Let us take a short trip back in time, to an earlier era of D&D. It was the age of AD&D 2nd Edition, the edition that my group and I really cut our teeth on. The first character I brought to the table was an Elven Psionicist named Spock (The Complete Psionics Handbook being the […]
Four Concepts Adrift in D&D
With the impending release of the PHB2, and the general notion of what will be included, it occurred to me that even with these classes there seem to be some fairly reasonable character concepts that just don’t seem to mesh well with D&D. This article will identify those concepts, identify where I perceive the shortcoming in bringing the concept to fruition, and take a stab at how to solve this problem.
Inq. of the Week: PHB2 Classes?
Our previous Inquisition focused on a topic near and dear to many RPG players, and can even make or break a person’s whole opinion of a system depending on how it works, systems for magic. I have to say that I’m not surprised to see my personal favorite system, Free Form Magic, come in first place with 27% of the votes.
Inq. of the Week: Oh Oh It’s Magic
While an interesting magic system is not enough to drive a fantasy setting, it does appear to be part of the main hook when getting readers. Likewise, in a fantasy RPG system, this provides an immediate appeal to playing the game if the magic is interesting enough.
The Rule of C4
The trigger happy attitude displayed by many characters and parties in D&D is notorious, prone to looting everyone/thing within groping range; a typical group of adventurers in a fantasy tabletop setting isn’t exactly known for leaving places intact when they blow into town. This player/party attitude is brought to the forefront when explosives enter play, but the other thing it does for many players is opens up their tactical and strategic ability. This is why I believe the Rule of C4 should not be quickly or idly dismissed as more of the “Michael Bay” syndrome that many fear happening to their precious D&D campaigns.
A million little pieces (of equipment)
I’ve come to the realization that encumberance rules bug me. There are several paradigms that I’ve run into, but all of them have their issues.
A Comparison of Content
You’ve all heard the argument, and indeed many of you have probably even said it a couple of times, that “4th Edition has less content in the core books than previous editions of D&D.” But I’ve wondered if this was accurate. My instinct and a hunch were telling me one answer, but I set out to find out the truth!
D&D 4e: New Encounters
I began putting together some new Encounter group templates that can be used to expedite your game planning and hopefully present your players with some new experiences and challenges. I’ve also listed some suggestions and brainstorming for how these groups could be implemented, and I would love to hear any you’ve come up with as well!
Paying the Buy-In
When starting a new campaign (or even just planning a one-shot), it’s tough to get people into a new game. Thus, the game usually ends up being D&D. Now, there’s nothing wrong with it being D&D, but with so many RPGs out there, I enjoy a bit of variety when I can get it.
Why is it so tough? Because the “buy-in” total for the game is too high.
4th Edition Encounter Planner
Earlier this week I was talking to Asmor and idly mentioned to him how I was trying to make an Encounter Planner for 4th Edition that used the DMG encounter templates. I was hoping to have something where I input a level, choose a difficulty, and it outputs a list of the monsters that will […]
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