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You are here: Home / Archives for D&D Insider

The Exaggerated Death of 4th Edition

December 7, 2012 by Mike Shea

Just because Wizards of the Coast pays little attention to 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons doesn’t mean its dead. D&D isn’t Star Wars Galaxies or City of Heroes; WOTC can’t shut the servers down. With currently published material, we can play 4e as long as we desire and the 4e products released since late 2010 are the best in the edition. 4e didn’t die — it finally became stable. It’s not only alive, it may now be the best time to play!

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, character builder, D&D, d&d 4e, D&D Insider, Dungeon Commander, Editorial, Marketing

Recompiling Digital D&D

January 17, 2012 by Vanir

A common complaint with 4th Edition has been the online tools that go with it. Now that we have a Next Edition coming, WotC gets another shot at getting their cyberducks in a row. The best part is, this time out they’re asking all of us what we want from D&D. Guess what? I want better online tools! Furthermore, I have a few suggestions. WARNING: Some programmer jargon ahead. Proceed with digital caution.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: .net, asp, character builder, D&D, D&D Insider, D&DI, dndnext, Dungeons and Dragons, json, online tools, perl, php, python, virtual tabletop, wotc, xml

Chatty DM, Freelancer, Part 2: Lessons from Day Jobs

June 5, 2011 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty details his real life work experiences and how they helped shape his burgeoning career as a writer.

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Biography, D&D Insider, freelancing, Real Life Jobs, Writing

Chatty DM, Freelancer, Part 1: Lessons from Academia

May 30, 2011 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty starts telling the story of what made him a writer, sharing a few key lessons from his early years.

Filed Under: Freelance Writing, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Biography, D&D Insider, freelancing, Writing

Preview: Dungeons & Dragons Virtual Table

November 23, 2010 by Dave

What they’ve come up with is a pretty solid product with some extra specific to D&D touches that I haven’t seen so smoothly integrated elsewhere, which gives me hope for this product. There’s still a few key features I would love to see (which I’ll get into) but it’s a great start, and totally useable right out of the gate.

Filed Under: Featured, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, D&D Insider, D&DI, virtual table

Mailbag 3 – The Pitch

April 19, 2010 by Chris Sims

I did my share of pitching to Dragon and Dungeon magazines. I remember how nervous I was. You wonder if you did it right or if some blunder will get you blacklisted. The pitch can be nerve racking, but it shouldn’t be. If you follow the guidelines and contributors’ etiquette, you might not receive a contract on the first pitch, but you are headed in a good direction.

Filed Under: Analysis Paralysis, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, advice, D&D Insider, dragon, dungeon, freelancing

Mailbag 2 – Freelancing 101

April 8, 2010 by Chris Sims

I’ve gotten a number of questions about freelancing and writing for D&D Insider. In this issue of the Mailbag, I’ll deal with queries and submissions. I’ll also touch on huge sums of money you can make and the glamorous lifestyle you can lead through successful freelancing. Or maybe I’ll just talk a little about money.

Filed Under: Analysis Paralysis, Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, advice, D&D Insider, dragon, dungeon, freelancing

In Depth: 4E Assassin and Q&A with Mike Mearls

September 16, 2009 by Bartoneus

Last week Wizards of the Coast released a new class for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition called the Assassin, an exclusive class only available to subscribers of their D&D Insider service. I was very intrigued by this new class, so I asked if designer Mike Mearls would be able to answer some questions for us.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e dnd, 4th Edition, answers, assassin class, D&D, D&D Insider, design, Dungeons and Dragons, Interviews, mike mearls, q&a, questions, Roleplaying Games, roleplaying games, tabletop

The return of entangling and the red death

November 21, 2008 by Dave

Next month’s editorial calendar for D&D Insider is up. In it, there are not one, not two, but FOUR playtest articles coming out, including the Druid, Invoker, Adventurer’s Vault 2 items, and Mercykillers.

Filed Under: Critical Bits, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: adventurer's vault 2, D&D Insider, D&DI, dragon, druid, invoker, mercykiller, planescape, player's handbook 2

Hands-On: D&DI Character Generator Beta

November 10, 2008 by Dave

Today, the Beta version of the D&D Insider Character Generator became available to subscribers (and possibly some non-subscribers who signed up to beta test.) At GenCon, we were given a preview of the Character Generator alongside several of the other applications, but we didn’t get a chance to use it hands-on. Today, however, I went through and inputted the character I’m currently playing to test it out, and it all went very smoothly… with one exception.

Filed Under: Featured, News, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Character Generator, D&D Insider, D&DI

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About the Author

  • Mike Shea

    Mike Shea is a writer, dungeon master, video gamer, husband, and son of Robert J. Shea. Mike runs the D&D website Sly Flourish, and wrote the books Dungeon Master Tips, The Lazy Dungeon Master, and Running Epic Tier D&D Games. You can email Mike at mike@mikeshea.net.

    Email: mike@mikeshea.netWeb: http://slyflourish.com

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