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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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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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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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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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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
[Review] Kobold Quarterly 14
Kobold Quarterly 14, the extra-large Summer 2010/GenCon issue, weighs in with an impressive 96 pages. The publication is filled with role playing goodness, with articles written by industry giants such as Monte Cook and [...]Read on >>
Open Game Table 2
Last week I received my copy of Open Game Table 2 in the mail. For those of you not familiar with this publication it’s a collection of great articles from around the blogsphere that highlight the best in gaming. There[...]Read on >>
First Impressions: The D&D Starter Red Box…
It has been a big week here at Stupid Ranger, and it even got capped off in epic fashion. I was taking my traditional nap before karate, and as I headed downstairs I spied something on the living room table. Some ben[...]Read on >>
4E AP: Osirion Session #7 (Kelmarane Liberated)
The seventh session of our ongoing 4E D&D campaign tied up a bunch of loose ends and set up the group’s next adventure. Session Summary We started in minutes following the group’s dramatic rescue of th[...]Read on >>
inns & taverns: the goblin’s head
The Goblin's Head is solidly-built, a long two-storey stone building amid taller wooden tenements at the corner of a street of smiths. The rooftop is thickly thatched, ivy clings to the walls... Click the title if[...]Read on >>
How Difficult Is It To Sneak Past A City Guard?
Assigning difficulty checks (DCs) for skill challenges can be a frustrating experience. Some checks have set DCs that are provided for the DM. Examples of this are traps and locks that have a predetermined level of dif[...]Read on >>
Review: Dark Sun Campaign Setting, Part 1: New Races & Builds
August 27, 2010 from My Girlfriend Is A DM
Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Campaign, D&D4e, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG Hub, Review
Call me a disgusting fanboy, but I’m continuously impressed by the improved quality between every succeeding release in the 4th Edition product line. Each new supplement improves upon its predecessor, and it kind o[...] Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Campaign, D&D4e, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG Hub, Review
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A new member joins our adventuring party…
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that Stupid Ranger and I are expecting our first child! We’re 9 1/2 weeks along and everything is going just great. Stupid Ranger is dealing with the wiles of the first trim[...]Read on >>
Capturing Villains
Sorry for the late post this week. I was out on Isle Royale with no phone or internet service. Hopefully I’ll have some good gaming stories for that soon. In my game, we joke that the party is basically a murdering[...]Read on >>
D&D Encounters Dark Sun (Week 12)
Last week ended with the PCs fleeing from the cannibalistic Halfings. Depending on how you fared they were either in hot pursuit or would be as soon as they discovered that the PCs killed all of the guards during the esc[...]Read on >>
[Report: Cape Town] Dragonfire 22
I was fortunate enough to attend the 22nd Annual Dragonfire convention, South Africa’s oldest and the Western Cape’s biggest gaming convention. The convention is held every August at the University of Cape Town and i[...]Read on >>
Adventure Hooks: Welcome to the Sun & Moon Tavern (Part 2)
We return to the Sun & Moon Tavern with 16 more adventure hooks. The tavern has been a long-standing staple in D&D. Adventurers head to the local tavern as soon as they return from their time abroad. They regale [...]Read on >>
The Hit Point Gauge: A nifty alternative for tracking hit points
A recent post on RPG Geek, along with playing some basic D&D with my eight-year-old son this weekend, got me thinking about different ways of tracking hit points and in a stroke of inspiration I came up with this[...]Read on >>
Tuesday Terror # 25
” the bow whirred into position as a ball of black energy zipped past your head. The warforged eyes burned red with anger. You charge the mechanical being and get stopped half-way with a arrow in the chest. Befo[...]Read on >>
Opening the D&D red starter box
D&D Essentials might not be due out for a little while, and I might live far away across the ocean from WotC HQ, but I’ve managed to get my hands on a copy of the glorious starter pack for D&D … Conti[...]Read on >>
Virgin DM Monologues: Getting Caught Up With Updates
August 24, 2010 from Geek's Dream Girl
Filed under: 4e, RPG, RPG Hub, campaign log, dungeons & dragons
The finale of Grasp of the Emerald Claw by Bruce R. Cordell.[...] Filed under: 4e, RPG, RPG Hub, campaign log, dungeons & dragons
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Ze planes boss, ze planes!
Here’s the thing with world building that vexes me; if you play a 30 level campaign, you spend huge swathes of it not in the world you’ve designed. Let me explain. It seems to me that the default campaign wil[...]Read on >>
Tutorial: Editing Canned Adventure Maps for Face to Face Play
This tutorial will show you how to take those canned adventure maps from WOTC and remove any `DM Only` markings to make them suitable for face to face play. First we`ll need some tools. Well.. one tool. The GIMP – [...]Read on >>
Skill Checks vs. Skill Challenges
“I know you guys write a lot about skill challenges at Dungeon’s Master. What I’m wondering is, what is the difference between a series of skill checks and a skill challenge? If I fail a skill check I’[...]Read on >>
The New D&D Starter Red Box: A Chatty and Nico Review
August 24, 2010 from Critical Hits
Filed under: 4e, D&D 4e, RPG, RPG Hub, Reviews, dungeons & dragons
The first product of the D&D Essentials product line, while likely to be the target of hordes of people who will complain that it is not what it could never be... is what I wished I opened in 1986.
It is an introd[...] Filed under: 4e, D&D 4e, RPG, RPG Hub, Reviews, dungeons & dragons
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Anthro Power!
D&D has, in its time, visited many places and had many settings. We’ve had D&D in space (Spelljammer), set in desert lands (twice – Dark Sun and Al-Qadim), the Far East (Oriental Adventures) and on th[...]Read on >>
Upcoming 4E D&D Game Neverwinter
Cryptic Studios, makers of Champions Online and Star Trek Online, is teaming up with WotC to release the first 4th Edition D&D game set in the world of Faerûn and the Forgotten Realms. Neverwinter will be released i[...]Read on >>
D&D Essentials has failed
OK. I’ve got my urge to rant and troll out of my system with the title, so now I can carry on with the post in a calm, collected manner. My encounters, over the years, with Dark Sun have been … Continue readi[...]Read on >>
R.I.P. DM Rewards program
It appears that the DM rewards program is being eliminated (or at least the majority of it). There is a lot of uproar about the fact that the latest D&D reward is a single card for the Ravenloft board game, which [...]Read on >>
A DM’s Debut: The Story of a First Time GenCon Judge
While Ameron and I were at GenCon we met a lot of other players and DMs. Some of these folks were very experienced and others were coming to D&D for the first time. One experienced DM judging at GenCon for the first[...]Read on >>
Balanced-power parties are ideal
The key to everyone having fun at the game table isn't exactly "no power gamers" but "no outliers." Having a party of characters that are all of similar power for their levels will lead to a better experience for everyb[...]Read on >>
Lords of Tyr Video Cast Gencon 2010 Day 2
After a technical glitch (otherwise known as Chad was an idiot and didn't test audio properly) we have re-recorded our podcast diaries for Gencon 2010. Here is our Day 2 video cast. Enjoy (especially our youngest broadca[...]Read on >>
the eagle society
Nature inspires warriors to greatness, this is especially true of the eagle society. Formed from wise warriors swift in thought and decisive action, the society attracts nobles and noble... Click the title if you [...]Read on >>
Dapper Devil 4E Tokens
Check these out. The condition markers are nothing particularly special in my opinion (though they look good), but the tracking tray is a really cool idea. I already have a full set of Litko markers and at $15/player th[...]Read on >>
Sword Fightin’ In Style
One aspect of Robert Jordan’s mega Wheel of Time series that I enjoy is its description of dueling, or “dancing the forms” as he calls sword-fighting is called. A lot of attention is paid in these nov[...]Read on >>
Adventure Hooks: Welcome to the Sun & Moon Tavern (Part 1)
If you’re sitting in a tavern and a mysterious Wizard with grey robes and a pointy hat approaches and starts talking about a job offer don’t accept. You should ignore him and curse your DM. This is one of the most bo[...]Read on >>
flattening the learning curve
This month's RPG Blog Carnival is courtesy of Evil Machinations where Jade has broached the subject of teaching others how to role play. Articles on what is roleplaying, how to bring new... Click the title if you [...]Read on >>
4E AP: Osirion Session #6 (The Rescue)
Our sixth session saw my four core players all present for the first time in a month and we even had a guest player take control of our sometimes companion NPC, Rakash. Session Summary Our story picked up with the morn[...]Read on >>
D&D Encounters Dark Sun (Week 11)
As Fury of the Wastewalker chapter 3 began the party was captured by savage Halflings. Among the captives were some new faces as players were encouraged to create their own PCs. How will these new adventurers work with t[...]Read on >>
