Editor’s note: Unfortunately, by the time you read this article, we will be
well into the convention season, and many of 1979’s major D&D
tournaments will be history. However, there’s still the rest of this year,
and course, next season. Winners of the various D&D tourneys will have
already learned these important tips — if you finished less than first, read
on . . . .
 

With the convention season fast approaching, many of you will be
participating in the D&D tournaments at the major cons. Expect to
grapple with three special problems not usually found in local D&D
games: party co-ordination (up to eight other people you’ve never
played with before), scenario assimilation (figuring out the situation and
what the designer wants you to do), and limited time (four hours or less).
May the following suggestions smooth your road to the top:

1) GET IN. If you miss sign-up, don’t despair. Second runs of the
first round usually don’t fill (for example, the evening Round I at
Gencon XI was six teams short — 54 players!). After the first round of
eliminations, you might still replace a no-show in a team that advanced.
At Origins III, a whole team eliminated in Round I advanced to Round II
because they were on the spot when an advancing team failed to show.

2) USE YOUR MAGIC. Most teams given magic don’t use it well.
The main purpose of your magic is to blow away or bypass obstacles
you may come to grief on if you try the hack-and-slash routine. Take
inventory before you begin and have the DM clear up any questions on
how an item will work. Think of nasty and deadly combinations of
magical attack to pull on your opponents, for good combinations are the
icing on the cake. But know what you have and how to use it. At
Gencon XI, the teams were given devices for summoning Earth and Fire
Elementals. Some never knew they had these goodies until after they
were eliminated.

3) HAVE A PLAN. Although extensive planning is not possible,
simple drills agreed on before play (like “Fighters and Clerics surround
the MUs and protect them”) can be invaluable if the party is suddenly
surprised. Most DMs will not let a leader just distribute people, so each
team member should be able to tell the DM where he is going and what
he is doing, no matter what order the team members must react in. If
you are inexperienced, it is often better to stand on guard against an
attacker than take a chance on independent action that leaves everybody’s
back open, or worse, blocks the heavy artillery. Even 20 to 30
minutes of planning out of a four-hour tournament can pay fantastic
dividends in a crunch.

4) BE ATTENTIVE. If you don’t think the DM is giving enough
information, you may be in a situation where information, especially
obvious information, is given only in response to specific questions.
Usually you are in great danger. If you detect any discrepancies in DM
description or action, start a “player-to-DM” questioning session immediately.
Listen to what the DM says and how he responds to the
questions of the other players. You should be able to tell if the slip was
accidental (it usually isn’t) and take action accordingly. Be polite and
orderly; confusion in such situations is fatal! If the DM says all possible
information has been gained, move on to something more productive.

5) AVOID WASTING TIME. Searching: If nothing much seems to
be in an area, move out. Finding that Potion of Healing or Magic Sword
won’t do you much good if you run out of time. Arguments, the great
avoidable time waster: Party arguments usually hinge on leadership or
tactics. If these have not been resolved before you start, be prepared to
lose time. If you must argue, don’t do it while hostile monsters are
closing in. The basic choice is fight or run — do one. Combat, the great
unavoidable time waster: Streamline your combat by having a standard
operating procedure worked out. Strike hard, with the smallest guns
necessary to do the job. Once melee starts, get in as many rounds as
possible.

6) NEVER QUIT. If the scenario involves penetrating a known
hostile area, avoid combat as long as possible. If the designer has made
this impossible, kill whatever detects you once it proves to be hostile.
Should you get into trouble, hopelessly surrounded, fight to the last hit
point and take as many opponents with you as you can. In a tournament,
the other teams are going through the same wringer, so fight smart, fight
hard, and keep moving. As long as one team member is on his feet, you
have a chance.

As a final note, never argue with the DM (I hesitate to bring this up,
since in three years of DMing tournaments, I have only had one serious
problem of this type, at Gencon IX). If you think the DM has forgotten
something or made a mistake, bring it up politely and ask for a ruling.
Once a ruling is made, pressing the point is a waste of time. Remember
that one ruling against the party will usually not be significant, provided
the team plays consistently well. What is significant is the loss of time,
bad feelings, and the tendency of some players to quit after a minor
setback or two. Guard against these, and you will seldom have trouble.

In conclusion, the goal in any tournament is to have fun. It is a
greater pleasure by far to DM a group that plays fast and loose, pulls
occasional surprise moves, and takes setbacks with renewed enthusiasm
to win, rather than one that triple-checks every position and debates
every move, turns surly in the face of adversity, and plays to win with
grim-faced desperation.