Everything tabletop gaming since 2005
The one rule I gave myself was “Shape the adventure based on the questions your players ask you” and “When in doubt, ask for a skill check”.
It worked wonderfully. So much so that my first true sandbox dungeon adventure probably felt like a seamless linear adventure narrative to my players who probably thought they were just following the path I had made for them.
by guest
Nick interviews D&D Creative Manager Chris Perkins about being a killer DM, running D&D for celebrities, and making your NPCs memorable by doing voices.
by Bartoneus
Martial Power 2 comes out tomorrow, and having gotten a look at the book I am very disappointed that my current party does not have any martial classes at all out of eight players, not even through multi-classing. This has led me to wondering exactly which classes all of you are playing and as a result which classes are the most played and which don’t get that much love.
by Dave
Matt James of Loremaster, David Phillips, and myself gave a talk at synDCon 2010 about the origins of the Edition War in D&D, using skills for magical effects, why combat might be prevalent, tips for using skill challenges to increase roleplaying, and more.
Excuse me, but could I have just a few moments to talk to the players out there? If you’re a DM, with your level-plus-four encounters, your killer dice that never roll below 15, and your behind-the-screen smirk, I’d just ask you to step out of the room for a little while so I can address the players… okay, are they gone? Good.
by Bartoneus
The latest 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons supplement from Wizards of the Coast is simply titled Underdark, and it contains all kinds of information and fleshed out details on the entire realm for which it is named. This book is along the same vein as The Plane Below book on the Elemental Chaos, but the Underdark is a subterranean realm just beneath the surface of your game world and so will always be more accessible than the other planes to your players and their characters.
I don’t like random monsters. On the other hand, the idea of having players sweat for their extended rest could be worth exploring once or twice in a campaign. This is especially true if your group chronically blows their wad of dailies in the first encounter and then just assume they can take an extended rest wherever they please. So, what if you said ‘Yes’ to resting in a dangerous area (like in the middle of a freaking dungeon) but did it with a twist?
by Dave
Matt James of Loremaster, Erik Nowak of Blackdirge Publishing/Goodman Games, and myself gave a talk at synDCon 2010 about creating challenging encounters in 4e. Everything from reverse skill challenges to Beholder tunnels to fighting Orcus at level 1 is covered.
by Dave
Last weekend, while at synDCon, I managed to get into some quick demos of the Dragon Age tabletop RPG run by Hal of Green Ronin. I left with boxed set in hand, so expect a full review coming sometime soon after I get a chance to pour over it, but suffice it to say we couldn’t help but swap some stories about playing the video game.
The Titan Clank hit by the Avenger’s abjure undead power was eventually bloodied. In a cloud of greasy smoke, it stopped functioning and let out a badly battered undead humanoid made of mismatched stitched parts! It was wearing some sort of military leather harness filled with poisoned knives!
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