by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 23, 2012
Adventure hooks are indented as a way to get the PCs into the action quickly. Dangle something interesting in front of them and hope that they take the bait. It might be a greed trap where you offer them a pretty bauble or magical item, or it might be an interaction with a strange or unusual character. In most cases the adventure hook is simple and straight forward (which is not to say boring).
However, in some cases the adventure hook can be more than just a simple way to get the PCs interested in the next leg of the adventure. Every once in a while adventure hooks should be a little bit more complicated than the usual fare. DMs should provide the PCs with a dilemma in which they have to make a choice. Although there isn’t a clear-cut right or wrong answer, either outcome will have serious consequences.
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by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 20, 2012
The latest trend sweeping the D&D Blogosphere is to answer the GM Questionnaire. It was posted on Wednesday by Zak S at the website Playing D&D With Porn Stars. He’s asking people to post their answers in the comments section of his website or to post them on your own blog and share the link. Today I’ve decided to join in the fun and share my answers to Zak’s 23 Questions. I encourage you to answer the questions yourself and either leave the responses in the comment below or visit Playing D&D With Porn Stars and post your answers there.
Please note that the Playing D&D With Porn Stars website does contain some material that may not be suitable for all readers. There’s also a good chance that if you try to visit this website from a work or school computer that it will be forbidden (at least it was for me).
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by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 19, 2012
Last week the PCs found Orlando (fused with Propherio) and defeated the Verbeeg Basal who was trying to kill him. After the contest of champions in which the PCs emerged victorious, Basal rewarded the party with a magical item and then agreed to accompany them and Orlando back to Uma.
The return trip back to Uma’s grove took a couple of hours and by the time they got there, night was upon them. When they reached their destination they saw Uma with her Nymphs and Pixies on the eastern bank and Ragnar with his Satyrs and Wilden on the western bank with the Treant, Sir Oakstaff, straddling the stream between he two groups.
Uma and Ragnar shouted insults and blame at each other with Oakstaff trying to mediate a resolution. As they noticed the PCs approach with Orlando and Basal the bickering stopped. Uma bade Orland come to her so that she could protect him and mend his wounded mind. Ragnar meanwhile demanded that the PCs bring Orlando to him. Oakstaff once again called for peace.
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by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 18, 2012
I’ve played in a lot of games where things could have been a lot easier if we’d only had a Cleric in the party. Or an archer. Or someone trained in Thievery. Or a controller. The point is that some obstacles are going to be easier if you have the right tools for the job. This is also true when it comes to PCs. The right mix of classes and races in any given party will provide you with a competitive edge that will make many tasks easier.
Many DMs design adventures knowing what tools, skills and abilities the PCs have and create challenges that their unique skill sets will be adequately suited to overcome. However, there are often just as many times where the DM simply needs to throw certain monsters or other obstacles at the PCs and if they don’t have the right tools for the job then things are going to be a lot more difficult. This is especially true of you are playing form a printed adventure like those found in Dungeon magazine. The key to overcoming this issue is to try to ensure that the party is made up of the PCs most suited for the job in front of them; a task that’s easier said than done.
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by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 17, 2012
What if you never got more hit points that what you began with at level 1? Think about it. As 4e is set up now most PCs begin with around 20 hit points. This is enough to take a couple of hits but you are by no means invulnerable. As you get more XP and level up you start to improve and one thing that comes with each level bump is more hit points. But lately I’ve been wondering how things would change if your maximum hit points were fixed. How would this change D&D?
In previous editions of D&D PCs could begin with as few as 1 hit point. Some PCs were extremely fragile and a single hit from anything could, and often did, kill them. Knowing that PCs were this vulnerable forced players to play smarter. If your PC was likely to die from a single hit you didn’t run blindly into a group of monsters, even if they were only Kobolds or Goblins. Tactics were important because they often made the difference between living and dying.
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by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 16, 2012
Remember the old D&D Cartoon from the 80s? Six kids are magically transported into the world of Dungeons & Dragons where they fight the forces of evil while trying to find a way home. (See the cartoon intro below). In the cartoon the Dungeons Master was an actual character. He would appear at the beginning of each episode and provide the heroes with a quest; in much the same way the DM does during an actual game of D&D. The DM served as the guide for the characters in the show and the viewers at home. He’d also step in from time to time and give the characters advice or help them out of a really tight jam.
In 4e D&D the DM is not one NPC, rather the DM takes on the roles of every NPC. But wouldn’t it make things easier if Dungeon Master actually was an NPC in your game?
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by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 13, 2012
The lightning rail changed the way people and good were transported across the Five Nations. It’s become such an important and integral means of cheap and reliable transportation across Khorvaire that it would be hard to image life without it.
House Orien takes great steps to ensure that the trains run on time. They work with House Cannith engineers to keep the mechanics and magic in check, and they employ House Deneith Marshals to maintain order onboard the vehicles. All aspects of running the lighting rail happen so efficiently that most people forget all the work that goes into keeping the train running on time – and that’s just the way House Orien wants it.
The last thing House Orien wants is negative publicity. Although the lightning rail is one of the safest means of travel there are occasional problems. However, when issues arise they are dealt with quickly and quietly.
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by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 12, 2012
This week we had enough players for two solid tables. I took the under-13 crowd and had five players. The other table took the adult gamers and ran a party of six. We had three bran new players among the groups, none of them having any previous D&D experience. The younger player joined my table, the older players joined the other.
My table ended up with the following compliment: a Bullywug Assassin [Fey Beast Tamer], Deva Cleric, Revenant (Elf) Sorcerer, Fargrim the Dwarf Fighter (Slayer) (pre-gen), Beliel the Drow Warlock (pre-gen). This gave us four strikers and one leader which actually worked out great.
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by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 11, 2012
The announcement that Wizards is working on the next iteration of D&D has created a lot of churn in the gaming community, the online forums and the blogosphere. In light of this flourish of activity we’ve decided to take a step back and look at something a completely different toady – board games.
In addition to being a huge D&D nerd I’m also an avid board game enthusiast. Where my RPG circle tends to include “just the guys,” board games have a much broader appeal. I’ve never been able to get my wife or brother into RPGs, but they love board games. Likewise, I’d never dream of asking my parents to play D&D, but they’ll make a trip to my house for board game night. Board games are generally very easy to learn and don’t have the nerd stigma that a lot of people associate with D&D. It makes them appealing to everyone.
A lot of FLGS in my neighbourhood actually have a slew of board games that you can play in the store. This is a great way to try some new games before you buy them. Purchasing board games from your FLGS (as opposed to a toy store) is yet another way you can support them after you’ve purchased the PHB and DMG.
The next time your gaming group doesn’t have enough people to play D&D, or a critical member of the group is absent (the DM, perhaps), resist the urge to cancel. Get together with your friends and have a good time playing board games. There are a lot of great games on the market today so don’t limit yourself to just Monopoly or Risk. For something different, check out five of my favourite board games below. They’re all easy to learn, fun to play, and well worth the investment.
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by Ameron (Derek Myers) on January 10, 2012
By now everyone in the D&D gaming community has heard the big news: Wizards is developing the next iteration of D&D, and is looking to the legions of D&D fans to help shape the future of the game along with them. I don’t think this really came as a surprise to anyone, especially those who follow the weekly Legends & Lore column. I think the big news was the level to which Wizards is asking for player input.
In December Wizard flew me out to Seattle to visit their head office and participate in a D&D conference. One of the things discussed was the development of this new iteration of D&D. However, I have been (and still am) bound by an NDA and sworn to secrecy. There are a few things that I can now comment on because Wizards has made some details public; however, there are a lot of other things I cannot talk about. This makes things tricky when it comes to writing about any changes that might be forthcoming, but here’s what I can say.
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