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Editorial

Greatest Hits 2009: The Hangover: The Movie That Begs to Be a D&D Adventure

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2009. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

With the movie The Hangover just out on DVD I thought it timely to run this as part of our 2009 Greatest Hits. I still haven’t had an opportunity to use this idea in my campaign but I’m always looking for the right time to spring this on my regular group. If you’ve tried this kind of adventure, please let us know how it worked out in the comments below.

We received some great feedback after we ran this the first time. One reader rightly pointed out that this kind of adventure works better with players who are more interested in role-playing than just killing everything. After all, if the PCs are more the hack and slash types then there wouldn’t be much of a mystery as to what they did the night before. They probably fought and killed everything in their path and need only follow the bodies and blood trail to solve the mystery.

It occurred to me afterwards that the Forgotten Realms novel, Azure Bonds by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb is structured in pretty much this exact way. The hero, Alias, awakens in a dark room without anything other than a strange glowing azure tattoo on her arm. But in her case she’s missing more than the last 24 hours; she’s got absolutely no memory of who she is or how she ended up in the room where she awakens. It’s an excellent read and if you can find the novel (which is unfortunately out of print) I highly recommend it.

If you’re watching The Hangover on DVD this holiday season, think about how you can adapt it into a D&D adventure. There’s plenty of great material in there to work with so multiple viewings may be required. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Categories
Editorial

Greatest Hits 2009: Avoiding Death

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2009. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

This was one of the very first articles I wrote for Dungeon’s Master. All of the examples came from actual events that took place at my gaming table. And in the months since I wrote this article, I’ve seen all of these things happen over and over again whenever I play with new gamers.

My intent with this article was to highlight (in a humourous way) the dumb things we’ve all done as PCs. If you avoid making even one of these mistakes after reading this, then I’ve done my job.

A few of these tips and reminders are less pertinent today then they were when this article was first published thanks to Character Builder. Since Character Builder does all of the math for you, you’re a lot less likely to miss or forget modifiers.

If I had to add #11 to this list it would be to use your daily powers every day. But as a more general reminder, the only other piece of advice I’d offer is to just play intelligently. It’s the stupid things that get your PC into trouble.

Categories
Editorial

Greatest Hits 2009: Keith Baker Answers 13 Questions

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2009. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

Scoring this interview with Keith Baker was certainly a high point for the Dungeon’s Master team. I met Keith at GenCon this past summer and he was a really nice guy. He answered questions about Eberron and seemed genuinely interested and enthusiastic to meet the fans who play in the campaign world he created.

I’ve almost finished reading Keith’s latest Eberron novel, The Son of Khyber (book two in the Thorn of Breland series). I don’t want to say too much yet, but it’s quite good. I’ll post my complete review in early 2010. For those who may be thinking of picking it up, pay close attention to questions 9 and 13 below. If you’re interested in learning more about House Tarkanan then this book is a must read.

Not long after we ran this interview I had the opportunity to meet another Eberron author, Don Bassingthwaite. Our interview with Keith Baker was mainly about the Eberron setting, whereas our interview with Don was more about how he broke into the business. If you enjoy the interview below, I encourage you to check out An Interview With Eberron Author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3).

If you’re a fan of Eberron be sure to check out all of our articles in the Eberron Category. In 2010 we’ll continue with our ongoing series, Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4). The locales we’ve described work best in Eberron, but are easily adaptable to fit just about any campaign setting.

Categories
Editorial

Greatest Hits 2009: The Gaming Jerk

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2009. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

Ever since I wrote this article I’ve been keeping a close eye on just how “helpful” I am at the gaming table when I’m a player. I’ve realized that quite often I could easily be classified as a Gaming Jerk. There is indeed a very fine line between being enthusiastic and a Gaming Jerk. But once I realized that this was the case it’s been a lot easier to keep things in check.

My greatest challenge is when I’m at a gaming table with rookies. I have to really resist the urge to play their character for them. I’ll still help when I can; like reminding them to add their +1d6 when they roll a crit with a +1 weapon or reminding them that they have an action point when they try to do too many things on their turn. But I’ve stopped suggesting that thy use this power or that power in a certain situation. I want them to gain the experience that comes from playing a class and trying out their own powers a certain way.

When I’m the DM I’ve discovered a whole new way to tackle the Gaming Jerk problem. Some of the comments from the original article suggest that DMs side-step the Gaming Jerk by changing the monster’s statistics or simply creating your own monsters. With the release of the D&D Monster Builder this is easier then it’s ever been before. I think we’ll find that the Gaming Jerk who used to be confident enough to shout out all the monster’s powers and abilities is at the same time savvy enough to realize that many DMs no longer use the stats right out of the Monster Manual. Suddenly the Gaming Jerk is making those monster knowledge checks to see how much his PC knows rather than making assumptions.

Categories
Editorial

Greatest Hits 2009

With 2009 nearing completion the Dungeon’s Master team is taking another look at some of our favourite articles from the past year. With over 250 articles posted since our launch in February, there are bound to be a few that you missed somewhere along the way. If you’ve only found Dungeon’s Master recently, this is a good way to discover some of our best work. For those readers who have been with us since the beginning, we think you’ll enjoy revisiting these articles again.

Over the next two weeks we’ll dig up those hidden gems that generated a lot of discussion among the gaming community or that we think best represent what we’re all about.

Each of our greatest hits articles will include the original article in its entirety, along with a new introduction. In some cases our opinions have changed since the article was originally published and in others we’re holding fast to our initial stance (as unpopular as it might be). You’ll have to check out the greatest hits every day to find out which opinions we still agree with and which ones we’ve reconsidered.

Dungeon’s Master returns to its regular weekly publishing schedule in 2010. Be sure to keep coming back in 2010 for all new articles about 4e D&D.

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Top 10

10 Ways To Get Your D&D Fix Over The Holidays

The Holidays are here. Time to kick back and relax with family and friends. Perhaps you’re blessed with a few days off work or a slower paced environment for a few short weeks. As a D&D player your mind will invariably drift to your favourite hobby and how you can get a few more hours of game time in.

My normal gaming group is on holiday hiatus and we won’t reconvene until the new year when we begins a new campaign. It’s actually more of a ressurected 3.5e campaign that’s been given a face lift and fresh legs with 4e, but I digress.

Categories
Editorial

Holiday Dungeon Contest Update

Thanks to everyone who has designed and submitted a dungeon or encounter for our contest. We’ve enjoyed reading all the entries so far.

If you haven’t submitted your entry yet and are worried you might not get it in on time you’ll be happy to know that we are extending the deadline to Tuesday, December 22, 2009. Full details about the contest can be found at the official contest post.

The reason for the extension is that Wizards of the Coast is running a holiday themed encounter contest. We recognize that many of you might be interested in submitting an entry, so we wanted to give you a few extra days for our contest.

Of course you could always double dip. After all, we’re likely to get far less entries here, which increases your chance at winning something!

We thank everyone for their submissions and wish you the best of luck with both our competition and the one being held by WotC.

Categories
Player Resources

What Do PCs Do For Fun?

Adventuring is hard work. You’re always putting your life on the line for fame and fortune. But what do you do when you’ve got some down time? How do PCs relax and unwind? We’ve given it some thought and present a few options for your consideration.

Categories
Book Reviews

New Moon Through the Eyes of a Hardcore D&D Fan

new-moon-cover-01Let the mockery begin. I’m a 35-year-old man who read and enjoyed New Moon. I remember when the Harry Potter books first came out I took a lot of heat for reading those too. But look at how big that franchise eventually became. Everyone eventually read the books and saw the movies. Even though the series was first marketed to younger readers, it eventually reached readers of all ages.

I’m not saying the Twilight Saga is anywhere near a good as the Harry Potter stories nor do I believe that they will reach as broad an audience, but I do think a lot of people will eventually end up reading these books. If for no other reason than to see what all of the hype is about. If you’re into D&D then you might actually enjoy these books more than you expect.

Categories
Editorial Skill Challenges

Skill Challenges In A Vacuum

One of the fundamental design concepts behind skill challenges is that they provide a mechanic for large scale, out of combat encounters. Skill challenges were meant to assist in advancing the story. But the story doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The actions of the PCs should bring about reactions from NPCs or the environment they are in.

This is a problem with many of the skill challenges I’ve encountered, they don’t evolve. We’re guilty of it too, many of our skill challenges are static. Certain checks provide certain information, make enough successful checks and you can get on to the next combat encounter. In other words skill challenges feel like they’re tacked onto the game. I know I’ve participated in more than a few where I wondered what I should be doing next. This is because the skill challenge didn’t evolve. Nothing new happened.