Monster Slayers and Fantastic Adventures
Wizards of the Coast released a “D&D 4 Kids” game last week. It’s similar in concept to what I did with Fantastic Adventures Basic Edition, though the adventure reads more like the training arena sc[...]Read on >>
Fantastic Adventures Basic Edition
My current gaming group starts playing an hour or so before my kids go to bed, so my 6-year-old son often hovers around the table soaking in the action. He’s enjoyed playing with my plastic minis for a while now, a[...]Read on >>
Action points and combat actions
The CRPG Fallout first introduced me to the concept of Action Points. I really like the mechanic, so I adopted it for my d00M roleplaying system. ACTION POINTS Your character may perform a number of actions during her tu[...]Read on >>
Combat ability checks of d00M
It’s been a while since my last post about the d00M roleplaying system that I’m developing. One of the primary reasons I started this blog was to publish sections of the rules for feedback and to motivate mys[...]Read on >>
The Gulthias Tree
This is it! The climatic end of the adventure. The 28th and final encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I’m tinkering with the idea of releasing this as a PDF, but haven’t committed to that. I[...]Read on >>
Twilight grove
The 27th and penultimate encounter of my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel means we’re in the home stretch. Only one more after this.The grove features some of the most dynamic terrain of all the encounters with[...]Read on >>
Promoting racial diversity in RPGs
Mythical and magical races are a staple of fantasy fiction, both as heroes and enemies, so it only makes sense that fantasy roleplaying games (RPGs) would include race options for players to use in building their charact[...]Read on >>
Nature’s lore
This is the 26th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I beefed up the goblins and added some twig blights in the study to make combat even worth it. Encounter 26: Nature’s Lore Encounter Level 3 (7[...]Read on >>
Ashardalon’s shrine
This is the 25th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. Now that I have access to more content through DDI, I’m making a greater effort to replace some of the spell scrolls included in the original t[...]Read on >>
Arboretum gallery
This is the 24th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I created the bugbear gardener, a 2nd level skirmisher for this encounter. The encounter is a +3 above the maximum level a PC should attain in this [...]Read on >>
The goblin workshop
This is the 23rd encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel, in which I take a stab at creating my first 4E disease. Encounter 23: The Goblin Workshop Encounter Level 1 (200 XP) Overview The PCs find themselves[...]Read on >>
Rift node
This is the 22nd encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I combined areas 44, 45, and 46 of the original adventure for this encounter. Encounter 22: Rift Node Encounter Level 2 (625 XP) Overview Some past g[...]Read on >>
Compost central
This is the 21st encounter of my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I’m now using the DDI Monster Builder to generate my stat cards, and you may notice that I’ve updated my 4E twig blight brute from the or[...]Read on >>
Hall of the goblin chief
This is the 20th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel, and the last encounter of the first level of the dungeon. It’s also the hardest encounter to date. Encounter 20: Hall of the Goblin Chief Encou[...]Read on >>
Welcome to goblinville
This is the 19th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I knew that if I combined this encounter with the goblin chief, it would be too difficult, but it took me a bit to find the best way to crop the map.[...]Read on >>
Dragon haze
This is the 18th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I would definitely rewrite this encounter to include its own creatures. The terrain is very interesting and demands enemies to fight. Encounter 18: D[...]Read on >>
Goblin guardpost
This is the 17th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. One difference in the design philosophy between 3.X and 4E is the importance of terrain to an encounter. While some room descriptions note piles garb[...]Read on >>
Trophy room
This is the 16th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. It combines 3 different keyed areas from the original map to make a truly dynamic encounter. There’s a trap, challenging terrain, and a variety[...]Read on >>
Goblin stockade
This is the 15th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. Unlike the corresponding encounter in the kobold area, the goblin captives are sequestered off by themselves, making for a relatively boring 4E encou[...]Read on >>
Practice range
Wow! Welcome to the 200+ new visitors who discovered my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel via NewbieDM’s twitter and WotC’s November news article. Thanks to you guys, “The goblin gate” catapult[...]Read on >>
The goblin gate
This is the 13th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. Starting with this encounter, I’m going to incorporate some changes to the encounter format that I think will improve its usefulness. Encounter[...]Read on >>
Identifying magic items
I make a point of taking an RPG system through its paces before I start to tinker, but that doesn’t mean I don’t identify rules that would be likely candidates as I read through the manual. The rule for ident[...]Read on >>
Improving the encounter format
The “dungeon delve” format of encounters in 4E Dungeons & Dragons makes some great strides in organizing information for DMs, but there’s still room for improvement. There have been encounters in my[...]Read on >>
The Bloated One
This is the twelfth encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel, and I just noticed while working on the last one that 4E dire rats are now medium-sized. I suppose the growth from 3E makes sense. If normal rats [...]Read on >>
Infestation
This is the 11th encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I originally considered combining this area (28 in the original adventure) with 29 and 30 (the gas trap fountain and the bloated dire rat, respective[...]Read on >>
Shrine of the Night Caller
This is the tenth encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel, and the second encounter I’m posting this week to make up for the one I missed last month. Encounter 10: Sanctuary of the Night Caller Encount[...]Read on >>
The kobold colony
This is the ninth encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I really struggled with how to break up the kobold area of the original map. The colony room doesn’t present a serious challenge as an encount[...]Read on >>
Kobold ambush remixed
After reading Justin Alexander’s remix of Keep on the Shadowfell, I decided to follow his lead and remix the kobold ambush encounter. Like Mr. Alexander, I moved it to the ruins of the keep and promoted the kobolds[...]Read on >>
Hall of Dragons
Here is the eighth encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. The differences in encounter design philosophy between 3.x and 4E have really crystalized as I get further into this project. I’ve tried to d[...]Read on >>
Prisoners of war
I dropped the ball last week, so you get two encounters this week. First up is the seventh encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. Come back tomorrow for encounter 8. Encounter 7: Prisoners of War Encounter[...]Read on >>
Flown the coop
This is the sixth encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I’m posting a new encounter every week. Encounter 5: Flown the Coop Encounter Level 1 (550 XP) The PCs discover a locked, ornate stone door th[...]Read on >>
Tomb of the dragonpriest
This is the fifth encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I’m posting one encounter per week. Come back next week for a new encounter. Encounter 5: Tomb of the Dragonpriest Encounter Level 1 (500 XP) [...]Read on >>
Forlorn notes and dragon riddles
This is the fourth encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I’m posting one encounter per week. Come back next week for a new encounter. Encounter 4: Forlorn Notes and Dragon Riddles Encounter Level 1 [...]Read on >>
Caught in the crumbling courtyard
This is the third encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I’m posting one encounter per week. Come back next week for a new encounter. Encounter 3: Caught in the Crumbling Courtyard Encounter Level 1 [...]Read on >>
Down a dark ravine
This is the second encounter for my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel. Come back each week for a new encounter. Encounter 2: Down a dark ravine Encounter Level 1 (500 XP) The PCs reach the ravine after 4 hours of trav[...]Read on >>
Wood for the campfire
I am converting the 3E WotC module The Sunless Citadel into a 4E adventure. I will describe one encounter per post, and post one encounter per week. This week’s encounter is: ENCOUNTER 1: WOOD FOR THE CAMPFIRE Enco[...]Read on >>
4E Quests for Sunless Citadel
Even though my group decided not to go with the campaign option that included The Sunless Citadel, I’m still going to create a conversion and post it here on this blog. My plan is to post one encounter per week. To[...]Read on >>
4E Twig blight conversion
The other option I’m considering is a 4E conversion of the old WotC 3E adventure path that started with The Sunless Citadel. My first step in preparing to do a conversion was to review the monsters. I wanted to ide[...]Read on >>
Skills and feats of d00M
Instead of pre-defined groups of abilities, d00M™ gives players the freedom to choose what their characters excel at. Want a hero that is good with a blade and proficient in the arcane arts? Simply advance the appropri[...]Read on >>
Designing a RPG Player’s Handbook
I spend a lot of time organizing information in my day job as a technical writer. A manual’s structure should follow the users’ workflow; otherwise, the user is forced to bounce around from chapter to chapter[...]Read on >>
d00M character attributes
Attributes are the foundation that player characters in the d00M™ Roleplaying System (RPS) are built upon. There are five attributes: Strength, Agility, Endurance, Intelligence and Will. Attributes provide bonuses or p[...]Read on >>
Designing my d00M
I began designing my own roleplaying system in the early 90s. After years of playing Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D 1E, D&D Basic/Expert, and AD&D 2E), I was tired of the class concept. I wanted the freedom to [...]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 >>
Alternate 4E monster hit points
Monster hit point bloat is the primary cause of the encounter grind many 4E players complain about. I’ve experienced it myself. The bloat is part of vicious escalation cycle begun by the increase in the starting hi[...]Read on >>
