From the monthly archives:

January 2010

Month in Review: January 2010

January 29, 2010

January was the month that Dungeon’s Master truly made its mark on the gaming map. On January 27, Wizards of the Coast featured us in their Spotlight Interview. If you haven’t read it, we encourage you to check it out. Since the interview we’ve had an unbelievable spike in our numbers. So for everyone who’s [...]

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PHB3 First Look: Hybrid Characters

January 28, 2010

Hybrid characters, the newest Player’s Handbook 3 debut content, were released as part of Dragon Magazine #383 (DDI subscription required). The concept of a dual classes and how the game designers were going to differentiate multi-classing from hybrids is something I’ve wanted to see for some time. I was very excited to see this update [...]

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Dungeon’s Master Spotlight Interview on Wizards of the Coast

January 27, 2010

About a month ago Bart Carroll from Wizards of the Coast asked the Dungeon’s Master team if we’d be interesting in doing an interview. Needless to say we were flattered to receive the offer and ecstatic about the possibility of getting some props from Wizards.
Well, today they published the interview. If you visit the Wizards [...]

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The Skill Challenge Backdoor

January 27, 2010

In order to make skill challenges a little bit more interesting I like to try and build in a skill challenge backdoor. This is a very specific set of conditions which, if met, provide a significant advantage not normally available.

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Reusing Skills in Skill Challenges

January 26, 2010

Does this sound familiar? The PCs begin a skill challenge. A couple of PCs have creative ideas and they go at it. They explain what they want to do, use a bit of role-playing and then make their rolls. Right off the bat you’ve got a couple of successes. But as you look around the [...]

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Skill Challenges and Rewarding XP

January 25, 2010

One aspect of skill challenges that doesn’t get a lot of mention is the reward that comes from achieving the objective. Since skill challenges are supposed to be as difficult and rewarding as fighting monsters, the expectation is to be rewarded with XP just like you would for a combat encounter. But in many cases [...]

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Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 5)

January 22, 2010

More secrets of Eberron are revealed as we discover political plotting within The Twelve and we reveal the Mournland Express. Changes are coming for House Cannith. The ongoing internal family power struggle within House Cannith scares members of other Dragonmakred Houses. Other house scions plot to unify House Cannith by whatever means necessary. Take a [...]

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Eight Rules That Will Make You A Better DM

January 21, 2010

Admit it. As a DM there have been times when you’ve been stumped, regretted decisions, made a mistake or just wanted to quit. We’ve all been there and we’ve all looked for a way out of the situation. The following eight guidelines follow the KISS formula. Keep It Simple, Stupid. While they don’t cover every situation, they should [...]

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A Beginner’s Guide To Dungeons & Dragons (Part 3)

January 20, 2010

Welcome to the third installment of our Beginner’s Guide to Dungeons & Dragons. D&D is primarily a social game, requiring five or six players for a normal session, though the exact amount will vary from group to group. Depending on your introduction to the game, you may already have a regular group that you play [...]

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Spellstorm 2010: February 19-20

January 19, 2010

Attention Toronto gamers, Spellstorm is coming again this February. This is your chance to play some D&D, try some new games and meet other gamers in your community. I attended last year’s Spellstorm and it was a lot of fun. If you live in the GTA or can make the trip to Toronto in February, [...]

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