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Editorial

Greatest Hits 2010: Who Owned Your Magic Sword Before You Did?

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 2010. 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.

Magic item availability has changed in D&D since we first published this article eight months ago. D&D Essentials brought with it a new classifications of magic items based on availability. This change, a significant one in most magic-plentiful D&D campaigns, makes the discussion of ownership and an item’s origins even more important. With more items falling into the uncommon and rare categories questions of ownership should be on the forefront of all adventurer’s minds when the discover treasure hoards.

Players content with common magic items at lower levels will look to upgrade as the gain levels. Now that the really good stuff isn’t as readily available at Ye Old Magic Shoppe, adventurers really have to work to locate that special something. Before D&D Essentials players knew that as soon as they found enough gold they could easily purchase whatever item they wanted, now they have to either remain content with the common goods (unlikely) or figure out how to find those really rare treasures.

When we first ran this article most of the people who left comments agreed with my recommendation that investigation into magic item ownership was an interesting role-playing exercise that might be done once and a while, but not something they would likely do regularly. Thanks to D&D Essentials and the new item classification this scenario is likely to become a much more important and much more regular part of D&D campaigns.

Where I don’t see anything changing is the PCs willingness to give up their newly gotten riches. If magic items have become that much more uncommon then PCs are probably even less likely to “do the right thing” and return an item that clearly belongs to someone else (or more likely their heirs).

On the flip side, heroes with such valuable and distinct magic items will likely have their own admirers who will keep tabs on their adventures. Should these heroes not return from some quest, you know that these admirers will go looking for their fallen friend (or hire someone else to do it) for no other reason than to recover the rare magic items he possessed.

Categories
Editorial Humour

Greatest Hits 2010: Confessions of a D&D Camp Councilor

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 2010. 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.

Ahhhh! The off season. It has been months since I hung up the dice bag and folded up my poster maps, but when the boys at Dungeon’s Master asked me to reflect on my time as a D&D camp councillor I couldn’t resist.

The most important lesson I learned playing D&D with kids was that no matter where you go, people are people. When I started up the Shattered Sea there was a 20 year spread between my oldest and youngest player but I thought nothing of it because I could remember a time when I was still in high school, and I could relate to working 9 to 5 jobs to help provide for someone I cared about. When I got to D&D camp I didn’t know how things were going to go. In talking to my coworkers I was told some of the age old ticks to fill for time and how to prepare quick and dirty campaigns. I needed to run a new story-arc every week and at some point they expected the well to run dry. Instead of doing as suggested, I realized that children have no mercy and if I was going to make it through each day I really had to run my best stuff.

What ended up happening was that the kids at my table went through the same growing pains of picking up my style of DMing and each kid’s playing style that my own adult players did. I encountered the same gamut of interests I found at home. There were kids who where there to just have fun, there were kids who knew the rules inside out on day one, as well as kids who wanted to kill the big bad guy just like in every movie they have ever seen. As I spun my tales at the table the kids of course would never pick up on the sources I was pulling from simply because they had spent fewer years on this earth than I had. At the end of the day I couldn’t get away with bad writing at camp anymore than I could at my home game. I saw the same social problems in my campers that I had seen in people of all ages all my life. I will admit that they kids did have an extraordinary penchant for cheating, something I won’t try to account for.

Bring your A-Ggme DMs, no mater what game you run and no matter who it’s for because every time you roll dice it’s a chance to improve your self as a DM. Moreover it’s a chance for you to better understand the people around you, because at the end of the day, people are people no matter where you go. As you read the account try to place the players at your own table in the seats that my campers took at mine. I think you wont find the exercise too much of a stretch. R.I.P. Stealth Phoenix, I’ll never forget you.

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DM Resources Editorial

Greatest Hits 2010: 5 Errors I’ve Made as DM

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 2010. 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.

Nothing helps you overcome a problem like talking about it. After I wrote this article I made a point of referring back to it a lot the next time I took over the DM’s chair. I found that seeing these errors in print served as a good reminder not to repeat any of them. In some cases the learning I’d taken away from analyzing these errors actually let me make the right call the next time thereby making the whole experience better for everyone.

As a bonus, I’ve add a 6th Error I’ve Made as DM to the list below. I hope you continue finding these errors educational and that everyone can learn from my mistakes.

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DM Resources

Greatest Hits 2010: My Campaign Should Be On TV

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 2010. 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.

I’ve always enjoyed Skallawag’s style as a DM. His sessions are highly enjoyable, fast paced and fulfilling. In his article My Campaign Should Be On TV Skallawag reveals some of the strategies that he employee’s when designing adventures. There are no magic secrets, just solid advice to keep your players hooked and begging for more. The method employed, borrow from Hollywood. Take the best strategies for keeping audiences hooked to both the large and small screen and translate those methods onto the gaming table.

I hope you enjoy this revisit to a great piece here on Dungeon’s Master. – Wimwick

Categories
Editorial

Greatest Hits 2010

With 2010 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 over the past 12 months 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.

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Player Resources

Tomb of Horrors: Actual Play Podcasts (Part 4)

This is it. The final chapters in our adventure into the Tomb of Horrors. Who lives, who dies? You’ll have to listen to find out. Follow the adventures of six experienced gamers as they delve into the Tomb of Horrors for the very first time.

Before diving into these podcasts, be sure to check out the DM’s introduction as well as the earlier podcasts and an assortment of photos in Tomb of Horrors: Actual Play Podcasts (Part 1Part 2 |Part 3).

You can find all episodes of our Tomb of Horrors actual play podcasts in iTunes. Search for “The Shattered Sea” in the iTunes store’s podcast section. The artist is Liam Gallagher (Bauxtehude’s name in real life). You can also subscribe to The Shattered Sea with any feed-reader of pod-catcher by visiting The Shattered Sea and clicking on “Subscribe in a Reader.”

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Editorial

D&D Encounters: Keep on the Borderlands (Week 13)

Never underestimate the how quickly you’ll get an audience with the Lord of the keep when you announce that dragons are going to attack. Of course, having a solid reputation for heroism and a couple of witnesses to corroborate your claims doesn’t hurt things either.

We began right where we left off last week. We’d just defeated Benwick’s men, killing Gorn and subduing the others. Upon learning the details of Benwick’s plan from his cronies, we marched our prisoners directly to the inner court where we demanded an immediate audience with Lord Drysdale. His guards were somewhat reluctant and even suspicious of us initially, but mention of two black dragons en route to level the castle had a way of getting them to grant us the audience we requested.

Categories
Humour

Dungeon’s Master Presents: Christmas with the Gamer

Today Dungeon’s Master presents a D&D, holiday-themed tale based in part on real events that happened in Ameron’s household over the holidays. Merry Christmas.

I’d rather be playing D&D. But it’s Christmas and my family is coming over for a big holiday dinner. So I’m forced to settle for the banality known as real life for the next few hours.

I lumber downstairs from my bedroom, making no effort to be stealthy. Anyone in the living room or kitchen with a half-way decent passive perception knows I’m on my way. As a triggered action when I reach the bottom of the staircase my mother, the controller, starts giving me orders. I have to clean the basement, playfully called the dungeon, before company arrives.

As I pass by the living room I notice my father watching football. My dad is the epitome of the Warlord class. He’s a generous leader who constantly gives up his actions to let other act in his place. Whether that action is taking out the trash, cleaning the basement, or mowing the lawn, he’s always been very generous and giving. He’s just that kind of guy. Even when my mother asks him to do something he takes advantage of his class features to give up his action and let someone else do twice as much on their turn.

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DM Resources Player Resources

Prove Your D&D Superiority

When I play games, I play to win. I want to be the best and I want everyone else to know that I’m the best. For most table-top games there is a clearly defined way to identify the winner. In fact many games – including Monopoly, Scrabble and Chess – all have tournaments or championships to crown the best of the best.

When it comes to D&D it’s just not that easy. How do you prove to the guys at your table, and more importantly other gamers, that you are the best at D&D? I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’ve got suggestions for determining the best of the best once and for all.

Categories
Editorial

What Do You Do When Your D&D Game Is Cancelled?

Every once in a blue moon something happens and your regular game is cancelled. The reasons are various, ranging from illness, family obligations, exams, a hectic schedule at work or the fact that some of your group is at GenCon. No matter the cause it leaves those available with nothing to do on game night. But that doesn’t mean that you need to cancel game night all together.

As gamers, we are a versatile bunch with a wide range of interests and hobbies beyond D&D. Surely the loss of one or two players from your gaming table doesn’t mean that the rest of the group has to give up their one night a week where they indulge their inner geek. For me the weekly D&D game is the reason a great group of friends gather around the table and enjoy one another’s company. Just because a few guys can’t make it doesn’t mean that the rest of the group should cancel and miss the opportunity for friends to connect.