In which Vanir opens the Pandora’s Box of gaming, and learns things he cannot un-know. In which the Infinite Improbability Drive of D&D can let a DM both cheat and not cheat simultaneously. In which redemption is sought,
Agents of the Un-Kingdom: The Thoughteater
As the Conquering Dreamer’s forces dig further into an area, the arsenal they utilize grows. Nullmen are replaced, but the legion also begins to grow as victims are caught and transformed into new ambitionless soldiers. New creations emerge as well, the most terrifying of which is the thoughteater. It turns out that all the Un-kingdom needs is your body. Your thoughts are useless garbage, which the thoughteater feeds on.
The Architect DM: On Dungeons
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the iconic “Dungeon” concept that many of us think of when we think of it in the context of Dungeons & Dragons. Also because only a month or two ago Dave wrapped up his 4E run through the Temple of Elemental Evil with custom mechanics to add to the “large dungeon crawl” feel of the adventures. Now I find my own campaign on the verge of the epic tier (the characters are currently level 19/20), and I am beginning to brainstorm a series of elemental dungeons that they will have to go through as a form of the Temple of Elemental Evil now fractured and embodied in five separate temples. Yes, I loved The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and I plan on stealing liberally from it.
Week 4: I Have Lost Six Dungeon Pounds
This week will be my D&D group’s fourth session. I’m starting to get the lay of the land a little better. I’ve learned that a plot won’t burst into flames if not kept on the rails the entire session. I’ve also learned that tacking it down in a couple of spots sure won’t hurt, and […]
Dealing the Wildcards
Anything adventure designers can do to help DMs run their games will mean a better experience for players. In this column, I explore the concept of the wildcards, elements adventure designers can add to encounters that provide DMs with choices.
Interview with PAX East Champion Dungeon Master, Matt Brenner
In early March of 2011, at the PAX East gaming conference, Wizards of the Coast sponsored the second annual PAX East Dungeon Master’s Challenge. In the end Matt Brenner took away the prize and title as Champion Dungeon Master.
The Eighth Wheel
It’s funny how things never develop how you expected. When I decided to start running a D&D game after going to DDXP this year, I was reasonably certain things would never get off the ground. I knew a couple people might be interested, but with schedules being what they are (especially with several parents in the mix, myself included), I wasn’t sure the stars would align sufficiently to get the first session of the ground – much less a multi-year-spanning campaign like we used to run back in the day.
As it turns out, I have no problems with finding players for my group. Quite the opposite, actually.
Agents of the Un-Kindgom: The Nullmen
There were no words, just… one of them approached you, pulled you close to its mask…and your mind started flooding with shame, with anxiety, with fear, and guilt…before you knew it you were revealing everything you know about anything. I could hear myself babbling and bawling like a baby, but I couldn’t stop. I just couldn’t stop. Once they got the person they had come for, they dragged him out of town and left us survivors here, weak, exhausted, and empty.
So You Want to Write RPGs?
How does one get into the freelance RPG business? I cannot tell for sure, but I can make some observations.
Mage: The Ascension Job
It’s no secret that I’ve been a bit Leverage RPG crazy for the past few months- in many ways, it’s a system that just flat out “clicked” with me as soon as I played it. One of the outcroppings of that is my desire to hack it into other settings. I’m a huge fan of modern settings, and while Leverage RPG scratches that itch, there’s lots of room for modern games beyond heists and capers. Enter my early ideas about combining it with Mage: The Ascension, to which I (and as I discovered recently, many other gamers) have very fond memories of.
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