The Lost City is GO!
The Lost City is a go! We’ve met the commission, and it’s time to choose a setting. If you’re not already in on the conversation, become a patron today. Then you can contribute and vote! I’ve rece[...]Read on >>
Embalming Vise
Embalming Vise Level 8 Elite Lurker | XP 700 Grains of salt, trickles of oil, and the scent of perfume all leak from between the seam of this massive upright sarcophagus. Trap A standing sarcophagus lashes out at ne[...]Read on >>
Ravenloft took my NADs
The Ravenloft board game uses stripped-down D&D 4e rules, which means that, as far as I'm concerned, it's auditioning to become the real D&D rules. I think each piece of the whole baroque structure of D&D sho[...]Read on >>
Thirdhand science says: Randomize your treasure!
Laura Redcloud's review of "How We Decide" gives me some (pseudo?)science to justify something I already believe:* random game rewards are more fun. [W]e get pleasure when our (subconscious) expectations of reward are me[...]Read on >>
Video Wednesdays: Caught In The Act
Oh no you didn’t… go rolling without the rest of the party that is. These and other acts of betrayal can break a player’s heart. Tagged: Humor, video[...]Read on >>
Winter Lands tiles
I was messing around on photoshop the other day making tiles I needed for my game. These are a winter themed set, with a snowy field serving as the base. Some of the things you’ll find in the small set include [...]Read on >>
problems with monster HP: prove me wrong! or right!
This morning I claimed that monsters gain too many HP per level, based on the fact that a) PC damage increases by 1 point per attack, and b) the design intent is that monsters be killed by 4 attacks. Check my math! I sai[...]Read on >>
Courier #8 Has Shipped
The Labor Day edition of the Kobold Courier went out yesterday, with news from a cartography contest to a free RPG, plus the latest on the Open Design commissions, new columnists, and more. There’s even a picture o[...]Read on >>
4E ‘Undermountain’ Trick Reference Cards
Hot on the heels of the Dungeon Trick Generator comes the second set of reference cards in the 4E ‘Undermountain’ series – Dungeon Tricks! If you’re not familiar with the Undermounta[...]Read on >>
Opportunity Actions: DIY Templates 3 – Thunderwave
Here’s how to make your own template for Thunderwave. Step 1: Setting Up First thing you need is a shape to work with. I made one using Illustrator, but you can either draw on your paint swatch with a pencil, or pr[...]Read on >>
hit point lessons from mm3 on a business card
It seems to me that 4e monster Hit Points don't scale properly. From examining the MM3 on a business card, we see that every level, monsters get +1 to hit, defenses, and damage. At level 1, they have about 32 HP, and the[...]Read on >>
TactiCon Days 3 and 4 (Saturday and Sunday)
The big weekend days of TactiCon were so big and busy that it took me until Monday to be able to write about them! Thank goodness for the Labor Day holiday. Here’s the “Too Long, Didn’t Read” su[...]Read on >>
Review: Dark Sun Campaign Setting, Part 4: Welcome to Athas
September 6, 2010 from My Girlfriend Is A DM
Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Advice/Tools, Campaign, D&D4e, Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG Hub, Review, Tools
Now, after three posts devoted to player content from the Dark Sun Campaign Setting, we finally get to the DM content. And there is no shortage of stuff for DMs despite the decision to cram it all in the same 220 pages. [...] Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Advice/Tools, Campaign, D&D4e, Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG Hub, Review, Tools
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NewbieDM Review: Red Box Starter Set
I’ve been struggling with this review for a few days, and I can’t quite come to terms with how it is I feel about this new Red Box as a starter set to D&D. I’m also struggling to find for whom exa[...]Read on >>
Review: Dark Sun Campaign Setting, Part 3: Still More Player Options?
September 5, 2010 from My Girlfriend Is A DM
Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, D&D4e, Game Design, RPG Hub, Review
In the previous installments of this in-depth look at the Dark Sun Campaign Setting, we’ve examined the new builds for existing classes and the new races introduced by this well-hyped book, as well as the new optio[...] Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, D&D4e, Game Design, RPG Hub, Review
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Red Box Giveaway! Now Open to Worldwide Contestants!
RPG Musings is giving away a D&D RED BOX!! — UPDATED! AGAIN! Yes, It’s time here at RPG Musings to give away another product and we have decided to send out a copy of the newly-released D&D Starter [...]Read on >>
TactiCon Day 2 (Friday)
My blogging of the TactiCon experience continues with day 2: Friday. This was the first full day of the convention, and I learned that it doesn’t really hit its complete stride until Saturday. I was up late last [...]Read on >>
The Week in D&D Hardcore: September 3, 2010
Week in Review I’ve Been Cheating on You With Another Blog: An explanation on why I haven’t called in so long. To make it up, I made you some original content – a high-quality papercraft obelisk! Voting[...]Read on >>
Poker Face: Even DMs Make Bluff Checks
September 3, 2010 from My Girlfriend Is A DM
Filed under: 4e DD, D&D4e, Inspiration, Play, RPG Hub, advice
I’ve never acquired a liking for poker. I’ve tried my hand at it once or twice, but never really had much fun at it. The use of bluffing as a core mechanic for a game dependent on numbers seemed strange to me. Now th[...] Filed under: 4e DD, D&D4e, Inspiration, Play, RPG Hub, advice
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Blogging TactiCon
August is GenCon month in the RPG world. I’m jealous, of course – I live in Colorado and was not able to make it to Indianapolis for the convention. (Side note: The company I work for does have a big presen[...]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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
