How to Use Conditions in D&D for Better Story Telling

Hello and welcome to How to be a Better

DM, the official podcast of, wait, I

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should probably not say that anymore,

shouldn't I?

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So as of this recording, you should still

say, well.

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See, that's part of the logistics that I

wanted to talk about tomorrow, but I'd say

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just say it until we decide on anything

specific tomorrow with Kayden.

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Okay, cool.

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Sorry, you'll have to cut this all out.

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Okay.

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Hello and welcome.

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Oh, sorry.

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You're good.

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Hello and welcome to How to be a Better

DM, the official podcast of Monsters

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.Rent.

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My name is Tanner Weyland and I'm here

with Justin.

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Say hi, Justin.

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Hey, how's it going?

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Oh man, so good.

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So good.

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How are you?

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I am recovering from moving, which is the

worst.

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So I'm actually doing pretty good, though.

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What about you?

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Good, yeah, you know, it's, my wife and I

are trying to get back to the gym, which

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of course is its own bag of stuff.

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You know, you go, you're like, oh, there's

so many people.

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I feel so self -conscious, but it's been

good.

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So we got back from that today, but yeah,

excited for that, because we used to be

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really into it, and then we moved last

year, and we just haven't been, you know,

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for a whole year.

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Uh, but yeah, we're doing better now with

that.

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So excited about that.

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And I'm more excited to talk about our

topic today, which is conditions.

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Now, specifically, I'm thinking like, uh,

conditions that affect the status of the

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player, like exhausted, petrification,

prone, poisoned, things like that.

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Uh, Justin, tell me, uh, what has your

experience been either as a DM or a player

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in regards to conditions?

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Like, have they been a positive, a

negative or

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or something not even worth mentioning for

you.

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I think they've been sort of both.

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Naturally, when you're a player, if a

condition is foisted upon you, it's

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generally a bad thing, right?

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There are few good conditions.

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As a DM, my experience with conditions has

really mostly been in combat.

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So I'm really excited today to talk about

possibly ways that conditions can be.

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expanded upon in combat and possibly

outside of combat.

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Agreed because I think that's a real

issue, right?

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Where, uh, when a condition is done for

the DM, it's just another, you know, plate

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to spin.

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And for the players, it's usually like

against them because frankly, I think we

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can agree on this.

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A lot of time players have seen that it's

not worth specking in, in the ability to

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cause conditions.

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That's not always true, but I do find that

a lot of players are like, Oh,

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If it's an enemy we can kill pretty

quickly, it's not worth, you know,

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blinding them or something.

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And if it's a big boss, chances are their

resistances are too high or something.

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You know what I mean?

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Absolutely, you definitely, this is really

going into the mechanics of gameplay and

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this is probably, I would say as DMs,

you're probably either good with the story

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aspect or the mechanical aspect.

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Or if you're a lucky DM, sorry, I just had

to yawn there for a second.

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Or if you're a lucky DM, you're good with

both.

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And this is definitely more commonly used

with the mechanical aspects of D &D where

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you have to, you know, I saw on a TikTok

the other day where you look at your

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player character sheets and understand

what they're going to use.

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And then you create monsters that would...

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Challenge them, but also be excellent

opportunities for them to use certain

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things.

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So for example, you know, like in the case

that you just said, someone who needs to

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be blinded, it would be a good idea if you

have a character who can use spells to

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blind to maybe put something in there that

blinding them would be a really, really

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good idea, right?

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Yeah, exactly.

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Right.

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Because there's going to be, you know, I

think if you open yourself up to, you

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know, using these more and more

creatively, then you're and we'll get to

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this later, then you're going to find that

combats are more interesting and role

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playing and the consequences from combat

are going to be a lot more interesting

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too.

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But before we get into that, I'd like to

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Absolutely.

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Speaking of conditions, there are two

conditions that I think in real life we've

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all, well, maybe three, we've all sort of

dealt with.

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First of all, exhaustion, right?

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That's a condition we'll be talking about

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you Tanner.

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Perfect.

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Thanks, Magic Mind.

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Now to continue with our talk about

conditions, like I really want to dive

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into the ways that they could be utilized

better.

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Because let's take exhaustion.

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When was the last time that you used

exhaustion like against your party or or

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with any campaign that you've been in?

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Honestly, it's been a very long time.

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And I say very long time probably because

I don't actually remember.

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I think I might have used it within the

last six months, but they probably only

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gained one level of exhaustion, which is

still something, but also in the context

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of what they were doing, not very much.

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And personally, I think my issue is,

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I'm sort of afraid of the consequences

myself, right?

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And this kind of goes back to what I was

saying about needing to understand the

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mechanics because when you tell a player

that they have a point of exhaustion and

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then you throw them into a combat

encounter, that could seriously, they're

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at risk of dying, right?

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Just because their roles are gonna be so

hampered.

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Yeah, and that's kind of what it, that's

what keeps a lot of DMs from approaching

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or utilizing exhaustion.

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I think it's that, you know, just like, oh

my goodness, this is kind of big.

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But then also it's the fact that I think

most DMs think, oh, this is mostly going

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to happen if they stay awake longer than

24 hours.

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And how often does that happen?

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Like, frankly,

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there's usually enough going on in the

story that they're having multiple

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combats, like in a row or just like in a

day.

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And so they're just begging to have a long

rest by the end of it so that they can

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get, you know, there's, there's everything

back.

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Right.

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And so if you think of it kind of within

that box, it's exhaustion feels limiting.

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It feels like it's unlikely to happen, but

think about it from, from the terms of.

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like an adventure, right?

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When would you be exhausted?

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It would be when you're going through

really extreme weather conditions or

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something that's physically or mentally,

you know, hard on the players or taxing.

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So think about this.

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Your players are on kind of a more an

expedition type like campaign where

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they're traveling, you know, through

jungles, forests, things like that.

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Those are perfect times to

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to have them get the exhausted condition.

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And if you don't know, exhaustion has six

levels.

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At the first level, you get disadvantage

on ability check.

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Second, speed halved.

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Third, disadvantage on attack rolls and

saving throws.

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Fourth, hit point maximum halved.

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Fifth, speed reduced to zero.

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So they basically can't move.

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And then sixth, death.

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So that's where like...

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It can get really serious very quickly

because the first one's like, Oh,

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disadvantage on ability checks.

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That sucks to speed half.

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Okay.

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You can still make it work after that.

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That's it's kind of a lot.

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And, but it's kind of a really cool

mechanic because think about it.

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You know, if your players are kind of

going through this journey and you know,

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you're like, Oh, you're in a really cold,

you're on a cold tundra and the winds, you

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know, biting at them and you know, roll,

uh,

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role constitution saving throw to see if

you do okay.

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And, and basically it's like, Oh, it gets

harder the longer they're out there and

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then they start failing.

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And some players are doing worse than

others, you know, like the, uh, the mages

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who don't have much constitution, they're

over there just, you know, they're walking

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a half speed.

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Whereas the, uh, the barbarian and

everyone else is doing pretty good.

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That's a great storytelling opportunity

and they haven't fought a single monster,

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right?

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Then if you do throw in like a combat then

that you know kind of ups everything You

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know the the stakes and I think that's

just a great thing and it doesn't even

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have to be when they're on an expedition

think about if they were in the city and

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They were you know They were supposed to

go through the sewers and kind of wade

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through the sewer water to find you know

Missing girl or something right wouldn't

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that be a great time to be like, okay?

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real constitution saving throw because

they're wading through like this stuff.

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They've got, you know, it's really dark

kind of rough conditions and they didn't

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have to be out in the wilderness.

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It was right underneath their feet.

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You know what I'm saying?

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Yeah, absolutely.

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I love the picture you've painted.

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If you need a great example of this

situation, you can think back.

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If you haven't had a chance, Critical

Rules, second campaign, spoiler alert,

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there's a part where the Mighty Nein are

basically, they find themselves in a

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tundra situation.

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So really, really cold.

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And they gain

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levels of exhaustion because they're

traveling through this cold situation.

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They're stepping through deep snow.

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That's a really great example.

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But I really love the picture Tanner

painted.

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You if you need to think about this in

simpler terms, maybe you can think of

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Oregon Trail, right?

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The video game that we all played in

computer class when we were younger.

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Or, you know, the Donner Party.

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Like these people are real life examples

of

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having to essentially deal with levels of

exhaustion, right?

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Even up to the point of death.

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Now, another alternative rule that you

might be interested in using, and I sort

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of just came up with this, and I don't

know if this would be a good idea, but

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allowing spell casters to cast two spells

in one turn in exchange for receiving a

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point of exhaustion.

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And...

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down.

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You know, you might play with that a

little bit depending on the spell level or

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whatnot and obviously who they're

fighting, but that might be an interesting

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way to basically be like, yeah, you can

definitely cast another spell.

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It's going to cost you this much.

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And you know, you're actually going to

feel the effects because now, you know,

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their roles are going to be at

disadvantage and then soon their speeds

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are going to be halved.

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and things like that, but that might be

another interesting way to add more

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exhaustion into combat itself.

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Yeah, I love that, especially where, you

know, if you want to homebrew a few

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things, then I mean, not only spell

casters, but it's like, okay, let's have,

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you know, the the melee characters, they

can make maybe, you know, two, maybe even

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three actions.

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You know, in, in, uh, in a turn, but

they're going to increase the thing of,

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uh, a level of exhaustion.

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And while that might feel like, Oh, that's

broken.

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It's like, well, they need to have a long

rest to get rid of that.

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So that means until they have that next

long rest, they, they get disadvantaged on

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their ability checks.

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You know, that's, that's a rough time.

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Um, so play around with that.

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I don't want to spend all of our time on

exhaust exhaustion, but I think it's a

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classic example of.

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You know, of DMs feeling like it's just

not practical when it could have so much

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story implications, you know, and I just

love it.

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Um, but let's move on to some of the other

ones like poison.

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Uh, if you're poisoned that that's common

condition, right?

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You're fighting some spiders in the

forest.

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Uh, they start singing and they take, and

you take not only the normal damage, but

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also some point at poison damage.

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I think that this one, you could really

stand to do a lot more homebrew.

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with it, right?

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Where, where it's like, okay, yeah,

they're poisoned, but it's not just adding

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points of damage, right?

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It's like, oh, it's poisoned, but the

effect is every this many hours, you know,

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they take a temporary point of condition

damage, right?

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Where like, there's a lot of different

effects that poison can have in real life.

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And we should let that actually show, you

know, when someone becomes poisoned.

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So that that's kind of my two cents on

that, where it's like, okay, make the what

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happens, play around with it.

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Don't always make it just straight damage

that happens every, you know, every six

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seconds, but also make it have interesting

effects and also interesting cures.

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Right.

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Cause if you have that kind of situation

where it's like, Oh, this poison isn't

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going away, but also you don't have to

solve it immediately.

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Cause it's not going to kill you in a

minute.

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then that gives your party a chance to you

know, that it gives the chance for the

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ranger to have an Aragorn moment and be

like, okay, I'm going to use roll nature

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and see if I can find these herbs that

will heal it, right?

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Or something like that.

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Absolutely.

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One thing I will say around herbs is, well

first of all with poisons as a whole, you

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need to kind of make the punishment fit

the crime.

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And that's the weirdest way of saying,

make sure the poison fits the level the

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characters are at.

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So if they're higher level, then if the

poison is really going to like impact them

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at all, it should probably be kind of

quest worthy.

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Whereas if they're lower level,

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it makes sense for them to get bit by, you

know, just, you know, a lower level spider

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and have to find an herb in the same

forest they're in to fix it, right?

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Because it's going to be a little bit

harder for them.

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Also on that note, play around with the

location of the antidote relative to the

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location of the poison or venom, I guess,

technically speaking.

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In D &D it's the same thing, but, you

know,

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you might put the antidote in the same

forest, or you might put it somewhere

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else.

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If you put it somewhere else, have the

presence of mind to make sure that the

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effects of the poison don't outright kill

them before they have a chance to get the

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antidote, right?

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Like Tana was saying, make it pressing,

but not pressing to the point that they

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die.

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Last thing I'd say is, in real life,

poisons, they sort of...

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kind of overcome your body, right?

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And Lord of the Rings is a great example.

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Frodo descends more and more into becoming

a wraith, right, because he was poisoned.

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At first, you know, his effects, his

symptoms were not as severe.

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So if you're home brewing it, that might

be something you could also play around

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with.

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You know, however long it takes, their

symptoms start to become more severe

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because the poison is reaching different

parts of the body.

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Yeah.

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And I think there's just to speak also to

the effects.

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There's some effects that's like, Hey, you

could totally have so much fun with this.

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Like, think about it.

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Does a barbarian need, you know, uh, do

they need charisma?

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Not really.

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But imagine if they got poisoned with

something that kind of eats away at their

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flesh, or at least just models it like,

like it makes it modeled where they just

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look bad.

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And so like over time, day by day, they're

looks are looking worse.

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And they need that kind of antidote and

they don't know where it is.

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And that's a great story thing where, oh,

they've got to do this whole thing.

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Like this is built into the character now

where they're looking physically worse.

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And that becomes something that other

plays can mention and NPCs.

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And especially if like the player

described them initially as like handsome,

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that'd be hilarious, you know, but like

also like kind of growing like character

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arc for them to be like, Hey,

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this thing you were proud of, you got to

get this poison, you know, cured.

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And it doesn't affect their gameplay at

all, unless of course they were rolling a

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bunch of, you know, persuasion or, or

intimidation type checks, right?

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But either way, I think that, I think that

you got to play around with it.

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Look at the interesting story arcs that

can come from it, and then make your

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effects according to that.

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One thing, you know kind of going to

another one Petrification I don't think

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you should use this that often but I think

that when you do use it you could use it

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kind of interestingly For example, you

know, typically when it happens it happens

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to the whole body the players unable to

see unable to speak Essentially the

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character is out out right and it's

usually temporary because when it's

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permanent you have to do you have to go to

pretty extreme lengths

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that to get rid of it.

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I believe it's a greater restoration spell

to remove it.

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But but think about if you were like,

okay, maybe he's not fully petrified.

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Maybe maybe he's, you know, an archer.

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And his and his leg is petrified.

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It's like, yeah, that doesn't ruin things.

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But he's not moving.

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You know, he's certainly not going around

unless of course, like he's hobbling

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almost like he has a peg leg.

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And then I think that you could almost

play with that where

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Petrification doesn't have to be the whole

body and it or it could be most of the

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body but like leave the head unpetrified

and then the party has to carry them

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around, you know, until they find someone.

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Either way, I think that you could play

around with this a lot better and have

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better experiences with it.

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Absolutely.

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Real quick Tanner, after I kind of share

my next a little bit, I will probably need

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to go.

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So let's just basically say like, yeah,

we're going to actually do two episodes on

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conditions.

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So this is part one, and then we'll do

part two in two weeks.

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So, okay.

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And then I would just add to

petrification.

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That's exactly right.

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You don't have to do, you don't have to go

all the way.

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You know, you could even do a single limb

and they might have to learn how to fight

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using strength rather than dexterity

because now they have a club for a hand

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instead of, you know, a working hand.

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I actually had this happen in my home brew

campaign where the party went up against a

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Medusa essentially.

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And wouldn't you know it, two people in

the party were petrified.

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And you know, like Tanner said, normally

it would.

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just require a greater restoration spell,

which you could theoretically just go find

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a cleric and bada bing bada boom.

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So it could be as hard or as difficult as

you want.

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In my homebrew campaign, I decided to make

it a full quest.

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They had to go find something specific

that could fuel a spell powerful enough to

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unpetrify them.

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And they only found one, so they had to

make a choice.

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Which player, which person are we going to

bring back?

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And, and, you know, that was kind of a

whole fun arc.

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I got to introduce this whole, you know,

robotic dwarf thing anyways.

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Um, so really with even petrification and

other things play around with the

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permanence of the condition and what it

takes to heal the condition and also be

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cognizant of what your players are willing

to do.

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Right.

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So if you can sense that they're.

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They've been kind of going on side quests

for a while.

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They want to get back to the main quest.

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I wouldn't do a permanent thing unless you

get the feeling that they're willing to

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live with it for a while and you can maybe

make the effects a little bit lower but

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still somewhat annoying.

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Anyways, just play with the permanence and

see how that changes the story as well.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And I think that that's a great place to

end for now.

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We'll have to do a follow up episode

because there's a lot of other statuses

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and conditions and we really want to, to

kind of dive into how each one provides a

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different types of storytelling

opportunity.

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But for now, you know, Justin, any final

thoughts on conditions?

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Um, I hope that your condition listener is

tip top and 100%.

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Uh, you know, I, I think we say this a

lot, but we don't say it enough.

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Uh, we are very grateful to you, the

listener for your support, whether you're

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driving to work right now, working out in

the gym, doing dishes, whatever you're

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doing, it means so much that you've been

willing enough to put us in your ears and

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let us talk for a bit.

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It's just kind of this magical thing.

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It connects us over time and space.

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So thank you so much.

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And again, I hope your condition is as

good as it can be and that every game you

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play is even better than the last.

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Well, I couldn't say it any better than

that.

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So we're going to sign off and let's roll

initiative.