Author: Ameron (Derek Myers)

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DM Resources

Tavern Trappings

Last week we provided a list of 118 Tavern Names. In the article, Wimwick provided some good positioning around making a tavern more than just a typical, average, run-of-the-mill establishment. Giving it a name is an excellent start. But why stop there?

Considering how often PCs find themselves in taverns, it’s important that you take some time to make each one unique and memorable. You don’t have to spend hours on it; a few minutes will do the trick. Adding those little details brings the setting to life. Without these details your tavern is just a forgettable background. So before the PCs head to the next watering hole for a quick drink, take a minute to flesh it out a little bit. Using our list to find an appropriate tavern name is a great start, but don’t forget to describe the staff, the patrons and the décor.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters (Week 9)

Before starting D&D Encounter week 9, I had a tough decision to make. Last week we had a total party kill (TPK). I had to decide if I wanted to resurrect my Gith Monk and keep playing him for the remaining four weeks or if I should play a totally different character? I weighed the pros and cons very carefully all week.

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DM Resources Editorial

When Players Kill the Campaign

Players inevitably do the unexpected. A good DM anticipates the most likely options and plans for them. After all there are only so many choices during a dungeon crawl. But what happens when the unexpected scenario involves the characters themselves and not the choices they make? How can a DM prepare for players who want to changes their characters without warning? How is the long-term camping affected when the players decide that they want to try something new?

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Editorial

R.I.P. Daggermaster: How the Errata Killed My Character

I’m the first to admit that some character builds are stupidly powerful. These are usually the result of creative players scouring through character builder and looking for loopholes to exploit. I fall squarely into this camp. My feeling is that if I do my homework and find a really cool and atypical build that gives me an unexpected advantage then I deserve it. But every now and then a build or power gets used in a way that it clearly wasn’t designed for, and after much abuse Wizards steps in and updates the rules. The latest causality to befall this fate is the Daggermaster paragon path.

Earlier this week Wizards of the Coast released a sizable Rules Update (errata) and although it makes a bunch of powers and items clearer, it also closes the exploited loopholes in some build and powers. I know that I have three different LFR characters that need some significant rework following this update.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters (Week 8)

You know what I’m really enjoying about D&D Encounters? Regardless of how long you’ve played D&D you get to experience a new aspect of D&D every week. This week I experienced my very first TPK. And so did everyone else at my FLGS.

After last week’s encounter, I was less than 100 XP from leveling. I was so close I could taste it. All week I kept thinking that after this encounter I’ve finally be level 2. It took eight long weeks, but after tonight I’d reap the rewards of sticking with my original character. And then I died.

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Editorial

The Best of Dungeon’s Master

The Dungeon’s Master team needs your help. Throughout the month of May we want you – the readers – to help us determine our very best articles. Since launching Dungeon’s Master back on February 1, 2009, we’ve written 365 articles (so far). Every week we continue writing more and more about 4e D&D. As our archive continues expanding we want to make sure that our best articles are being read by DMs and players who will get the most out of them. By asking you to help us choose our very best work, we get an opportunity to shine a spotlight on articles that our newer readers may have missed the first time they were published.

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Month in Review

Month in Review: April 2010

April was another solid moth here at Dungeon’s Master. We covered a wide variety of D&D-related topics, many stemming from our very own gaming table. Some articles really polarized our readers and we received a lot of fantastic comments, many from first time posters. In April we welcomed our newest contributor, Bauxtehude, to Dungeon’s Master. We look forward to his new and unique views on 4e D&D. We want to thank everyone who visited our site this month and we will keep writing great articles about 4e D&D to keep you coming back every day. If you missed any of articles we published in April, here’s your opportunity to get caught up.

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D&D Encounters Dark Sun

D&D Encounters: Dark Sun

D&D Encounters Season 2 is going to be set in Dark Sun. The adventure, Fury of the Wastewalker, runs for 15 weeks from June 9 through September 15. Players must use one of the pregenerated level 1 characters provided. Here’s the description of the adventure.

Fury of the Wastewalker

On a trade road to the city-state of Tyr, a caravan is assaulted by a deadly obsidian shardstorm, forcing the survivors to band together and navigate the wastes to safety. But the force of nature that destroyed the caravan is under the malevolent control of the being known as the Wastewalker, who will stop at nothing to see the end of those that escaped his initial wrath. Can the heroes reach the Ringing Mountains before it’s too late? This season of D&D Encounters uses pregenerated 1st-level characters specifically designed for the adventure play experience!

We’ll be sure to keep you informed as more information on D&D Encounters Season 2 becomes available.

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.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters (Week 7)

“This is the best example of a level 2 solo monster I’ve ever seen.” High praise from our very experienced DM. During D&D Encounters week 7 the players discovered just how powerful and dangerous solo monsters really are.

D&D Encounters is a 12-part adventure from Wizards of the Coast and it’s played out one encounter each week over 12 weeks.

When you’re only playing one encounter a week you want every encounter to be interesting, fun and take more than a few rounds to complete. If the encounter isn’t balanced you either finish so quickly that the players feel cheated or the monster is just so powerful that the some (or all) of the PCs die trying to defeat it. When we realized that we were up against a solo monster this week I hoped we’d find some happy middle ground and I was not disappointed.

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DM Resources

Who Owned Your Magic Sword Before You Did?

How does loot end up in a monster’s treasure horde? The beholder wasn’t wearing the chain mail or wielding the great axe when you fought it, yet there it is in its lair among the other wonders and treasures. You probably just assume that it belonged to the last guy who attempted to defeat the beholder before you and your party came along. But do you ever wonder who the last guy was? Do you ever feel guilty claiming his possessions? Sure he’s dead and has little use for them, but that doesn’t necessarily make them yours, does it?

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