Mike Shea and Erik Scott De Bie talk sandbox gaming, specifically in Dungeons & Dragons 4e.
The Island Of Misfit Christmas Article Ideas
It was my intention to write a funny Christmas article this week. It didn’t turn out so well. Come on anyway, you’re already here. Ho ho ho and all that.
Instant Dungeon Crawling, Trial by Dragon
In which Chatty shares the highlights of his New York Comic Con D&D 4e game, featuring dungeons crawling and dragon mustering… or was that dragon mustarding. I forget.
30 For 30
I played 30 games for the occasion of turning 30. Here they all are.
Instant Dungeon Crawling, The Formula and the Setup
In which Chatty shares is instant dungeon crawling formula that he used at the New York Comic Con to improvise a full D&D session.
The Architect DM: Building a DM Library
I believe that most DMs have only run a single campaign world, whether it was one big campaign that has been continued through various ages, or they’ve only managed to run one satisfactory campaign. The tendency for a DM seems to be to conserve the number of campaigns they run by reusing worlds or tying them together so that in the end the number of campaign worlds they run is as close to one as possible. I think our tendency as DMs is to keep things relatively stable within our game worlds unless they are split by something like a change in campaign.
The Grass Is Always Greener Where The Drama Llama Grazes
This week, I’m going to try to write the column I thought I was writing last week about roleplaying better characters. Today’s topic, in particular, is how to avoid playing one-dimensional characters and how to breathe a little life into your PCs using simple tools you can find in your own home. Unless, of course, I realize I’m talking about something else.
The Architect DM: Designing with Precedents
It has been a few weeks since my last Architect DM post, but I’ve been brainstorming a handful of different posts and this one came to the forefront as something I want to discuss. My last post introduced some of my general thoughts about worldbuilding for modern and futuristic games, which is a genre that I plan on talking about more in the future. However, this week I’d like to discuss something I learned in architecture school that can be applied to your games and make your life as a DM/GM easier.
Am I A Good Roleplayer?
A couple of weeks ago, one of my players sends me an IM. This person started the conversation off a little sheepish and evasive, but eventually we got to it: “Am I a good roleplayer?” You have to understand, this player has provided for me some of my favorite moments of our campaign, and I’ve seen them hold together an otherwise disastrous game of Fiasco. My answer was something to the effect of “HAHALOL” or “U SO CRAZY”, and I meant every capitalized letter. I asked why they were pondering such a question, and part of it was just good old fashioned social insecurity (which I have plenty of experience having!). Some of it was from not having played D&D at a table having to consider the opinions of other people. I assured my player that they were, in fact, a good roleplayer. Of course, such an assurance begs the question of whether or not I actually know what I am talking about. Let’s find out, shall we?
The Smallest Kid in the Sandbox
Designing content in a shared-world setting is fraught with dangers. Disgruntled fans are armed with all manner of weaponry, but none as dreadful as the ‘canon.’
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