Last Thursday, I took the reins of a brand new D&D group. I had some nerves going into this. There’s the “just like climbing the rope in speech class” pressure of getting up and performing in front of people, and I also felt it necessary to up my internal drama ante a little by thinking “you are personally responsible for everyone’s fun at this table they will probably want the next five hours of their lives back NO PRESSURE.” — But I’m better now. Read on to see how it all went down.
The Combat “Out”
Combat speed in D&D is an oft-debated topic, and while much of the conversation is useful, I have one method that I trumpet above all others to make your combats take less time and work better as a scene in your game, and that’s the combat “out.”
Critical Bits for the week ending 2011-02-27
From the Archives:: Nico's Pick up D&D 4e Game http://bit.ly/f0IVHw #charchive # RT @SlyFlourish: #dnd SlyFlourish: Designing 30 Minute Skirmishes in 4e http://goo.gl/fb/w9pML # RT @obsidianportal: Our official API has launched, and the possibilities are endless! http://bit.ly/gkIcan #rpg #API # RIP RT @CBR: BREAKING: Milestone Creator Dwayne McDuffie has Died http://on.cbr.cc/hLi4XJ # 6 games for […]
Brief Encounters…
And lo, a new FLGS opened within easy reach of a lost gamer. And it was good.
The Architect DM: Negative Space in Dungeons
A very important design concept used in Architecture that I would like to discuss today is the concept of negative space. This topic flows naturally from the discussion in last week’s post about the open spaces in an urban setting being defined by the buildings that are placed around it. In addition I have been thinking quite a lot about the topic since seeing the post on Boing Boing about classic style D&D hand-drawn dungeon maps. If you haven’t seen those maps yet, they are indeed very classic but they are also, unfortunately not examples of good dungeon design.
Weird and Stubborn: A Tale of Omnipotence
This week, I undertake my first serious effort to run a campaign as a Dungeon Master in over 20 years of playing D&D. Will I succeed? Or will it be just like that one time when the things happened? Oh, God. The things! The THINGS! I wonder if I can just roll a Bluff check and have it work out OK in the form of a montage…….
Critical Bits for the week ending 2011-02-20
From the Archives:: Critical Hits Gift Guide #3 Games http://bit.ly/992L8i #charchive # RT @gamefiend: Hmmm…I seem to have have been given access to Roll! I talk quick about the D&D comic : http://j.mp/hc38mM # RT @nerdvana: RT @arstechnica: Designer of latest D&D board game explains its changes: http://arst.ch/o92 by @benkuchera # RT @NeoGrognard: Why RPGs […]
Digging Deep (Gnomes)
How does one designer take a creature that once ruined a campaign for him and re-imagine it to be something that could be the major piece of a campaign? With a little help and a lot of imagination.
Mouseburning It: Hacking a Skill System, Small Press Style
In which Chatty finally shares part of what his small press pilgrimage taught him and describes his new method for dealing with skill checks in classic RPGs like D&D (easily adaptable to most other classic games too)
From the Archives: Skills
Today I’m looking at skills. Rob Schwalb’s article about his dissatisfaction with them mirrors many of my concerns that have existed ever since my very first game of 3rd edition up through my current campaign. However, they clearly have value, as you’ll see in many of these posts, but also can pose some issues.
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