Dungeons & Dragons is set in a fantasy world that draws on our own worlds history for inspiration. Sprinkle in some folklore and we have the role playing game we know and love. However, when we look at our historical world and even events that are transpiring right now in the world, we realize that there are some glaring differences. From race to gender roles, poverty to crime there are many issues that could be explored and discussed through the narrative of the story. Should D&D, through the role playing that is a core component of the game, deal with these are other social issues?
Month: June 2011
As the party caught their breath following the battle against the two-headed Dusk Beasts from last week’s encounter, two members of the town militiaarrived on the scene. Captain Grimbold sent these men to retrieve the party and bring them to the Chapel of Peace. Brother Zelan, the town’s priest, had something urgent to discus with the heroes.
This week we ran two tables at myFLGS – a table of six and a table of seven. The party at my table was made up of Fargrim, Jarren 1, Jarren 2, Byshir, Dolora, Drenda and a Human Vampire.
When the PCs arrived at the Chapel of Peach they discovered that many of the townsfolk had sought shelter within. They must have gathered there when Duponde shifted into the Shadowfell. Grimbold assigned six of his soldiers to protect the chapel and ensure the safety of everyone gathered there.
Brother Zelan, upon noticing the PCs arrival, welcomed them to the chapel despite the circumstances and quickly ushered them into his private antechamber. Once everyone crammed into the small room the good priest did his best to win over the PCs. He explained that Grimbold told him of their deeds at the Old Owl Inn and at the armory. Brother Zelan was very impressed and knew that these heroes were certainly powerful enough to take on a special (and likely dangerous) task on behalf of the people of Duponde.
Truth is stranger than fiction.- I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t see it with my own eyes.
- You can’t make this stuff up.
No matter how creative and imaginative we think we are nothing trumps real life. This is why so many popular TV shows feature stories that are ripped from the headlines. This is also a big reason that we’ve seen an explosion of reality TV in the past decade. People want stories inspired by or based on people and events that really happened.
For June’s RPG Blog Carnival, the Dungeon’s Master team wants you to look to reality for gaming inspiration. We’re asking you to create a memorable character (hero or villain) based on a real life person and provide guidelines for how this character might be used in an RPG. Just because we’re a 4e D&D site doesn’t mean that your memorable characters needs to fit within the confines of D&D (although we wouldn’t be opposed to that idea).
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Month in Review: May 2011
May was another great month for us here at Dungeon’s Master. We continued our exploration of racial powers, shared our weekly experiences with D&D Encounters and took a detailed look at divine classes. We also covered monster variety, DM rehearsals, controller powers and a look back at fantasy movies from the 80s. If you missed any of the great articles from May this is your opportunity to get caught up.
And of course the Dungeon’s Master team would like to take this opportunity, as we always do in the Month in Review, to thank everyone who visited our site and commented in May.