November was great month here at Dungeon’s Master. The D&D community was abuzz with the release of the new character builder and we couldn’t help but join in on the discussion and debate. Also in November we looked at the art that shaped the D&D worlds of Dark Sun, Planescape and Eberron, we looked at alignment in 4e D&D and we asked you to stop abusing dragons. There were the familiar staples throughout November including D&D Encounters weekly coverage, more Secrets of Eberron, and a detailed look at skill checks and the new skill DCs from D&D Essentials.
With our neighbours to the south celebrating their Thanksgiving last week, we would be remiss if we didn’t take this opportunity to thank all of our readers for visiting Dungeons’ Master, especially those of you who keep coming back again and again.
If you missed any of the great articles we ran in November, this is your chance to get caught up.
Highlights
Character Builder
One of the most talked about issues on the gaming blogsphere in November was the new web-based Character Builder. We joined in the discussion by first airing our own list of complaints and then following that up with a second article highlighting the best aspects of the new tool.
Player Resources
- 10 Good Reasons to Play D&D – If you’ve ever needed to defend your love for D&D this list provides plenty of support for your cause.
- 27 Questions To Ask Your New Character – Every character needs a detailed back-story, answering these questions will help you create one.
- How To Return From A Gaming Hiatus In 5 Simple Steps – Before returning to your game after a prolonged absence follow these five steps to make sure you’re up to speed.
- The Art of D&D (Part 2)– A look at the work and impact of Brom, Tony DiTerlizzi and Wayne Reynolds on the worlds of D&D.
- Tomb of Horrors: Actual Play Podcasts (Part 2) – Follow the adventures of six very experienced gamers who are trying to defeat the Tomb of Horrors for the very first time.
- Review: Dragon Chess – Take traditional chess, expand the board and add a two dragon pieces to each side and you’ve got Dragon Chess.
DM Resources
- Stop Abusing Dragons!– Dragons are the biggest, baddest monsters in the game so for all of you DMs out there stop abusing dragons by overusing them in your campaign.
- Exploring Skill Checks and the New DCs (Part 1) | (Part 2)– The skill DCs changed again when D&D Essentials was released and that seemed like a good reason to review the entire mechanic of skill DCs.
- Fortune 500 – Extreme Wealth in D&D – In our 500th post we looked at the consequences of extreme wealth in D&D.
- Who’s Really In Control At Your Gaming Table? – Players have a lot more control over their game then they might realize.
- Does Alignment Matter in 4e D&D? – Why should players worry about alignment when there’s no reason to play within the boundaries?
- What Happened To The Chaos? – Continuing our look at alignment, we mourn the loss of the chaotic alignments.
D&D Encounters
We continue with our ongoing weekly coverage of D&D Encounters: Keep on the Borderlands throughout November. November also saw the launch of the D&D Encounters Archive. It’s a repository of all our D&D Encounters articles including the weekly recaps and the pre-generated characters. Visit the D&D Encounters Archive by clicking on the tab above the Dungeon’s Master banner.
- D&D Encounters: Keep on the Borderlands (Week 7)
- D&D Encounters: Keep on the Borderlands (Week 8.)
- D&D Encounters: Keep on the Borderlands (Week 9)
- D&D Encounters: Keep on the Borderlands (Week 10)
Eberron
The Eberrontab at the top of the page provides easy access to all of our Eberron resources.
- Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 9)– Common folk across Khorvaire have formed the League of Remembrance. These villagers are willing to stand up for themselves and deny the noble class soldiers for a future war.
The Book Report
In November we added a permanent new page called The Book Report. It’s a collection of everything Ameron’s read over the past few months. Each entry includes a couple of points about the book and most importantly a score on a d10 to help you decide if that book is worth reading. We’ll continue to keep this page updated as Ameron finishes reading more and more novels. The permanent link to The Book Report is located in the left navigation below the Popular Posts and above the Staff Picks.
A Look Ahead
With the holiday season approaching, the Dungeon’s Master team will be taking a much deserved vacation during the last two weeks of December. During that time we’ll be re-running some of our greatest hit, just like we did last year at this time. But until then we’ve still got plenty of great new material including new skill challenges and adventure hooks that you can drop right into your existing campaign, ongoing coverage of D&D Encounters and the conclusion of our Tomb of Horrors actual play podcasts. Be sure to visit Dungeon’s Master every day in December to get your 4e D&D fix.