It’s been a few weeks since my last Architect DM post, but don’t worry the series will continue and there seems to be a lot of information to cover! In my last post I talked about function and playability of a location in a more general and meta sense, but what I originally started that post to discuss was the specifics of how the environment is experienced. One of the most crucial considerations when it comes to design in Architecture is the human experience of the environment, after all the buildings are designed by humans for our own use and appreciation.
The Architect DM: Function & Playability
Welcome to the second installment of my series about applying real world design concepts to your own personal D&D or tabletop RPG world. Last week’s post was a relatively broad overview of the basic aspects to consider while designing a location. Today I would like to look at a different approach to designing locations, which involves thinking more about how the game will actually play out and how your players (and you as the DM/GM) will use and interact with the environment you’re creating.
In Depth: 4E Assassin and Q&A with Mike Mearls
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.
‘The Magic Bullet for Publication’ by Wolfgang Baur
Kobold Quarterly was kind enough to offer up a chapter from The Kobold Guide to Game Design Volume II: How to Pitch, Playtest, and Publish by Wolfgang Baur, presented by Open Design. I was given the choice between two chapters and decided to leave it to the best decision maker, and rolled a d20. Suprisingly it came up a 20, and so I went with the “high” option which I’m very happy with, titled “The Magic Bullet for Publication”.
Review: "Races and Classes" / "Worlds and Monsters"
To all the DMs out there: how many of you have ever made a house rule? How many of you have changed some piece of description because you felt it didn’t make sense or didn’t fit with what you needed? Probably all of you. Wizards of the Coast is undertaking a huge experiment in both […]
Critical Hits Gift Guide 2007: The Comics & Everything Else
We’ve covered the games, now here’s everything else that you might buy for the Critical Hitter who’s expecting a little something special this holiday season. We start with the comics, then move into a miscellaneous pile of stuff that we recommend you buy right away!
Critical Hits Gift Guide 2007: The Games
Hello, and welcome again to the Critical Hits gift guide! Each year, we’ve taken a different tack for making recommendations. This year, due to some regrettable server downtimes, we’re compressing our recommendations. So first comes the most important category, games! Herein contain the best games that came out since the last holiday that make great […]
Min Maxing in RPGs: Mutually Assured Irrelevance?
Amongst my traditional play group, Min-Maxing was an art. Ever seen a Vow of Poverty Cleric/Monk/Divine Fist? How about a Werebaboon Fighter/Warshaper/Exotic Weapon Master/Kensai Spiked Chain user? It’s good you have not. Some us were actually role-players too (but not all) and some chose not to Min-Max either because of a concept (yeah, right) or […]
A Koster Conception
For those of you who know me, and read Penny Arcade regularly, you’ve no doubt been waiting for this post since last Wednesday. (The) Raph Koster wrote a guest post for Tycho, it was about a game idea Tycho had and discussed with Raph at San Diego ComicCon which is an MMO Construction game of […]
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