Categories
Month in Review

Month in Review: May 2009

In May we hit the four month mark as well as posting our 100th article. Things are going great and we’re still marching full speed ahead. We’ll continue providing these monthly recaps so that everyone can get a quick overview of what’s happened at Dungeon’s Master over the past month. Our readership and subscribers continue growing so thank you to everyone who visits and comments regularly. Knowing that you keep coming back lets us know that we’re on the right track. Here are the highlights from May just in case you missed anything.

Highlights

Monster Manual 2

The big D&D release in May was the Monster Manual 2. I was lucky enough to get my copy a week before the street date and posted An Early Review of the Monster Manual 2. This article quickly made its way into our top 5 most popular posts, which sent a clear message to us that our readers wanted more on this new book. In support of the release of the Monster Manual 2, the Dungeon’s Master team took the quiz from Wizards of the Coast and answered the question What Monster Are You? The day before Worldwide D&D Game Day we posted the Worldwide Game Day Characters to give participants a sneak peak of the pre-generated characters. And then on May 23, Ameron and Suddry participated in Worldwide D&D Game Day – Monster Manual 2. Following Game Day, I put together a list of the 10 Things I Learned at Worldwide D&D Game Day.

Skill Aides and Skill Challenges

In Running Memorable Skill Challenges (Part 1) and Running Memorable Skill Challenges (Part 2) we offered our advice on how to make skill challenges better and more enjoyable. Skill Focus: Athletics was the latest skill aide in this ongoing series. We looked at the versatility of knowledge skills in Knowledge Is Power.

We also offered two new skill challenges this month.

  • Playing With Fire – The PCs are forced to deal with a burning building falling down around them.
  • Skinning the Beast – Part 1 requires the PCs to carefully defeat the beasts. Part 2 gives the PCs the opportunity to skin the fallen beast.

Class Discussion: Character Roles

There was a flurry of articles around the blogs regarding character roles in D&D. We began by looking at the possibilities of Redefining Character Roles. We then looked at what is required in order to create The Fighter as a Striker. And, finally, we explored the common traits shared by each role in You’re a Striker, He’s a Defender… Big Deal: Looking at Roles.

Humour

An exercise in number crunching, min-maxing gave us a few possible character builds that ensure you’ll Deal The Most Damage. We celebrated out 100th post milestone by sharing with our readers 100 Great Things About Dungeons & Dragons.

Blog Carnival

Our contribution to the May’s RPG Blog Carnival: The Future Of Roleplaying hosted by Role Playing Pro is Desktop Killed The Tabletop Game in which we explore the way technology is changing the way we play table-top D&D.

One Page Dungeon Contest

Fellow bloggers Chatty DM and Chgowiz put on a One Page Dungeon Contest throughout May. They received over 100 submissions. Here’s the entry from Dungeon’s Master: One Page Dungeon Submission.

DM Resources

We offered some ideas for beginning a campaign or adventure in Adventure Hook: The Town Meeting. There’s more to gain than treasure and magical items, as explored in Rewards Beyond Experience.

Announcements

Wizards of the Coast announced changes to the Dungeons & Dragons Insider including new content and an increase to the cost of your subscription. We shared our thoughts on these points in Change Is Coming To The DDI. And, while we wait patiently In Anticipation of Eberron, we shared our most eagerly anticipated questions we want to see answered in the 4e Eberron sourcebooks.

A Look Ahead

June will bring the release of the first 4e Eberron sourcebook. No doubt we’ll have a lot to say about it since this is the primary campaign setting for the Dungeon’s Master team. We will also provide new skill challenges, explore Dungeoneering in our Skill Focus series and continue looking at roles. We are still working on a series of self-contained, single encounter, mini-adventures which we plan to debut in June. Just because summer’s on its way doesn’t mean that we’re taking any time off. Visit Dungeon’s Master every day as we continue to publish new and exciting articles about D&D.

Looking for instant updates? Subscribe to the Dungeon’s Master feed!