The new edition of Legend of the Five Rings (4th Edition, no relation to D&D) published by Alderac Entertainment Group has been out for a few months now and though I’ve been working pretty hard on planning a series of one-shot adventures to run I still haven’t gotten a chance to play it. As much as I enjoy D&D, one of the niche settings that it doesn’t cover that well for me is the oriental/samurai/ninja setting that, if you know me at all, is something I absolutely love to play in. Despite having not played the game yet, I wanted to take a look at Enemies of the Empire, the first supplement book for the new edition that nearly doubles the amount of content that you can use in your adventures.
Afraid Of The Dark
Get into the Halloween spirit with this festive post where I relive a bunch of the night terrors I had as a child. Woo! Party (while screaming bloody murder for my parents)!
Gamma Wild: “Gamma World” Game Day Report
I had a really good time, and became convinced that I needed to buy this Gamma World game immediately and inflict it on all my family and friends, assuming I have any family or friends. There is a kind of brash funness about it, an in-your-face good time, sort of like a game of Strip Twister, only with dice and hit points and without the awkward apologies afterwards. The loopy joy is built right into the rules of the game, which I can describe it with one simple word I just made up: randomosity.
Magic Item Wishlists and You
I spend most of the week working out the story elements and building an exciting and dangerous, yet balanced, encounter or two. By the time I get to treasure allocation, I’ve spent my creative energy and it’s usually less than an hour to game time. What the heck do I give them? Enter wish lists.
Critical Hits Podcast #24: Tomb of Horrors Actual Play (Part 3)
In part 1, our party ventured into the Tomb. In part 2, the party came across three chests and fought the denizens of those chests. Part 3 picks up after the combat when the cleric had dropped and was starting to bleed out. The party explores a bit more and comes across a hallway filled with glyphs of varying descriptions… and comes across another mysterious portal.
Booty Talk
One of the problems with the usual take on magic items is that most of them provide simple mechanical benefits without doing anything truly interesting. This isn’t a fault in and of itself, since magical trinkets need to affect the game in some way. The essence of the problem is when the game renders such mechanical bonuses mundane by assuming the characters have them. The developers increase the challenges in the game based on such assumptions, rendering the potentially fantastic merely necessary.
Great RPG PDFs, Another Great Cause
Remember when DriveThruRPG put together that great bundle to benefit Haiti, and ended up donating $178,900 for humanitarian aid? Well, they’re doing it again, but this time, they’ve put together another great collection of RPG PDFs for a low price in order to raise money for flood victims in Pakistan.
The Architect DM: Give It Some Structure
Today I’m going to focus on what could be considered the biggest and most important architectural element that anyone could use. As things go, this element may also be one of the most overlooked when it comes to dungeon design for home games or even in published adventures. I’m talking about structure, and not the kind that makes sure your adventure has a beginning, middle, and end (though it can help with that with surprising ways) but the kind that if it were simplified to its most common element: you could just call it columns and walls.
The Lion, The Witch, and the Progressive Enhancement: CRAZY DELICIOUS
When I am not being angry at BioWare or working feverishly into the night coming up with Star Wars-themed sexual innuendo, I sometimes show up to my day job as a web developer. One concept that we frequently use at work to make websites usable and friendly to everyone is called progressive enhancement. Put simply, […]
Inquisition: Your Mutant Origins
Explore your mutant origins in this Inquisition. Are you a telekinetic android? A speedster plant? A yeti rat swarm? Let us know just what you are in this poll.
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