How to Make More of Your Minions

By Guest Blogger Jason L. Dawson Players are clever. They scheme, plan, plot and connive their way into and out of the most difficult situations we as the DM can create. This is especially true if you have players in you[...]
Read on >>

Geomorph Mapping Challenge #42

42! The Geomorph of Life, The Universe, and… Everything! Well, maybe not everything, but it does have a spiffy sunken room with a raised dais containing a pair of statues! This is also the one-year anniversary of A[...]
Read on >>

How Old Are You?

My oh my how that ticking clock of father time goes by… A year to the day the Internet gave birth to a bouncing baby Ben’sRPGPile.com – a collection of misfit gaming addicts who were hell bent on bringing a bette[...]
Read on >>

Geomorph Mapping Challenge #41

Again, I find the multi-level maps appealing. In this case the lower level is quite a bit lower than the main level. And in the southeast corner is a north-south corridor on the lower level and an east-west corridor on t[...]
Read on >>

The Importance of Dice

Dice are a very important part of most role playing games. Without out a good set of dice you would not be able to roll up your character, let alone slay a dragon. They are just as important to people who play roll playi[...]
Read on >>

Can There Be A Perfect Roleplaying Game?

One of the struggles my gaming groups have gone through ever since I started playing was finding ‘the perfect game’. We always seemed to be in search of a game that has the perfect setting and perfect system for our [...]
Read on >>

Geomorph Mapping Challenge #40

A whole bunch of navigational trouble here, and  a cluster of rooms perfect for a warren of vegepygmies or goblins. [...]
Read on >>

First-Time DMing Tips: Part 2

Lots of schoolwork lately, and preparing for a Shadowrun campaign, so sorry for the lack of updates! -_- Here is the continuation of my series of DMing tips for first-time D&D Dungeon Masters (as sent to my friend wh[...]
Read on >>

Geomorph Mapping Challenge #39

Welcome to the geomorph of secret entrances / exits. While all 8 entrances lead to the same set of rooms, only 3 of them aren’t concealed by secret doors. I like the “feel” of the two rooms on the East [...]
Read on >>

Lords of Tyr – Lords-of-Tyr-D&D-Podcast-033 with Richard Baker

Welcome to the Lords of Tyr D&D Podcast!We are a Dungeons and Dragons gaming group that has been meeting twice a month since 2002. We now stream our game nights live on the Internet using uStream. Check out our site [...]
Read on >>

Cottage Industry

Your party’s trips back to town can be real snoozers. Thank goodness there’s lot of ways to fix this common game-drag problem. As a DM, Ben drops in a couple buildings and simple accessories to give these ot[...]
Read on >>

Virgin DM Monologues: A Tale of Two Suspects and Five Unlikely Pirates

Did you know that warforged can come down with lycanthropy? Neither did we.[...]
Read on >>

Geomorph Mapping Challenge #38

I like my two-level geomorphs. This one has a pair of balconies overlooking a large central room (with no actual access to said room on this geomorph, so you either have to climb down, or go looking for the entrances els[...]
Read on >>

Return of the Geomorphs – #37

Yeah, so the whole Post Apocalyptic theme ran out on me part way through February, as you probably noticed. And I was completely uninspired for maps to go with that series. So, I welcome you to the return of the Geomorph[...]
Read on >>

Pen and Paper Gaming in the 21st Century by Erik Mona

I am proud to announce that Pen & Paper Gaming in the 21st Century, the 2009 GamesU Keynote address by Erik Mona, is now live on our YouTube channel. Whether you missed it at the show or were not able to attend Neonc[...]
Read on >>

First-Time DMing Tips: Part 1

Recently a friend of mine announced that he was going to try running a D&D campaign (at lunch at school) for the first time, so I made a list of suggestions for DM-ing his first game. ^_^ (He’d never even play[...]
Read on >>

Campaign Coins Review

Recently, a box of Campaign Coins showed up on my desk. In the past, I’ve dabbled in using tangible objects in my RPG sessions, but I’ve usually ended up going back to a hands-off approach to Dungeons & [...]
Read on >>

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited Surpasses One Million New Accounts

A few months ago, Turbine revamped Dungeons & Dragons Online, re-branded under the name DDO Unlimited, to be one of the first large MMORPGs to offer a free-to-play side to an already established subscription model. [...]
Read on >>

A Laugh and a Lesson: “My Girlfriend Gave Me Harpies”

Harpies aren't the only thing you can catch mixing D&D and sex.[...]
Read on >>

Character Concepts: Dragonborn

A handful of character concepts and builds for creating an effective and elementally devastating dragonborn. From a Warden/Fighter that spews acid left and right to becoming an all-powerful avatar of the deceased god Io.[...]
Read on >>

Table-top Ideas From Video Games

Recently I found myself reminiscing about some of the old video games I used to play as well as how video games have progressed to what we have on the market now. I started to realize that many games had great ideas tha[...]
Read on >>

Spelljammer: “You Got Your Bug in My Feature!”

Spelljammer is one of those settings that gets an unreasonable amount of stick. Monsters and Manuals recognized this. The Cloakmaster Cycle was the second set of tie-in novels I got into without understanding they were a[...]
Read on >>

Dwarven Horde

Sometimes a guy takes a step back to assess his RPG collection and simply wonders how he got all those…dwarves. No complaints cause who doesn’t love a good ale-drinkin’ dwarf? One particular hand-painted set[...]
Read on >>

Lords of Tyr – Lords-of-Tyr-D&D-Podcast-032

Welcome to the Lords of Tyr D&D Podcast! We are a Dungeons and Dragons gaming group that has been meeting twice a month since 2002. We now stream our game nights live on the Internet using uStream. Check out our site[...]
Read on >>

Virgin DM Monologues: No Teleporting Rats Here!

The 10th session of E's Eberron campaign, in which the party lies to a sweet little old lady.[...]
Read on >>

Guide to Stalking E at SynDCon 2010

E's running geek dating events at SynDCon... if enough girls show up.[...]
Read on >>

Old Role-Playing Materials

Recently, while looking for something in my basement, I stumbled across a lot of my old role-playing materials. I don’t just mean pre-bought modules, books, etc. I have found a lot of character sheets, last will [...]
Read on >>

Full Card Monty

The Internet is an RPG game aid paradise for the simple fact that it lets you build upon others’ awesome ideas – case in point with our version of NPC Tracker Cards. Ben first caught wind of an NPC Photoshop templa[...]
Read on >>

Flame This Incoherent Rant

I encourage both lovers and haters of D&D 4th Edition to read this article… I’ve had a thought rolling around in my head for the last year or so. Our gaming group has mostly been playing in two or three differen[...]
Read on >>

[Friday Map] Instant Wasteland – Just Add Dice!

Typically when I run a Gamma World-style game, I set it up somewhere that I’m familiar with, and then try to extrapolate what it might be like after the end. However, I decided to take a shot at creating a sandbox[...]
Read on >>

Danny Bonaduce Says I Can’t Play D&D For a Week

Every so often, I’m forced to listen to terrestrial radio, and I remember why it’s worth spending a few dollars a month for satellite or, in most cases, just plugging in an MP3 player. Yesterday, with my Zun[...]
Read on >>

Virgin DM Monologues: The Festival of Brightblade

Welcome to the recap of the ninth session of my Eberron campaign, which took place on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. Our adventurers recently found themselves mocked by the Starlight & Shadows wizards, attacked by chairs[...]
Read on >>

Federation-Apocalypse Session 99 – The Black Alliance

   Hm… The newly shapeshifted Thralls seemed a bit… restive. What was… Ah. The local reality limited their intelligence while they were in animal form and gave them a full set of animalistic instincts[...]
Read on >>

[Friday Map] Seaside escape tunnel

Near the ruins of Caer Venrau (the subject of last week’s Friday Map) is an ancient cave that has been partially expanded by human hands to serve as an escape tunnel from the castle to a small sheltered cove on the[...]
Read on >>

LiveBlogging: Dungeons & Dragons Experience 2010 (DDXP)

E's liveblogging Dungeons & Dragons Experience 2010. Check it out![...]
Read on >>

Guide to Stalking E at DDXP 2010

How to find E at DDXP and (if you want) be part of a fun new project for Geek's Dream Girl.[...]
Read on >>

Virgin DM Monologues: Next Day Delivery, Haul Your Old One Away

Furniture is dangerous. Seriously, never in one adventure have so many furniture-related things been deadly. Click and see for yourself.[...]
Read on >>

No D&D in Prison?!!

In some of the worst news I have heard all year, it appears that prison inmates in Wisconsin are forbidden to play Dungeons & Dragons or even possess D&D materials. This inhumane practice was just upheld by the [...]
Read on >>

To Impulse!

In the spirit of carpe jugulum, this afternoon I spontaneously decided to tag along with a crew going to TotalCon next month. I just got done going through the online registration process. Fingers crossed I haven’t[...]
Read on >>

Crystal Clear

Stop Ben if you’ve ever heard these joyous questions around your table: “What? Where’s my sunrod radius again? Can I see that square?” “Sorry, still confused – which area on the map is on fire?” “I do[...]
Read on >>

[Friday Map] The Secret Throne Room of Caer Venrau

Lord Venrau was one of the first human lords to revolt against the Kale during the second human revolts. His success against the Kale inspired may other kingdoms to revolt – although the success of his own endeavou[...]
Read on >>

Railroading in a Good Way

The term 'railroading' usually sends a shiver down the spine of any tabletop RPG player because of the negative implications that come along with it. To be honest, most DMs dislike the term as well and railroading is gen[...]
Read on >>

Virgin DM Monologues: Wrapping Up The Mystery at the Arcane Academy

Welcome to the recap of the sixth session of my Eberron campaign, which took place on Tuesday, December 29, 2009. This is the second half of the modified version of Danger at White Lotus Academy by Peter Schaefer.[...]
Read on >>

Chad Henderson’s Speech about D&D

This has been making its way around but I thought this five-minute speech, All I Need to Know About Life I Learned from Dungeons & Dragons, was interesting. It’s too bad he wasn’t up on the podium for lon[...]
Read on >>

20 Items Found in a House of Ill Repute

When the Paladin asks the rest of the party what they are doing in Lady Chatham’s Grand Palace of Countless Comforts (as rolled up using the Random House of Ill Repute tables), the best response is “investiga[...]
Read on >>

[Friday Map] Coruvon – The Swamp Arena

Built on an estuary of the Ironflow, Coruvon started as a small military outpost built on a hilltop just East of the massive expanse of swamp known as the Black Mire. - Atlas of the New Kingdoms This is another map from[...]
Read on >>

Help Planning a Gaming Room

Within the next few months, I’ll be moving out and into a new apartment. As I look around at different locations, trying to decide where I’ll put my computer, television, desk, and other essentials, one thin[...]
Read on >>

Virgin DM Monologues: Danger at the Arcane Academy

In which our bard "diplomes the heck" out of a library. Yeah, really.[...]
Read on >>

Armour for All Classes in old-school D&D

Just came across this post over at RetroRoleplaying and am definitely considering it for a sword and sorcery style B/X game. While the basic background of the article is to allow for wizards and thieves to wear armor, th[...]
Read on >>

Swords of Cydonia Class: Fighting Man

Here is another one of the classes for Swords of Cydonia. It’s pretty close to the regular Fighting Man, with a couple of minor tweaks reflecting how any class can use any weapon, although not always as effectively[...]
Read on >>

Next Page »

• Mobunited
• One Man and His Dice
• Free Spacer
• Elliot Wilen's RPG theory/design/philosophy Journal
• Game Cryer
• Role-Playing Discussions
• Cogito, ergo ludo
• High Adventure Games
• Wee Bee Gamers
• Encyclopedia Argent
• Reviews From R'lyeh
• The Iron Rules
• Adventures of the Ottawa Warband
• Trollish Delver
• Sarah Darkmagic
• Elthos RPG
• Ideamancer
• Purple Pawn
• Scintilla
• Conclusions Drawn
• The Report
• My Girlfriend Is A DM
• Drop the Dice
• Justin Achilli
• Sham's Grog and Blog
• A Hero Twice A Month
• Brent P. Newhall's Role-Playing Blog
• RPG Brouhaha
• Highmoon's Ponderings
• Back Screen Pass - A DM's Secrets
• The Omnipotent Eye
• Steve's Gamer Blog
• Atomic Array
• Four From Fallcrest
• Norfolk RPG Examiner
• Kobold Quarterly
• You Got The Dice To Back That Up?
• Big Ball Of No Fun
• Dungeonmastering
• Ratty Ramblings
• The Vorpal Spork
• Worlds in a Handful of Dice
• Back To RPG Basics
• Ravenous Role Playing
• Siskoid's Blog of Geekery
• The Small Dragon's Den
• The Hybrid Universe
• 3POINT75
• Endy's RPG Stuff
• NPC a Day
• Dungeon Delving
• Fame & Fortune
• Shadow Hill Adventuring Company
• The Troll Ate My Homework
• Lords of Tyr
• Mostly Geek
• Dungeon Divas
• Planet Algol
• Art of Blitz Hobby-ing
• The Chaos Grenade
• Transitive Property of Gaming
• D&D 4th Edition Game Design Goodness
• Casewek: More Internet Ravings
• Geek Related
• Tower of the Archmage
• The RPG Corner
• Smart Party
• The Rune Under Water
• Lord of the Green Dragons
• Cabal
• Risus TOTM
• The Geek Emporium
• Ben's RPG Pile
• The Free RPG Blog
• HeroPress
• The Canon Puncture Show
• Akratic Wizardry
• The Tome Show
• Gelatinous Cubed
• Creative Anomalies
• Hill Cantons
• Dagda's Workroom
• F1337 Command
• Trollsmyth
• Dungeonskull Mountain
• Questing GM
• d6plus4
• World of Corruption
• d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20s behind the skeleton in the closet
• Superhero Necromancer
• RPG in Progress
• Save Or Die!
• The Elder Thoughts
• Maiden's Head Games
• The Core Worlds
• A Life Full of Adventure
• 8:05 p.m.
• DND Corner
• Critical Failure: The GURPS Podcast
• Save vs Pointy Stick
• Risus Monkey
• Chad Perrin: SOB
• Dungeon Brew
• The Hydra's Grotto
• Claw/Claw/Bite
• The Dump Stat
• Mike's D&D Blog
• The Keep on the Gaming Lands (Mike Mearls)
• Points of Light
• Blog of a new RPGer
• RPG Dumping Ground
• The Ogre Lair Times
• hack/
• rpgmonks
• Jay
• Temple Lion
• The Dungeoneering Dad
• The Call Of The Dungeon
• Observations of the Fox
• Wild Die
• A Hamsterish Hoard of Dungeons and Dragons
• Accidental Survivors: The Modern Gaming Podcast
• The Frothy Friar
• Age of Ravens
• The Recursion King
• Continuing Clockwise
• We Need the XP!
• Wrathofzombie's Blog'
• The Book of Rev
• The Looney DM
• The Underdark Gazette
• The Player's Side of the Screen
• Dragonlance D&D Game Blog
• The Outsyder's Blog
• Lizard Games
• Brazer Blog
• Gamer Bling
• 3d6
• Game Design Fanatic
• The Role Play Academy
• DICE
• Tailslap
• Nevermet Press
• Jason Richards Cannot Be Trusted
• Initiative or What?
• Phoenix RPG Examiner
• Under A Blood Red Sky
• KORE rpg
• Of Dice and Men
• OpenRoleplaying.org
• Nameless Kingdom
• Apply to join today!

• Pages

  • FAQ for Network Members
  • Join the RPG Bloggers Network
  • RPG Bloggers Community
  • Subscribe to Feed
  • Testimonials
  • What is this?

• Friends of the Network

  • A Terrible Idea
  • Gnome Stew
  • Chaotic Shiny
  • RolePlayGateway
  ENWorld
  • GamingReport
  • Dane of War
  • The RPG Site
  • Campaign Builders' Guild
  • Obsidian Portal
  • Roleplaying Tips
  • Grand OGL Wiki Blog
  • Gold: The Series
  • Polymancer Studios

• Other Networks

  • Deutsche Rollenspielblogs: German RPG Bloggers Network
  • Alexandria: Danish RPG Bloggers Network
  • RPG.Blogs: Brazilian RPG Bloggers Network
  • Poland: Planet RPG
  • GDRBlogs.it: Italian RPG Network
  • RPG Podcasts
  • Planet Story Games
  • Vorpal Network
• Search for:

• Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org