Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 135 - The Rule of Three

Episode Date: July 31, 2022

This week Jeremy discusses the flexible tool for DMs known as the Rule of Three, including the 3 Clue Rule and other variants of this handy method you can use at your table to keep one bad decision by the PCs from derailing your game and ruining all that time you spent preparing for the game session. Please consider donating to the podcast at www.ko-fi.com/taking20podcast.  #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Pathfinder #DMTips

This week on the Taking20 Podcast. The three clue rule helps prepare DMs for the worst. When players blow past that critical clue or don't talk to that critical NPC or never make that important skill check that may be needed in order to move the story along. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 135 of the Taking 20 podcast, this week all about the rule of three. This week's sponsor, tongues. Of all the body parts, the tongue tends to be the most ironic.

After all, the tongue is most often in cheek. If you haven't seen the podcast website, head over to www.taking20podcast.com. You can see some links to some resources, a list of episodes, and some details about me, but not too many pictures. Nope, I have the perfect face for podcasting. I apologize, by the way, last week's episode went way long. I've done a bit more editing down on this topic, but hopefully I only cut fat. I didn't cut down into meat. If you do have any questions or need further explanation about this topic, I do welcome emails to feedback at taking20podcast.com. I would love to hear from you.

I frequent a number of subreddits, discord servers, and discussion servers for DMs to post questions and discuss issues they may be having. One of the more common posts that I see is a variant of, I'm trying to get my players to go do X, whether that's go to the abandoned hospital, talk to Mayor McFarts, accept the quest to destroy all of the blue cheese in the barn, whatever it happens to be. How can I force them to do that? I do have some bad news. How can I force them to do that? I do have some bad news. The only way to force them to do that is to railroad the shit out of them to that only one thing that you want.

But that's unsatisfying for players in the least, and you may make them feel like they have no player agency and their choices don't matter. I'm not a huge fan of railroading. Instead of forcing the players to make a certain choice for their characters, you can guide them towards where you want them to go, incentivize them to make the choice that you'd like them to make, and leave clues and breadcrumbs that turn their heads in the direction you'd like to go. One of the most effective tools that I use when I need this to happen is what's called the Rule of Three, and it's a lot more versatile than you may think.

So what is the Rule of Three? There are multiple interpretations of the Rule of Three, and it's a lot more versatile than you may think. So what is the Rule of Three? There are multiple interpretations of the Rule of Three, but they all boil down to the same basic concept. They allow you, the GM, to give the players options, and, looking under the hood, the Rule of Three allows you, the PCs, or both to have at least three options to move the game forward. PCs, or both to have at least three options to move the game forward. Honestly, there are a ton of variants of the rule of three, and I'm going to talk about some of them today, but by no means will this list be comprehensive. Just remember though, the rule of three is about options and flexibility. I first heard about the rule of three back when it was called the three clue rule.

Imagine you're running a Dungeons and Dragons game where the party needs to find the Scythe of Unmaking to stop the Empire of Sin from bringing literal hell on earth. You've prepared your game in such a way that in order to move the game forward, the party needs to go to the Cave of Whispering Secrets to talk to the spirit of the leader of the Achaelia to part the perpetual lightning that surrounds the castle where the Scythe is hidden. Things are going great and you've prepared an encounter where the ancient scribe has the knowledge in this cave and where it's located and how to get into it and the secret code words that you need, but thanks to a misplaced fireball dropped by one of the PCs, that scribe's dead. Without a backup plan, your game just ground to a halt, and you might have to scramble to get the game back on track.

The three clue rule says that if there is a critical bit of information that the PCs need to learn, instead of putting all your clue eggs into one clue basket, have three possible ways to give this clue to the PCs. So yes, having a knowledgeable individual who can provide the information for the players is great. That's a great start. But also have at least two other ways for the PCs to discover the information. Maybe a skill check that can be used to research more about the scythe of unmaking. Maybe the Icalia hear the PCs are inquiring about the scythe, and depending on your game world and the group's alignment and disposition towards the PCs, they either send assassins to prevent

its discovery, that happen to have pieces of information on them, or they send emissaries to the PCs to speak to them about the good and evil that the scythe can cause. Or maybe a bandit leader has notes about the ever-striking lightning storm on her research table in her bedroom and can point the PCs to that direction. The point of the three clue rule is to have options and backup plans for critical information. We all know that no adventure survives first contact with the PCs, so you need to prepare critical information assuming the PCs are probably going to miss it. I was once running a game where one of the critical pieces of information was that the mayor of the space station they were on was corrupt as shit. So I had prepared a note from one of the mayor's aides as loot inside of the bad guy's pockets

who was a guard just outside an illegal smuggling location in the city. I thought, what's the one thing every PC's good at? Losing corpses. So in my preparation, I said, that's done and dusted because it will definitely be found and the party thought that they were on some sort of timer. They weren't, by the way. And that they would lose access to the smuggling hideout after a short period of time. They wouldn't have, by the way.

Because for some reason, and I don't even remember why. Listen, if I remembered what that reason was and I had caused it, I would immediately fess up because in this podcast, I happily admit mistakes that I have made in the past, stupid and otherwise. But the party had drawn this incorrect conclusion and blew right past the one piece that I thought they would never miss as a clue. The point being is that shit like this is why your DM drinks during game sessions. The three clue rule helps prepare DMs for the worst. When players blow past that critical clue or don't talk to that critical NPC or never make that important skill check that may be needed in order to move the story along.

There are other aspects of the rule of three that we'll get to in a moment, but I want to focus on this for just a little bit longer. What are some of the various ways that you can get critical information to PCs? There are a few different ways, but most are variants on giving the information via loot, research, or NPCs. So information via loot could be notes, diagrams, journal entries, or other writings that can point the PCs to the next logical step in the adventure. It could be an instructional note from the next higher up in the big bad's organizational chain. It could be notes that are from the next higher-up in the big bad's organizational chain.

It could be notes that are written in a journal or diary that they're trying to figure something out. Okay, it could be research papers or information scrawled on computers or computer files that PCs could access. Books in the lair, mad writings scratched into the walls of the prison cell, tattoos on their bodies like the movie Memento. There's a lot of different ways that you on their bodies like the movie Memento. There's a lot of different ways that you can provide information to the PCs via looting. So they've killed the big bad, they've killed the lieutenant, they've killed this underling, and there's one piece of information that happens to be on their body, on their person, or in their lair. Another way you can get information to PCs is via research, and this can come in multiple ways.

It could be simple skill checks made by the PCs. Maybe sometime in their history they've heard the tale of the Scythe of Unmaking, or maybe while they were studying they learned about the Acaelia, or maybe their master warned them about the Cave of Whispering Secrets and the dangers within. Or maybe if the PCs can't make skill checks, they could pay a sage or a scholar or a researcher for information that they need. In my gaming history,

this has been severely underutilized by the people that I have DM'd for, and I usually have to remind my players that there are people, like librarians on modern Earth, can help you find obscure bits of lore, maybe for a small fee. On Earth, if you want to learn more about butterflies, you can reach out to a lepidopterist who could be happy to tell you all you ever wanted to know about how butterflies survive,

they have an all-liquid diet, they taste things with their feet, and whatever else. Where's my mind gone? I sometimes worry about me, by the way. Anyway, thank you for tuning in to Metamorphosis, the only six-hour-long weekly podcast all about caterpillars and butterflies. Tune in next week when we talk to Dr. Alan Ziegler, who will tell us why butterflies tend to prefer to stay in groups. I'll bet you all exposed a bad pun here about social butterflies. Well, too bad! It's 3 a.m. and my brain is hummus right now. God, I could go for some hummus right now. Time for an early breakfast. The third option is that the information could

come from NPCs as well. I mentioned sages and scholars earlier, but information could also come from family members, eyewitnesses, rumor spreaders, and by questioning any of the world's NPCs about X, whatever X happens to be. And as a GM, by the way, you don't have to force them to a particular NPC. Most people have interests outside their profession. I mean, for example, I may be a cybersecurity and teaching professional as my primary and secondary jobs, but fuck do I love sports. And do I love RPGs?

Oh my gosh, I am nuts over both of them. sports. And do I love RPGs? Oh my gosh, I am nuts over both of them. Anyway, GMs have these three basic methods of passing information onto your players in your back pocket and pull one or more of them out as you're beginning your session prep. Passing it on via loot, passing it on via skill checks and research, passing it on via NPCs. That way you make sure that the PCs find the information they need even if it may not be in the way you initially prepared. So while the three clue rule is an important aspect of the rule of three, there are other aspects of the rule of three that you should be mindful of. If you're not following a particular adventure, campaign, or module,

have three locations nearby that could be used in the campaign. On the macro scale, this could be dungeons, towns, glades, settlement, peoples, nomadic tribes, even taverns at a crossroad. Within a city, it could be a governmental building, or a business, or museum, distinct neighborhood, NPC homes, public parks, or any other potential place of information that could benefit the PCs. In the wilderness, yeah, it could be three geographical areas or places of interest, like a mountain, a druidic circle, portal, a nation, lake, ruin, what have you, but have three locations that they can go to in order to keep the adventure moving.

Another use of the rule of three is to have three side quests ready. Have them in your notebook, have them ready to go. Make them the lego pieces that you can snap in where you need to. Caleb needs help because his dog has gone missing and has offered a 10 gold piece reward for its safe return. The crops on the north side of town are withered and dry and dying while the crops flourish on the south side of town. Nobody knows why, and they're asking for people to go research that. Or maybe an umber hulk is wreaking havoc in the city sewers, and the town is offering a handsome reward to any person or persons

able to solve the problem once and for all. So having these little side quests in your notebook ready to go and ready to drop in at a moment's notice can help you whenever your PCs zig when you thought they would zag or they decide they're going to stick around in a place longer than you expected. Another thing you should have in your notebook ready are three combat and three non-combat encounters ready to drop in in case your party again does something unexpected. You've put up giant flashing neon signs that point south and say,

bad guy this way, here's where you need to go. Meanwhile, one of the PCs says, you know, my beloved traveling companions, the signs may point south, but I think we'd be better served by going north. And they all nod, and behind the screen, you mutter, Motherf**ker. I mean, hey, yeah, north it is, and you can pull out one of your pre-prepared quests or encounters and make it look like that's what you had planned all along. For more information, by the way, about good encounter design, see episodes, I had to go look these up, 40, 80, 101, and 102. Just off the cuff, by the way,

here's another example of the rule of three. Have three customizations ready that you can make to existing monsters. You know the stat blocks that are provided on websites inside officially published books? Those are for just standard creatures of that type. But not all creatures are the same. If you had lizard folk that basically grew up close to, say, volcanoes, why wouldn't they be more resistant to heat? Lizard folk, for example, that grew up on glaciers, why wouldn't they be more sure-footed on ice? So have three customizations just ready to drop in that you can make to existing monsters. Things like class levels and resistances and abilities. I read in an interesting article someone once wrote that if you want to make 5th edition combat tougher,

give most of your creatures disengage as a free action. And it really makes the party think about how they want to fight. And it's not just a slog of hit point pools against each other. Another customization that you can give to monsters is to give spellcasting abilities to some of the creatures. That goblin who can burning hands a 15-foot cone in front of her just became a much bigger threat than her non-magic-using counterparts in the cave. Or maybe you can change a creature's elemental type or characteristics.

Look, we all know all we ever wanted to know about trolls. Trolls regenerate, and the only way to stop a troll from regenerating is to give it fire damage or acid damage. Voila, that's a troll. But what if that troll was a fire troll, for example? Instead of its regeneration being stopped by fire, it's stopped by acid and cold. Or maybe you love the regeneration ability of trolls, but you wish that, I don't know, blink dogs had it. Bam! Now they do for this adventure. Why? Doesn't give a shit. Make up a reason. Science, technology, DM fiat, it doesn't matter. But now those blink dogs can regenerate like trolls can, and they just became a lot tougher fight. You know, I was just thinking about this. Maybe that regeneration ability is a curse that's been driving a small group of blink dogs insane and turning them aggressive. You're contacted by

Ush, the matriarch of the blink dog family, to ask the party to find the source of this curse and cure her beloved aggressive family members before they ruin the blink dog reputation and maybe even cause damage to nearby settlements. Hang on, making notes in my game folder, and done. Okay, instead of blink dogs, hey, if you want to make that umber hulk a bit tougher, give it resistance to, I don't know, slashing damage because they have tougher skin. This same idea of the rule of three of making changes can be extrapolated to other concepts as well. Maybe three ways to get into a prison where their friend is being held. They can pose as guards, sneak through the laundry, or climb in through the ventilation shaft and give the party hints and clues and maybe people they can bribe to make that happen.

and give the party hints and clues and maybe people they can bribe to make that happen. Three ways for the party to get to the planet Stiltonberry. A commercial space liner. Maybe they can buy tickets on the SS Insipid. Teleport magic. They contact an NPC who can provide the service to them for a small fee. Or maybe they just get a sponsor to pay for the trip. There's somebody who needs something carried to Stiltonberry and they're looking to hire guards so they can get to the planet that way. Another thing from the rule of

three, have three riddles and or three answers to a riddle ready. For example, the instant my name is spoken, I am broken. Or for many, I am daily fare, but I am something men cannot prepare. Or the more of me there is, the less that you see. Have those in your notebook and ready to go. I will admit I don't use riddles much in my games, and I probably need to do an episode dedicated on puzzles, but I keep a few in my notebook in the rare time that I do need them. Except for now, because I used two of the three that I just said were in my notebook,

and now I gotta go write two more. Son of a b****. Have three ways the party can acquire something they need. Maybe they can buy it. Okay, that's simple. They kind of throw that out. Yeah, that's very, very easy. Maybe it's something that just can't be purchased, whether that's legally or illegally.

Do a favor for a powerful person or construct what they need from scratch. Oh, the book says you need pearls. The party's nowhere near water. Think of three alternative materials that could be used instead. Maybe obsidian, maybe a special type of stone, maybe they've got a quest and talk to the dwarves and find an alternate very rare type of ore. The last rule of three I want to call attention to is something that I read while preparing for this episode. One website I read discussed having three different skills that can be used to solve any problem. And I disagree with that statement. I think it's too limiting.

I'm a huge proponent that the players need to help tell the story. They should be suggesting creative ways their skills can be used to solve a particular problem. If they say they want to use acrobatics to get through the locked door, tell me how. Describe to me how your character would use acrobatics. If it makes sense, I'll listen to the idea. I'll set a difficulty class or DC that seems reasonable. They make the die rolls and off they go to the next part of the adventure, or they're thinking of a different skill to try to get past this door. adventurer, or they're thinking of a different skill to try to get past this door. DMs. It takes practice to make lists of alternatives and have them ready, especially if you're going to improvise

them off the cuff. This is something, though, that you can do on your commute, in your office, or while your spouse is going to the bathroom for the 20th time today. Seriously, you may want to take them to the doctor. I mean, they may have a UTI. Spend some time exercising those creative muscles to come up with alternative solutions to events in your upcoming game sessions. The rule of three is all about flexibility. The players aren't going to follow the story the way you'd planned. They're going to want to go different places, try different things, talk to different people, and play Mary Hobb with your preparations.

And that's okay. It's even a good thing. You want your players to feel like they have the flexibility for their characters to interact with your game world. By learning certain techniques like the Rule of Three, you can adapt your adventure to maximize the productive preparation time that you have, while still giving your players an organic, evolving story. Come up with three clues for the main quest or side quests. Think of three ways to get information to your players. Come up with three different ways you can customize monsters that you fight. By doing this, you avoid single points of failure,

and I bet you and your players will have fun doing it. A little bit of a shorter episode this week. No, it's not. It's 20 minutes long. I've gone like three weeks in a row, and the rule of three is a fairly simple concept, and I'm still going to wind up going long because I won't shut up. If you like this podcast, though, please consider rating and reviewing the podcast wherever you found me,

whether that's Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, wherever else that you found me. It does help promote visibility of the podcast, and I would greatly appreciate it. Next week, I'm going to try a new series that someone suggested via email, information about various planes of existence. So next week will be all about the prime material plane and different concepts of the multiverse. But before I go, I do want to thank our sponsor, Tungs. Like a lot of body parts, Tungs don't smell very good, but unlike the others, tongues do taste good.

This has been episode 135, all about the rule of three. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game is your best game. The Taking 20 Podcast is a Publishing Cube Media Production. Copyright 2022. References to game system content are copyrighted by the respective publishers.