Author: Wimwick (Neil Ellis)

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Player Resources

Creating A Character That Can’t Be Killed

I’ve been perusing the D&D Player’s Strategy Guide since I received it as a Father’s Day gift this past Sunday. My reading hasn’t been focused on building the best character, as I have already done that. Of course my best character may not be your best character and that’s ok, I forgive you your delusions.

One of the interesting sections in the Player’s Strategy Guide is the “How To” section that runs through page 62 – 81. The section covers everything from gaining the highest initiative, being the best healer and having the most hit points. What it doesn’t offer is how to build a character that can’t be killed. As a result here is my take on how to build a character that simply won’t die. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll run some variations on this theme of “How To”.

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Editorial

The 4e Necromancer Has Been Announced

One of the first articles published at Dungeon’s Master was our take on the Necromancer. Since that time we’ve produced a revised version of our heroic, paragon and epic tier take on the class, along with a general write up on different kinds of Necromancers. The Necromancer as envisioned by us was developed to address the fact that there were no Wizard specialists in 4e D&D. Along the way we’ve toyed with the idea of releasing a build of the class that is built on the Warlock and Cleric structure as well.

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DM Resources Player Resources

Embracing The Total Party Kill

It’s not something we like to think about, the death of the party, the end of the campaign. On occasion it is the right thing to do. Earlier this week we discussed Avoiding The Total Party Kill. This task falls jointly on the shoulders of the DM and the players. Embracing The Total Party Kill, falls on the players and is a decision that only they can make.

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DM Resources Player Resources

Avoiding The Total Party Kill

The party is in the middle of combat and the plan of attack quickly falls apart. Within rounds the party finds themselves with several PCs making death saves. Things have gone from bad to worse and a total party kill is looking imminent. Options begin running through your head, do you go down swinging? Is it still possible to defeat the encounter? Is retreat the best option? If you do retreat what about your already fallen companions?

No matter the cause of a total party kill, it can have devastating consequences on your campaign or adventure session. From derailed campaigns, frustrated players and torn up character sheets every TPK is going to have it’s own ramifications. The key to avoiding these difficult situations is to avoid the total party kill in the first place.

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Dark Sun Skill Challenges

A Dark Sun Skill Challenge: Crossing The Chasm

D&D Encounter season two kicks off tonight. Unless you’ve been living under a rock then you know that season two is set in newest 4e campaign setting Dark Sun, scheduled for released later this summer. With this in mind we’re bringing you our very first encounter set in Dark Sun. And this wouldn’t be Dungeon’s Master if it the encounter was anything but a skill challenge. The following encounter is intended for use within Dark Sun, but can easily be adapted to fit any campaign world.

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Player Resources

Class And Race Combinations That Break The Mold

Certain class and race combinations in D&D just seem to make sense. They are the old favourites and the stereotypes that define the genre. We know them all, the sturdy Dwarven Fighter, the nimble Elven archer, the cunning Halfling Rogue and so on. These combinations are fun to play because they work and they are safe. Occasionally, a new wrinkle will be added to give these old classics some new flavour.

One of our original articles discussed Overplayed Characters, today I want to look at combinations that aren’t typical. I’m sure there are many other combinations beyond the ones I present here. The options listed below are ones where the racial attribute modifiers play towards the particular class or where engaging role playing opportunities are presented.

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D&D Encounters Dark Sun Player Resources

D&D Encounters Dark Sun Character Builder Files

D&D Encounters: Dark Sun – Fury of the Wastewalker begins Wednesday, June 9. Wizards of the Coast has provided six pre-generated characters – all of them highlighting unique aspects to the upcoming Dark Sun setting for 4e D&D. Over the past week there has been a great deal of discussion about the character sheets provided. More than a few errors have been pointed out as well. Below are four of the six characters available in character builder format for download along with the cards provided by Wizards of the Coast.

In rebuilding the characters there are obviously certain aspects that can’t be reproduced. Namely the theme’s and the new weapons. In the case of weapons I’ve selected the closest item available through Character Builder. For theme’s player’s will need to manually add the appropriate power onto the character sheet. All the characters are as accurate as I can make them based upon the information available. If you plan to use a character builder version of one of the characters I would advise you to check with the DM who is running your encounters session and to double check that no errors were made in rebuilding the characters.

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Player Resources

Your Best Resource: Healing Surges

One of your most important, yet overlooked resources as a PC, are your healing surges. Healing surges in 4e D&D are the difference between life and death. Effective use of those healing surges can mean the life or death of you and your companions.

Healing surges are a new mechanic to D&D that were introduced with 4e. No longer do you heal a certain amount of hit points by resting or from relying on the Cleric to have enough healing spells or the right combination of healing potions. Now every PC is equipped with the ability to heal themselves during and after battle.

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Editorial

What Music Is Playing During Your Battle?

In grade 5 my teacher asked the class if we could only have one song playing as our theme song, what would it be?

For the life of me I don’t recall what song I selected. However, John Arcadian’s post at Gnome Stew got me thinking about this again. John highlights the tool Pandora. Now, because I live in Canada I don’t have access to this nice tool. I do however have access to my ipod and all the CDs I still haven’t copied over to a digital format.

John’s article brought me back to that question my grade 5 teacher asked, only this time it was what songs would compose my D&D soundtrack?

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Player Resources

Don’t Bring A Dagger To A Sword Fight

Dagger or long sword? Club or mace? Hand axe or executioner’s axe? Hand crossbow or great bow?

Which one should you select? What prompts you to select the weapon your PC wields in battle? Are you concerned with aesthetics? Or does the desire to roll as big a die as possible trump all other factors?

I must confess I’m often at a loss over what weapon to select. In the real world a dagger to my heart will kill me just as quickly as a long sword to the heart. Idea’s of d4s and d8s don’t really come into play. Granted a dagger cut to my arm is just that, a cut. A long sword on the other hand might take my arm off.

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