In which Phil writes a review that veers into murky editorial waters when he realizes that the D&D Essentials Dungeon Master’s kit is not exactly what he expected. Follow is arguments and his interesting conspiracy theories… is Chatty due for a medication adjustment? Have a look!
Re-examining the Dungeon: Section, Factions and Fronts
I think one of 4e’s problem is that the DM tools are now so structured, it becomes a hindrance for people with creativity issues to push through the proposed models and discover “new tech”. I know I’ve been having a hard time selling some of my weirder ideas like “Trap-Monster hybrids” and “The whole party stuck in the same body” because it seems people can’t see it done (or can’t afford the effort to squeeze the concept) in their 4e games.
The New D&D Starter Red Box: A Chatty and Nico Review
The first product of the D&D Essentials product line, while likely to be the target of hordes of people who will complain that it is not what it could never be… is what I wished I opened in 1986.
It is an introduction to the D&D game that goes directly to the heart of things.
The Final Stage of a RPG Group: Dissolution
I thought I was done with this increasingly inaccurately named “4-stages of RPG group development series” when I wrote the last part about Stagnation, but recent event in my gaming group lead me to a painful decision and I thought that tackling it as an addendum to the series would be a good idea.
Of Sorrowful Villainous Shrikes and Losing Encumbrance
Way back when, I used to write these short posts (yeah, Pffft!) where I would mix and match various cool things I’d seen on the web or to update people on things I had been doing. I thought it would be a good time to do one now.
Chatty’s 800th: Missed Opportunities and Future Projects
In this, my 800th post, I take a hard look at Wizards of the Coast’s Heroes of Hesiod, and its missed opportunity to tap into the tremendous potential of helping parents introduce kids to roleplaying. And I put my money where my mouth is . . .
The Briarthorn Needle, Gnomish Airship
The game’s action will occur entirely on board a Feywild grown, Clockwork-powered gnome airship called The Briarthorn Needle owned by ‘neutral’ fey privateers. The last warring factions of Sikkara (our Clockowork D&D gameworld) have agreed to meet on it to negotiate a peace accord and put an end to 8 years of global war.
Friday Chat: Don’t be boring! A Real D&D Insider Pitch
levator Pitch: The PCs are on their way to meet the monarch of a peaceful land when they discover the half-buried body of a gigantic elemental noble where the king’s castle should be. As the colossal primordial pulls itself out of the ground and starts to walk away, the PCs realize that the castle is within the creature, and their only chance to recover it is to go inside its body. While inside, they must break several rituals that hold the castle in the creature’s chest before it can walk to a nearby ley-line and return to the Elemental Chaos.
Overt vs. Covert Skill Challenges
As the maintainer of the (now massive) Skill Challenge feature, I read quite a lot about skill challenges, no matter if they’re positive, negative, or somewhere in between. I think SCs can be broken down into three main camps: overt skill challenges, covert skill challenges, and bad skill challenges.
4th Edition: Paragon Multi-Classing
Last Wednesday I took a more detailed look at heroic tier multi-classing in 4th Edition D&D, which included a fully multi-classed character at 10th level becoming roughly 2/3 primary class and 1/3 secondary class. Quite a lot of discussion surfaced after last week’s post, but one interesting point was made that the power-swap feats feel […]
Recent Comments