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

What I Did on My Summer Con Season Vacation

September 5, 2014 by Shawn Merwin

This summer was extra-special. Although I have been exercising my RPG muscles, both personally and professionally, in different directions, there is no ignoring the launch of the new edition. And for someone so steeped in Organized Play, the launch of a new D&D campaign at the start of a new edition of the game is a critical hit.

Filed Under: Columns, Editorial, Know Your Roll, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 5e, Adventurer's League, D&D, D&D 5e, D&D next, Expeditions, forgotten realms, Tyranny of Dragons

Target Mapping your Monsters: Worldbuilding via the “Monster Manual”

September 3, 2014 by guest

While I read the newest Monster Manual, I could feel the monsters coming together in and around dungeons and world events. There is easily digested lore for every monster in the main part of the book, and each of the 2-3 pieces of lore has something a GM can sink their teeth into and turn into a piece of an adventure.

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Editorial, Featured, Game Hacks & Content, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 5e, D&D, D&D 5e, D&D next, Monster Manual

First Impressions Review: “Player’s Handbook” for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

August 11, 2014 by Dave

The Player’s Handbook – and the D&D 5th edition ruleset as a whole- feels very polished. In fact, I’d go as far to say they focused on taking everything they had from previous editions and worlds, ran with it, refined it again, and so on.

Filed Under: Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 5e, D&D, D&D next

Breaking D&D 2: Electric Bugaloo

July 22, 2014 by Shawn Merwin

The risk inherent in mentioning optimization, rules complexity, and story vs. rules in a discussion is great. People may fall back into entrenched positions on all sides. So I want to quickly clarify some points that will also frame my discussion going forward.

Filed Under: Columns, Editorial, Featured, Know Your Roll, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 5e, D&D, D&D 5, D&D next

“Basic Dungeons & Dragons” Rules PDF is Online

July 3, 2014 by Dave

This is a full game of D&D, including 4 races, 4 classes (going all the way from levels 1-20) and everything you need to run them including equipment and spells. There’s also the rules of how the game runs. The only thing it’s really missing to be fully playable are any monsters.

Filed Under: Featured, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 5e, D&D, D&D 5e, D&D next

“Dungeons & Dragons” New Edition (Formerly “Next”) Gets Release Dates, Cover

May 19, 2014 by Dave

“Dungeons & Dragons”, the new edition, has a release date, just in time for Gen Con, as well as product covers and a few surprises.

Filed Under: Featured, Newest Critical Hits, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: D&D, D&D next, dndnext, gen con, gen con 2014

D&D Next to Release in Summer 2014

December 19, 2013 by Dave

Wizards of the Coast today announced that the highly-anticipated new rules system for Dungeons & Dragons will release in summer 2014.

Filed Under: News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: D&D, D&D next

The State of D&D, Post-Gen Con 2013

October 2, 2013 by Dave

I feel like this post should start with a Star Wars crawl: “It was a time of great change in Dungeons & Dragons…”

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, News, Roleplaying Games, Video Games Tagged With: 4e, D&D, D&D next, dnd, dndnext, gen con, gen con 2013

2013 Gen Con Preview: What to Watch For

August 13, 2013 by Dave

Once again, Gen Con is upon us. You can check out my schedule if you’re so inclined. More importantly, there are games to check out and buy. This is not a comprehensive list: if you want a bigger look at what board games are available there, I recommend checking out the Board Game News list. […]

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 13thAge, Augustus, D&D, D&D next, Dungeon Roll, firefly, Firefly RPG, get bit!, Hillfolk, Sentinels of the Multiverse, star trek, star trek: attack wing, star wars, star wars: age of rebellion

Flank You Very Much: Tactical Play in D&D

June 5, 2013 by Shawn Merwin

An interesting question came up in an online discussion of D&D Next, and I very much anticipated seeing how the answers would play out. The question regarded how players and DMs handled flanking in the playtest, since the current iteration of the rules do not mention flanking. I was most interested in not what people […]

Filed Under: Editorial, Know Your Roll, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 3e, 4e, D&D, D&D next

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About the Author

  • Shawn Merwin

    Shawn Merwin is a freelance writer/editor and game designer with delusions of adequacy and a penchant for games and stories. He's worked on several organized play campaigns: Living Greyhawk, Xen'drik Expeditions, Living Kalamar, Living Forgotten Realms, and D&D Adventurer's League to name a few. His design work for Wizards of the Coast includes Dungeon Delve, Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress, and Halls of Undermountain, as well as two seasons of the D&D Encounters Program. His most recent project is co-designing and editing the Fate-powered game Part-Time Gods of Fate for Encoded Designs. You can follow Shawn on Twitter.

    Email: shawn.merwin@critical-hits.com

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