to ask myself “why?”

Why is this tree here? Why is it corrupted? Can it be healed?

What about the goblins? Are they defending a home? Casually wandering through? Actively hunting the players or setting a trap for them?

It’s an extra layer of planning, but I think it’s made me a better DM and storyteller.

Take a second to think about the motivations for your monsters before your next session, and you’ll be a lot more prepared when the players say “I try to talk to it!” or “I drop to one knee and offer my sword” or other unexpected things like that.


​​Note: Whole ton of links for y’all today! I pared down the best of last week ’cause I was out.​


​Yeth Hound Tactics​ – The Monsters Know What They’re Doing

Would a counter-speller be able to counterspell a Subtle spell/enhanced Psionic spell if they were reading the mind of the caster using such?​ – Sage Advice

Duzig’s Hold​ – Dyson’s Dodecahedron

How Do Your Players Know What Monsters Can Do?​ – Merric’s Musings

Taking a Look at Shadow of the Demon Lord’s Corruption Mechanic​ – Dungeon Solvers

Big horde battles work better when it’s one type of monster with a single shared HP pool instead of six separate pools​ – Sage Advice

The Rest of the World of D&D According to Rosewater… According to Angry​ – The Angry GM

Sparkle and Clink: Objective-Oriented Loot Placement​ – Campaign Mastery

Splitting the Party in D&D​ – The Alpine DM

Monster Spotlight: Black Dragons​ – Dungeon Master’s Workshop

How to Keep Track of Your D&D Campaign​ – RJD20

The Lost Vaults: 800+ Magic Items from Fourth Edition​ – DMsGuild – $12.95

Hagmalgams​ – DMsGuild – $1.95

Encounters in the Savage Underdark​ – DMsGuild – $14.95


​Now get out there and tell a story!

Peace,

Maximilian Hart

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