June was another great month for Dungeon’s Master as our web stats and readership numbers continue to climb thanks to you, our loyal readers. This month we hosted our first RPG Blog Carnival, and although it started slowly, we saw a lot of enthusiasm and support as the month neared completion. Our own entry nearly set a record for most visits on a single day.
In June our articles on D&D math, social issues in D&D, opportunity attacks, PCs charging PCs for services, and ways to increase role-playing all created great debate in our comments section. We also continued covering D&D Encounters and we added a video component after completing chapter 1 (which you might have seen on the Wizards of the Coast Facebook page).
Thanks to everyone who visited Dungeon’s Master throughout June. We hope you enjoyed reading the articles as much as we enjoyed writing them. Whether you only just discovered us (perhaps because of the RPG Blog Carnival) or whether you’re a long time reader, this is your chance to read (or reread) all of the articles we ran in June.
Highlight
Player Resources
- Are You Willing to Provoke an Opportunity Attack? – Don’t let minions become controllers by locking you down and limiting your movement, do what’s most tactically advantageous and move when you want to regardless of consequences.
- Playing Yourself as a D&D Character – After the death of fantasy author Joel Rosenberg last month we looked back fondly upon his series Guardians of the Flame and figure out how we could turn ourselves into D&D PCs.
- Review: Gods Behaving Badly – Find out how the gods of ancient Greece – Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes, Zeus – handle themselves now that they’re practically powerless and all living in a flat in modern London.
- Should PCs Charge Other PCs for Services? – When a PC dies the party has no problem paying an NPC Cleric at the local church to have him resurrected. So why should PCs not charge each other for their services?
- Unusual Character Themes – Looking for a way to make your next character more than just numbers on a page? Here are three unusual character themes that you’ve likely never seen at your gaming table before.
DM Resources
- 3 Quick Ways To Increase Role Playing At Your Table – Providing an engaging story, a controversial NPC, and quick challenging combat are three easy ways to bring more role-playing to your gaming table.
- 9 Adventure Hooks – More ways to kick of your next long-term camping or the next encounter.
- D&D & Kids: How To Scare A Dragon – As you introduce role-playing to younger players keep the game within the scope of their limited life experience.
- D&D Math – Adding the Numbers – Encourage all players to do the math. This helps them and helps the game.
- Should Dungeons & Dragons Deal With Social Issues? – You can make your D&D campaign about more than killing monsters if you’re willing to take on some of the hot button issues we describe here.
- Should Monsters Employ Smart Tactics? – Do your monsters choose their opponents carefully or do you just let the dice randomly determine who takes the next hit?
- The DM’s PC – Something Between a PC and an NPC – When the DM wants to keep the focus of his campaign from getting bogged down, he can use the DM’s PC to accomplish all of the little things that he doesn’t want the party to waste time with.
- The End of All Things is a New Beginning – Just because you’ve retired as an adventurer doesn’t mean that life is going to be boring, especially if you decide to open your own tavern.
RPG Blog Carnival
In June Dungeon’s Master hosted the RPG Blog Carnival on Memorable Characters Inspired From Real Life. Our contribution was Eldrick Tont – Defender of the Tiger Woods. Watch for the monthly round-up coming later this week.
D&D Encounters
Visit the Dungeon’s Master D&D Encounters Archive for all of our ongoing weekly coverage as well as other great D&D Encounters articles and resources. Also check out our Dark Legacy of Evard video recaps. They provide a new and different way to be a part of D&D Encounters. Each episode is part session recap, part episodic story. Watch for a recap of Chapter 2 in July.
- D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard (Week 4)
- D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard (Week 5)
- D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard (Week 6)
- D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard (Week 7)
- D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard (Week 8.)
- D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard – Chapter 1 Video Recaps
Eberron
The Eberron tab at the top of the page provides easy access to all of our Eberron resources.
- Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 11) – A beholder from Xen’drik with good intentions arrives in the Five Nations to offers his services as a mediator and a gypsy with delusions of grandeur manifests a Aberrant Siberys Mark and becomes a pawn of House Tarkanan.
A Look Ahead
Expect many great articles from Dungeon’s Master in July. Later this week we’ll have the RPG Blog Carnival round-up. Bauxtehude will once again share his experiences as a councillor at D&D Camp. Towards the end of the month Dungeon’s Master will hit our 700th article. With GenCon a little over a month away you know that we’ll have a few things to say about what’s going on in Indianapolis this year. We’ll also highlight the Ennie Award nominations (announced on Friday, July 8th) and share our thoughts on this year’s crop of nominees. You can also expect full coverage of D&D Encounters, including the video recaps of chapter 2. As more details become available on Season 6 we’ll be sure to post them. If Wizards of the Coast provides new pre-gens you know that we’ll have them up as soon as we get copies. July looks like it’s going to be another great month at Dungeon’s master so be sure to visit us every day.
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