Month: August 2011

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DM Resources

Incremental Encounters

A typical encounter has five PCs facing off against five equally powerful monsters and everything happens simultaneously. But what if the encounter was broken down into five incremental steps, each step representing one monster, and the outcome of each step determined the threat level of the step to follow?

Before diving into this scenario let’s not overlook skill challenges. What if, instead of automatically using five monsters, the DM used five complexity 1 skill challenges, or even a combination of five monsters and skill challenges? Assuming that monsters and skill challenges can be used interchangeably to create balanced and satisfying encounters, is this kind of incremental encounter viable? Absolutely.

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DM Resources Eberron

Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 12)

The affairs of Eberron’s surface dwellers are well known and well documented, but very little is known or recorded about the intelligent life that thrives beneath Eberron’s seas. Anyone who’s travelled by sea from Khorvaire to Xen’drik has likely dealt with the Sahuagin, but very few know about the vast underwater society of which they are but a small part. Beneath Eberron’s seas lie vast civilizations as complex and filled with as much intrigue as the cities of the surface world the largest and most cosmopolitan of which is Madidus.

Madidus is the undersea equivalent of Sharn. All intelligent aquatic races live, play and do business here. It’s the centre of underwater commerce. Much like Sharn, Madidus was built around a manifest zone. Where Sharn’s connection to the plane of Syrania allows building to reach heights that seem impossible, Madidus is connected to the plane of air which crates permanent pockets of breathable air. This allows surface dwellers to live in Madidus comfortably. The area of the city enveloped with breathable air is home to hundreds of people from the surface including Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Halflings. Few who end up here make any effort to leave.

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Humour

More Confessions of a D&D Camp Counselor: Year II

This year at Dungeons & Dragons Camp we took a new approach to running the games. All the DMs agreed to set their campaigns in the same setting. By doing this we hoped to create a common experience that all of the kids could share in. In retrospect, I have to admit that I was extremely naive, or at the very least idealistic.

Burn Baby Burn!

What I envisioned was a common campaign setting generating stories of how each party solved the same problems in their own way. The kids certainly overcame problems but not in the way I imagined. Where I’d thought they’d meet and interact with common NPCs they instead opted to kill them over and over again, week after week.

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Humour Top 10

7 Appalling Things I Witnessed at the Gaming Table

While at GenCon I played in my share of D&D adventures. For the most part it was a lot of fun and I had a great time playing. But one thing that really stood out for me a lot more this year than any other was the egregiousness with witch other players violated the social contract you agree to uphold when playing D&D or any RPG.

I’ve put together a list of all the social faux pas and violations of the social contract that actually happened at my gaming table during GenCon. I encourage you to use the comments section below to add violations you witnessed at your gaming tables to this list. Maybe if we put them in print enough gamers will read them and hopefully stop doing them or at least realize that these actions aren’t acceptable.

I’ll admit that I’m actually guilty of a committing a couple of these myself, but when I do I am aware that it’s a problem and I apologize to the table. Regrettably when these happened at my table during GenCon none of the offenders excused their behaviour because they likely didn’t even realize that they what they were doing was extremely uncool.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 1)

For D&D Encounters season 6 the PCs are once again in the Forgotten Realms. The adventure takes place in the city of Neverwinter. Although the Neverwinter Campaign Setting hardcover isn’t required to play this season it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a copy at your gaming table. All characters began the adventure at level 1 and had the option of using the new Neverwinter Character Themes presented during D&D Game Day as well as within the Neverwinter Campaign Setting.

We had enough players at our FLGS to run two tables of five. At my table was a Human Fighter, Human Cleric (War Priest), Eladrin Avenger, Dwarf Slayer (Fargrim) and Drow Ranger (Belgos). Three of the players are veterans of many previous seasons of D&D Encounters. The two players using the pre-generated characters were new to Encounters and relatively new to 4e D&D, although they both had extensive experience playing previous editions.

Before play began I read the players the adventure background and the Neverwinter background to make sure they understood the setting and the political and social atmosphere of Neverwinter.

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D&D Encounters Player Resources

Sneak Preview – Lair Assault: Forge of the Dawn Titan and D&D Encounters: Beyond the Crystal Cave

While at GenCon this past weekend I attended the seminar on Playing D&D in Public hosted by Greg Bilsland and Chris Tulach from Wizards of the Coast. It began with a general discussion about public play and then they provided us with a lot of great details about the next season of D&D Encounters and the upcoming Lair Assault.

Playing D&D in Public

During the general discussion there was a lot of back and forth with the audience. Everyone agreed that there was tremendous benefit to playing in public, most notably that it gives you a chance to meet new people. Together we can all learn from each other about the game. Everyone who participates in public play grows and develops as a player or DM. By playing in public we have an opportunity to portray D&D in a positive light and allow experienced gamers to act as positive role models to younger gamers.

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Editorial Player Resources

The 2011 D&D Open Championship

The D&D Open Championship is a chance for the best D&D players to pit their skills against one of the most difficult adventures Wizards can put together. It’s intended to be grueling and to force players into making really difficult decisions. And to make it even more difficult the players have only 45 minutes in which to complete each encounter. When the clock runs out it’s game over. This is one instance when it truly is the players vs. the DM

This year Wizards had help creating the adventure, The Fires of Mount Hotenow. There was a contest in which they asked people to submit their ideas for killer encounters. The best five were used to make up the adventure. One other important aspect of the D&D Championship that was changed was that this year players were allowed to continue playing the adventure, even if they timed out. However, they didn’t earn any additional points after timing out. In past years if you ran out of time you were done – full stop. But this year it was possible to complete the entire adventure even if you took more than 45 minutes in the first encounter. If, however, the entire party was killed then it was truly over.

I was again teamed up with the members of “The C Team.” We played in the second slot of the second day. Of the 44 parties that went before us only two completed the Championship for real, and five more completed it after timing out. As it turned out, no one else managed to complete the adventure in any of the subsequent slots. So once again Wizards put together an adventure that was brutal. And man, was it both fun and frustrating at the same time!

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DM Resources Player Resources

What are the Best Feats? Final Round, Vote Now!

Before diving into articles inspired by everything that happened at GenCon this weekend, we’re continuing our quest to find the best feats in 4e D&D. With over 3,000 feats available to level 1 characters, narrowing the list down to a cool 10 was no easy task.

We began with 32 feats and asked you to vote for the ones that you felt were the best. After dividing the list in half, we took the sweet 16 and further subdivided the list down to the top 10. Beginning today you can vote for the very best heroic tier feats currently available in 4e D&D.

We began this whole exercise when we realized that an overwhelming majority of players took the same core utility feats for their characters over and over again, regardless of their class or race. It made us wonder if some feats are just better than others. The answer has been a resounding yes.

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Humour

7 Reasons Why I’d Rather Be At GenCon

If you’re like me you were left behind. Unable to attend the experience that is GenCon. Sadly I had to give the pilgrimage to Indy a pass this year. So to all my fellow gamers who were also left behind I present a list of 7 reasons why I’d rather be at GenCon. This should serve as motivation to ensure we all make the trip next year.

Until then read on…

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard (Week 13)

This was it, the final encounter of the season. Would the PCs break Evard’s curse or would the town of Duponde and all its inhabitants (including the PCs) remain stuck in the Shadowfell forever?

For the final chapter we had a party of 7 – a Dwarven Fighter (male), a Dwarven Fighter (female), an Eladrin Avenger, a Human Druid (with bear companion), a Tiefling Ardent, a Tiefling Warlock and a Tiefling Wizard (Necromancer).

After defeating Vontarin in the previous encounter, his soul took refuge in the magic orb. The PCs examined the object, but were unsure what to do next. They looked around the library and through Vontarin’s notes. They hoped that he had something written down about how to reverse Evard’s curse. But the search proved futile and no new details were discovered. It seemed that the PCs would need to return to Duponde and consult someone more knowledgeable.

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