D&D Encounters Dark Sun (Week 13)
This week I was back behind the DM’s screen. We had a full party of six, three players using the pre-generated characters – Barcan, Phye and Castri – while the other three players brought their own PCs – the fami[...]Read on >>
how to be classy
Be a wine snob! Wine snobbery, along with an upper-class accent and a superciliously raised eyebrow, is one of the great, easy markers of the upper class. If the PCs hobnob with nobles, then they must drink wine. Invent [...]Read on >>
Have I been too hard on Essentials?
I have talked a bit about the upcoming D&D Essentials on this blog before. Mostly about how I think it is a stealth edition and how I think the rules updates are coming a bit too fast and furious nowadays.[...]Read on >>
Minions on the Table
September 2, 2010 from Critical Hits
Filed under: 4e, DM Advice, Encounter Design, Monster Design, RPG, RPG Hub
Monsters can lose a battle before it begins if they have bad tactical positions. This is even truer with minions. Even if we assume, narratively, that your minions have no way to know they’re little competition for the[...] Filed under: 4e, DM Advice, Encounter Design, Monster Design, RPG, RPG Hub
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Inspired by Facebook (and Shelly Mazzanoble)…
In this lovely informal Facebook poll, our good buddy Shelly Mazzanoble asked her friends to identify themselves into one of three categories: “DM”, “Player”, or “Both”. I, of course[...]Read on >>
Icosahedrophilia Podcast, Episode 100: The Valley of the Shadow of Death, Part 5
I fell a couple of days behind schedule, adventure fans, but here for your listening pleasure is the monumental, historic 100th episode of the Icosahedrophilia podcast, presenting “The Valley of the Shadow of Death[...]Read on >>
Essentials Red Box final thoughts
That's it! We've blogged everything we could blog about the D&D Essentials starter set. Blog of Holding will now stop spamming people with hourly updates and return to a once-a-weekday schedule. On the whole, I think[...]Read on >>
Fighter At-Wills
The fighter at-will stances in the Red Box also aren't super new or super interesting, but are nonetheless reasonably solid! Poised Assault: Your basic +1 to hit. This will likely be more useful at higher levels or again[...]Read on >>
tokens
Besides the books, power cards, and character sheets, the D&D Essentials comes with a one-page ad for other Essentials products, a card with a redemption code for another solo adventure (yay!) a two sided dungeon/wil[...]Read on >>
Rogue At-Wills
With the Red Box, there are two new rogue at-will attacks and three exciting at-will utilities. I'm not entirely clear on how one gets the utilities since they don't have a level requirement. In the red box, you get one [...]Read on >>
character sheets
The Essentials Red Box comes with 4 character sheets. The sheets fit on one one-sided piece of paper! It's roomy enough that almost 1/3 of the sheet is devoted to "character notes". The last time an official character sh[...]Read on >>
Gaming with Kids: Kingmaker Session #0
Fall is approaching, school is back in session, and that means the after-school game club is up and running again – this our eight year and as I’ve blogged about earlier, we had 16 students (ages 13-19) at t[...]Read on >>
Cleric At-Wills
Clerics get some nice at-wills with essentials. Granted two of them are for Constitution based clerics, but let's look at them anyway! Storm Hammer: I almost passed this one over because it seemed like a lousy power that[...]Read on >>
magic item cards
Every magic item in the D&D Essentials starter adventure comes with a power card. Or a magic item card, I guess: none of the magic items (lifedrinker greataxe, darkleaf leather armor, magic staff, chainmail armor, ba[...]Read on >>
Wizard At-Wills
I was looking over the Wizard at-wills, and some of them are pretty powerful! Paul already talked about Hypnotism, so I'll focus on the others: Wizard!: Stone Blood + Freezing Burst: I'm surprised it took so long for the[...]Read on >>
power cards
I've finished reading the Essentials Player's Book and DM's Book. Others have taken pictures of the power cards and tokens, so you can get more complete spoilers there. I do have a couple of power-card powers that I'd li[...]Read on >>
meet the kobolds
Of the three kobolds in the Essentials DM's book, two (kobold tunneler, a level 1 minion and kobold quickblade, a level 1 skirmisher) are new. The Kobold Slinger is updated from the MM1. The Kobold Slinger's attacks have[...]Read on >>
O Frabjous Day! Callooh! Callay!
I am officially a "very happy bunny" as of this moment - my copy of James Raggi IV's incredible Lamentations Of The Flame Princess: Weird Fantasy Role-Playing game has arrived.Without a doubt it is the most 'packed' box [...]Read on >>
Review: Dark Sun Campaign Setting, Part 2: More Player Options
September 1, 2010 from My Girlfriend Is A DM
Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Campaign, D&D4e, Game Design, RPG Hub, Review
In the first installment of my look at the Dark Sun Campaign Setting, I dug into the new builds provided by the book for existing classes and the two new races introduced. They’re all pretty cool, but one of the [...] Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Campaign, D&D4e, Game Design, RPG Hub, Review
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rogue Weapon Finesse
According to the Essentials Red Box rules for leveling up, rogues get the Weapon Finesse class feature at level 2. That gives them +1 to attack and damage with light blades, light crossbows, short bows, and slings. Accor[...]Read on >>
official 4e random treasure table
In Encounter 6 in the Essentials Red Box adventure, we get the first random treasure generation table that I've seen in D&D 4th edition: Each character who spends time searching through the [crate of] supplies for so[...]Read on >>
Review of Libri Necromantica by Three Sages Games
“Are you saying that I put an abnormal brain into a seven and a half foot long, fifty-four inch wide GORILLA?” ~ Frederick (Young Frankenstein, 1974) Necromancers have long been part of heroic fantasy. Magicians wh[...]Read on >>
warning: dungeon contains dragon
Encounter 2 of the Essentials Red Box adventure features 8 Kobold Tunnelers and a Fledgling White Dragon, a level 1 solo. As far as I know, Fledgling is a new category: Draconomicon introduces Wyrmlings, which are low-le[...]Read on >>
Month in Review: August 2010
August was a big month for D&D and for D&D fans. Most notably, GenCon gave gamers from around the world an opportunity to get together and play D&D. Wizards of the Coast made numerous announcements about upco[...]Read on >>
Been out for a little while, and it’s nothing but horror tombing mayhem
September 1, 2010 from Level 1 GM
Filed under: Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, RPG Hub, dungeons & dragons
Well, it’s been a month since my last blog entry and the lack of updates has not been from the lack of gaming. It’s been from the sheer amount of it, as well as computer problems that I am sorting out as well[...] Filed under: Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, RPG Hub, dungeons & dragons
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My Motivation for Writing an Adventure
I recently announced that I was writing a Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition adventure. Progress on this project has been steady. Anytime I have a free block of time to myself I am working on it. I have already learned a[...]Read on >>
The projector setup is a success!
It’s late. I have to go to work in the morning. I don’t care, though – I’m excited, and I need to write about it! This evening I put my projector setup into action for the first time. I ran [...]Read on >>
Tuesday Terror #26
” A hulking maroon figure stands above you and your head splits open with screaming. You pick yourself up slowly and swing only to find that he has moved and that his tentacles are wrapped around your head. You f[...]Read on >>
Essentials Dungeon Master’s Kit unboxing video
It seems that D&D unboxing videos are all the craze lately. This here is a very cool one and I’m not sure how they got this. These guys got hold of an Essentials Dungeon Master’s Kit and put it up on [...]Read on >>
D&D Red Box, I have it and Post 300
So something special today for Post 300. I picked up the new D&D4 "Red Box" starter rules and I like it.As you can see it fits in nice with the other boxed sets I have picked up over the years. But how do[...]Read on >>
talking to goblins
Encounter 1 in the Essentials Starter adventure (two goblins; one runs away to get help) is reminiscent of an encounter in the Mentzer Red Box solo adventure (two goblins; one runs away to get help), except that the Ment[...]Read on >>
4E AP: Teerna Campaign – Recap #6 (The Fey Connection)
The events detailed here span two sessions of play. From the memoirs of Tiberius Cosmourn Bramblewood, Shepherd and former Windrunner Desnus 25, 471 SL The situation in Murray’s Rock has more twists and turns than[...]Read on >>
Essentials Starter adventure on the 5 minute workday
When they decide to take an extended rest, encourage them to think about where might be a safe place to hole up for several hours. They can barricade themselves in an enclosed room or retreat from the dungeon to camp out[...]Read on >>
The Eye of Tricks and Traps Shall Rule!
Lovers of D&D Hardcore, don’t forget that voting is underway for Kobold Quarterly’s King of the Monsters 2 contest! My entry, the Eye of Tricks and Traps, made it into the finals and is hot on the heels o[...]Read on >>
The Twisting Halls
Pages 20-38 of the Essentials Starter DM's book describe a pretty big dungeoncrawl adventure, similar in scope, perhaps, to the group dungeoncrawl in the 1983 Mentzer Red Box DM's Book. (By the way, the Mentzer adventure[...]Read on >>
the real rules
Pages 6 through 19 of the Essentials DM's book contain the indigestible rules lump that no D&D manual can really get away from. I don't have much to say about it, since it's largely reprinted from the PHB, except tha[...]Read on >>
essentials skill DCs
With Essentials, the skill-check DCs have been rejiggered yet again. For first-level characters, they're now 8 for Easy checks, 12 for Moderate, and 19 for Hard. This is about halfway between their initial DMG1 values of[...]Read on >>
worgs!
How do the goblins and wolves in the first Essentials DM book encounter compare to their Monster Manual 1 counterparts? The Goblin Cutthroat (level 1 skirmisher) isn't really a conversion of the MM1 Goblin Warrior (level[...]Read on >>
Your First Encounter
Somehow I thought - I didn't really think; rather, my non-thoughts were unexamined - that the D&D Essentials DM's book would have to start with a big section of rules info, after digesting which the DM would be ready[...]Read on >>
Virgin DM Monologues: A Few Days in Stormreach
August 31, 2010 from Geek's Dream Girl
Filed under: 4e, RPG, RPG Hub, campaign log, dungeons & dragons
A stinky dwarf, a sexy female ogre, and a lubed-up warforged walk into a bar...[...] Filed under: 4e, RPG, RPG Hub, campaign log, dungeons & dragons
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Essentials Starter: Dungeon Master’s Book
Just as the Essentials Player's Book rushed you pell-mell into a solo adventure (in the fighter's case, before you even had time to grab your sword) the DM's book rushes you right into running an encounter. There are onl[...]Read on >>
Achievement Rewards Are Coming To D&D
Breaking news! As you already know Player Rewards are being eliminated from organized D&D game play at the end of 2010. The big question is what’s replacing it? Today we have the answer. A reliable source (who [...]Read on >>
Bring Some Luck to Your Dice
Are your dice unlucky? RPG players, do you have trouble rolling critical hits? Game Masters, do your NPCs die without having a chance to react? Do your monsters get slaughtered as you roll below 5 every time? I may[...]Read on >>
Harrowing Halls: Taking Dungeon Tiles to the 3rd Dimension
August 31, 2010 from Nuketown
Filed under: Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, RPG Hub, Role-Playing Game Reviews, pathfinder
Harrowing Halls
by Wizards of the Coast
MSRP: $11.95
Buy from Amazon.com
Note: This review is based on a review copy of the tile set
Harrowing Halls is a Dungeon Tiles set for Dungeons & Dragons that takes the long[...] Filed under: Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, RPG Hub, Role-Playing Game Reviews, pathfinder
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Book Of The Month: The Mark Of Nerath
It's somehow appropriate that the first original novel set in the default Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition setting, The Mark Of Nerath, is penned by Bill Slavicsek, Director of R&D for Dungeons & Dragons and Bo[...]Read on >>
Roleplaying Therapy for the Severely Disturbed: The Video!
WARNING: The linked video contains bad language, bad behavior, and is generally NSFW. At long last, our 2010 edition of Roleplaying Therapy for the Severely Disturbed (formerly Out of the Box Roleplaying) is available fo[...]Read on >>
Online campaign session 6: Meet Gary Sidequest
My online party gathered Friday evening for out sixth session as a group. One of the players was unable to attend, and since the party was about to finish the first adventure of the War of the Burning Sky campaign and [...]Read on >>
Essentials Players Book final thoughts
That's it for the Player's book. I'll look at the DM book tomorrow, but before I go, here are my final thoughts: I didn't mention this before, but the player's and DM's books don't carry the Elmore art. They have a moder[...]Read on >>
D&D Essentials Appendix N
In my haste to Choose My blue-skinned cleric's Own Adventure, I skipped this interesting passage from the beginning of the player's book, explaining the concept of an RPG: If you've ever played Neverwinter Nights, Final [...]Read on >>
Cryptic’s “Neverwinter”, looking bleak?
I’m gonna come right out and say this, I have some pretty low expectations for the next installation of the Neverwinter PC game series. However it’s not because it’s hard to live up to or come close to standard[...]Read on >>
