Where have all the good gaming shops gone?
I don't know if its just me, but there seem to be a lot of gaming systems out there all piled on top of one another in our little corner of world. I am a super huge fan of RPGNow and browse the contents regularly. I chec[...]Read on >>
Wizards offers free DD PDF test drive
In what appears to be a response to the so-called quot;PDGgatequot; controversy, Wizard of the Coast has made a quick start version of the 4th Edition Dungeons amp; Dragons rules, along with a sample adventure, availabl[...]Read on >>
Wizards offers free DD PDF test drive
In what appears to be a response to the so-called quot;PDGgatequot; controversy, Wizard of the Coast has made a quick start version of the 4th Edition Dungeons amp; Dragons rules, along with a sample adventure, availabl[...]Read on >>
unsolicited IMs from a friend, about D&D 4E, today
This is part of my RPG series of entries here at SOB. See the inaugural entry in the series for more details. (13:46:03) [redacted]: i finally got around to looking at the 4th edition players handbook. it's a fucking t[...]Read on >>
24 Hour RPG Contest
1km1kt.net and the Free RPG Blog are hosting an awesome 24 hour RPG challenge contest. The 24 hour RPG challenge is a test of your game design skills – design, write and produce an RPG in 24 hours. Go onto the 24 [...]Read on >>
Skeleton attack! Eeeek!
a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_i90H9mEWPUE/Sfo5CqtC7kI/AAAAAAAAADc/7OsGCXcrreg/s1600-h/Skelly1.jpg"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330635826932149826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand[...]Read on >>
Monster Posts
And I don’t mean posts about monsters. The last couple of subjects have turned into large posts. I’m working on a big one right now, but its not going to make it out tonight. Check back tomorrow when I [...]Read on >>
Pimp My Treasure Parcel, Episode 2: Levels 4 to 6
One aspect of the fourth edition (4e) of the Dungeons & Dragons game that separates it from it predecessors is the formulaic nature of treasure placement. Determining if this aspect is good or bad is a task best left[...]Read on >>
Player’s Handbook 2 Feats Corrected
After my previous post, it was pointed out that I overlooked the fact that the non-AC defense (I've seen this abbeviated as NAD) boosting feats are all typed "feat" bonuses except for the three Epic feats. This means th[...]Read on >>
Oh yeah … some more of my Art …
I'd submitted these to Fight On! Magazine a while back and never got around to posting them ... just thought I'd stick'em up here too ...JM.[...]Read on >>
I got Blender working (yippee). Now I have three free 3D engines sitting on my desktop.
My new free 3D graphics suite, Blender (it’s free), seems to have an even steeper learning curve than trueSpace, and the interface looks much more sparse and austere, professional I guess. But these 3D content cre[...]Read on >>
A PSA, and a salute to teh funneez!
For those of you who are blissfully unawares, there is an "indie: webisode series out there chronicling the travails of the competitive gaming circuit called GOLDThey are in need of donations and sponsorships to continue[...]Read on >>
four faces from the ancient gallery
Inspired by Ravyn's post about archetypes on Exchange of Realities. Title from The Doors track "The End" which is on rotation as I write the old World of Darkness Mage game I'm currently running...br/ br/ Click the titl[...]Read on >>
Ultima Update – spells in progress
PHB Document: a href="http://docs.google.com/View?docID=dcmsh84t_110fdx3x3fxamp;revision=_latest" target="_blank"http://docs.google.com/View?docID=dcmsh84t_110fdx3x3fxamp;revision=_latest/abr /br /I present to you, my di[...]Read on >>
Wizards Launches DD Test Drive, No Excuse Not to Play
The most common excuse I’ve ever heard from friends who don’t want to try D&D is “my girlfriend wouldn’t let me.” The second most common excuse is because they don’t want to get l[...]Read on >>
Just nipping out for a bit
Our house sale finally came through today, so we’re moving tomorrow. Very exciting. It means I’ll be offline for a week or two until I can get my IT sorted out at the new place. Feel free to add comments to[...]Read on >>
Got the Metal Beneath My Skin
Does anybody else think that maybe Johnny Silverhand should not have been allowed to write his own lyrics? /winkbr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com[...]Read on >>
Skill Challenges Suck! Or Do They?
I have been in some awful skill challenges. They added nothing to the game and actively hurt the story we were playing. Is this because skill challenges suck? No. In every case I have played in a bad skill challenge the [...]Read on >>
Making Rituals More Usable
Earlier today Mike Mearls asked "Thursday's #dnd question - have rituals seen much use in your game?" Looking through several responses, it looks like many groups have not used rituals. Those groups that have used ri[...]Read on >>
DD Alignments
a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2009/04/changing-meaning-of-alignment-in-od.html"Here /aJames of Grognardia talks about Damp;D Alignmentbr /br /Remember alignment started as labels for factions. Here are the good [...]Read on >>
How I Prep For Traveller
April 30, 2009 from How to Start a Revolution in 21 Days or Less
Filed under: RPG, RPG Hub, Tools, Traveller
Most of the notes for the planets in my Traveller sub-sector look something like this:br /br /blockquoteDori Danu 0408 B78A456-11 ST NI Wabr /br /Very little physical violence, so conflict takes the form of espionage and[...] Filed under: RPG, RPG Hub, Tools, Traveller
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Geek Gazette on Examiner.com
While looking for RPG related news I stumbled upon Examiner.com. It is basically an online news and events site. While the focus of the site is not gaming there are quite a few Examiners that do specialize in various gam[...]Read on >>
Implementing a reputation mechanic
I really like the idea of reputation as a modifier to social skill checks. It’s a way to integrate consequences for the PCs actions in a non-arbitrary fashion that alignment never could. The only game I ever played[...]Read on >>
Old Traveller Forms or Here I Found His ID
pOne of my favorite things from Classic Traveller was Supplement 12, Forms and Charts. There were two things about the product that stood out. /p pFirst was the consolidation of all the Forms. I like the fact that all th[...]Read on >>
Leading the Caravans
The adventurers, throughout their journey, has chanced upon a merchant who dares to bring his business to dangerous and hostile regions, as long as men (nay, anyone!) willing to trade dwells there. Now the adventurers ar[...]Read on >>
DD Comic Strips
Mad Brew takes a look at comic strips inspired by D&D from the old pages of Dragon & Dungeon magazines to Kobold Quarterly and the web.[...]Read on >>
An Epic Campaign: Step 1
Earlier this week, I gave 5 easy steps for epic campaign planning and readers asked for details. Well, since I’m conveniently starting a new game… First, I’m looking at this interview by ChattyDM. In pa[...]Read on >>
New 4E House Rule: Channel Arcanity
Developing from my post over the weekend about the new Tome Implement presented in Arcane Power and how it adds more options for the 4th Edition Wizard, several comments were made that a larger selection ...[...]Read on >>
Aggressive Scene Framing – An example in play
A few weeks ago we got together to play the second session (my first though) of a game one of my friend’s running. It’s based in a setting he’s created himself which is pretty traditional high fantasy[...]Read on >>
The Successfully Unprepared DM
Obviously, preparing to run a 4th Edition game has gotten me remeniscing about Dungeons & Dragons games past. This hasn’t been woolgathering about the “good old days”, or Old School nostalgia, or ev[...]Read on >>
Hooray for Fantasy Grounds
Tim talks about Fantasy Ground a href="http://gothridgemanor.blogspot.com/2009/04/different-age-of-gaming.html"here /aat Gothridge Manor.br /br /All I can add is amen for Fantasy Grounds. Still love sitting around the ac[...]Read on >>
In-character blogs, part 2
At the moment Im playing in a World of Darkness quot;mortalsquot; campaign set in Arizona. My character is largely a strong, silent type, but there was more going on with him than came out at the table. Hes an ex-DEA ag[...]Read on >>
Clockwork Chariot
When first discovered the Clockwork Chariot might be mistaken for a work of art with its delicate silver spokes, carefully sculpted horses, and gold leaf trim. A magical examination will reveal the device's true nature a[...]Read on >>
Whither went wargaming, so goes DD?
Let's take a quick trip back to 1989. Wargaming, and especially historical miniature wargaming, is suffering from an over-abundance of complex rules, expensive entry points and, anecdotally, waning interest. A gentleman [...]Read on >>
DD Test Drive
WotC has created a set of test drive tools for 4E, giving everyone an opportunity to try the new edition for free. The Test Drive site includes Quick Start Rules, the Keep on the Shadowfell module and the Character Bui[...]Read on >>
DD Test Drive
WotC has created a set of test drive tools for 4E, giving everyone an opportunity to try the new edition for free. The a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4dnd/dndtestdrive"Test Drive site/a includes Quick[...]Read on >>
[Longbow] Galehorn
A fine compound longbow craved from a silvery-white wood, cold to the touch and standing at least as tall as a full grown man. Faeries have a tale concerning this bow - Sedra of the Grove was challenged by an Imp to craf[...]Read on >>
Latizan and Zord – one world and a lot of adventures
A nice concept you might want to try… With Roman and Thomas we got two dungeon masters that started working on a greater plan, the three of us decided to start a few simultaneous story-lines interwoven with each ot[...]Read on >>
Module: The Guardians
The Guardians is the third module offering from the team at Dungeon’s Master. This module continues the adventure path started in our first module, The Magistrate’s Daughter, and the second module, The Spy In[...]Read on >>
Different Age of Gaming
With my group of gamers the chance to sit around the table and sling dice is pretty much gone. While Rob and I only live on the opposites sides of town, the others in our group live in different states. A few years back [...]Read on >>
Get “Interface-Zero” and “Shadows of Cthulhu” for just $2 each
One of my favorite games I never played is True20 by Green Ronin. Recently I learned about two awesome new settings for that game: ”Interface-Zero” and ”Shadows of Cthulhu“. The first is a moder[...]Read on >>
From the Attic: Back in the Day…
My age group (born 1963 to 1968) was one of the last to have to deal with a world without computers in every home. Starting in middle school, I got to work on the old ways and the new way with computers. Typing homework [...]Read on >>
Falling off the learning curve
Steve forgot his character sheet for last night’s game. Usually this would be an issue to say the least, but, rather wonderfully, technology saved the day. Steve had previously e-mailed his character out to all of [...]Read on >>
The Fourth Week of April in the Year 2009 – DDI
Apr 20 – 29 With this update falling on a Wednesday we have a few more exciting pieces of news from Wizards of the Coast to include in this post. Not only have Dungeon and Dragon magazine delivered some great piece[...]Read on >>
More Tektek, More LoA
Here are a few more of those little chibi things. These ones are built around proposed PCs in LoA. Síofra Nethfilidh Ferfechín, an Albannian-born fomor psychopomp associated with Horizons. Sir Anthony Ravenscrest (AKA[...]Read on >>
Gaming in the Universe of… The Watchmen Part 6: Ozmandyus
April 30, 2009 from Vulcan Stev's Database
Filed under: Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG, RPG Hub, Savage Worlds
The Watchmen as reviewed by the family
Part one: Tropes from the movie
Part two: Doctor Manhattan
Part three: The Comedian
Part four: Nite Owl
Part five: Silk Spectre
Ozmandyus is an easy person and a hard one all at [...] Filed under: Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG, RPG Hub, Savage Worlds
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Character Differentiation: What Are Your Archetypes?
Wrapping your head around a large number of different kinds of people is generally difficult. There’s always a mindset you don’t understand, a kind of person you’ve never met before, or a set of t[...]Read on >>
Magic Item: Kirfeshi’s Spellchick
Kirfeshi's Spellchick: An automaton constructed of gold and coral and crystal, the spellchick is so finely crafted as to resemble a living chick with golden beak, coral feet and onyx eyes. Its coat of silken fluff nea[...]Read on >>
Scenes from The Ravages of Time
I talked about the Ravages of Time scanalation previously, when discussing about its fresh perspective on Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Its take is different from KOEI’s over-the-top action games and dry-as-histor[...]Read on >>
Arcane Sidekicks: Getting Familiar with Familiars
Spellcasters, take note: familiars have found their way into 4E. This article shows you what the new familiars can do, and how to customize your familiar's looks and personality to create a truly unique arcane sidekick.[...]Read on >>
