Category: Editorial

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Editorial Humour

Greatest Hits 2012: What Your Weapon Says About Your Character

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2012. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

Considering how common laughter is at the gaming table I’ve found that writing humourous articles is really difficult. Instead of going for outright funny ha-ha, I’ve had a lot more success writing observational pieces that demonstrate wit and focus on shared experiences most gamers will relate to and chuckle. In that vein I put together this article on the correlation between weapons and character personalities.

This is clearly a light-hearted piece that may seem a bit silly and simplistic at first glance. However, I’ll bet that by the time you get to the end you’ll agree with many of my observations and see the personality of some of your own PCs accurately paired to their weapon of choice. Think about this the next time you equip a character.

In the original article I asked our readers to add to my list of weapons. Here are some of their contributions. If you’ve got another one please add it to the comments below.

  • Rapier – You have a piercing wit as well as the sword. You also have a flair for the dramatic. (Al)
  • Flail – You enjoy making a mess of things, twisting people’s words or just tripping them up. (Eamon)
  • Tome – You possess a lot of power, but that power is a heavy burden. You have difficulty relating to others because you spend so much of your time inwardly focused. (dmscorpio)
  • Sling – You’re a child at heart, though maybe not so innocent. You try to get your way, and complain or lash out if you don’t. (Zeroarmada)

From March 21, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: What Your Weapon Says About Your Character.

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Editorial

Merry Christmas and a Holiday Themed Adventure

The Dungeon’s Master team wishes all of our readers a safe and happy holiday season.

We’re coming up on four years since we launched Dungeon’s Master and we’re still going strong. Thank you to all of our readers and to everyone who’s helped make Dungeon’s Master a success.

As a Christmas present to all our readers we’d like to share a D&D holiday themed heroic tier adventure with you. Way back in December 2009 we ran a one-page holiday adventure design contest. The winner was an entry from Corwin Riddle entitled: Krangel’s Workshop. This adventure was inspirited by the Christmas classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” by Dr. Seuss. A clever D&D interpretation of a cherished children’s story.

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Editorial Player Resources

Greatest Hits 2012: Don’t Be a Dick – 4 Tips for Following Wheaton’s Law

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2012. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

I strongly believe that the overwhelming majority of gamers are good people. It’s unusual for a gamer to intentionally be a dick. But there are certainly shades of grey when it comes to dickish behaviour. When it comes to minor infractions, pet peeves if you will, it’s up to all of us to identify the problem and work together to fix it. Of course what bothers me may not be a big deal to you and that’s where we get the shades of grey.

My own experience taught me that everyone has their own gaming-related pet peeves. There are things the people in my regular gaming group do that I don’t like and I’m sure there are things I do that they don’t like. In some cases the issues stem from personality clash, but in some cases it stems from ignorance. The former is tough to deal with, the later not so much… at least it shouldn’t be.

If someone at the table does something that bothers you should say something? Personally I would, but that’s just me. I’m a very direct person. I know that if you ignore a problem it doesn’t usually get better. But for many gamers this is not something they feel comfortable doing, especially if the person isn’t a close friend (think of situations during public-play or at a con).

Now think about it from the point of view of the person demonstrating dickish behaviour. There’s a good chance they don’t know that what they’re doing is causing problems. If you don’t tell them, how can they be expected to change? Nobody likes a player who’s being a dick, so as tough as some players may find this conversation I think a fellow gamer would appreciate the feedback. That’s just my two cents.

One more thing – when I ran this article the first time it was quickly brought to my attention that the original Character Builder is still available online and that some dedicated members of the gaming community have kept it updated as new materials come out. So keep this in mind when you get to the section “Ensure your character sheet is accurate.”

From July 16, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Don’t Be a Dick – 4 Tips for Following Wheaton’s Law.

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DM Resources Editorial

Greatest Hits 2012: How a Blind Player Improved Our Game

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2012. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

Describing enough detail for a blind player to visualize in their minds what’s happening in a typical game of D&D is tough. It requires a vivid imagination and a good grasp on the creatures and places in the game. Doing it well requires practice. Unfortunately it’s not a skill that too many DMs or players possess. But that’s changing.

A lot of people have had a chance to delve into this kind of gaming experience through the D&D Next play testing. It encourages quick combat encounters that don’t use a map or minis. It encourages exploration through description and experimentation. In essence it expects you to describe places and actions as if there was always a blind person at the table. You may not have thought about it in those terms but it’s true.

It all comes down to details. DMs should stop making generalizations by giving something a title; instead describe the details. When you tell the players the room has a king-sized bed and a dresser and a table they’ll get that it’s a master bedroom and not a kitchen. So why use the term “bedroom” at all? Just describe the contents and let the players determine the function. The same goes for people and monsters. Don’t describe NPC by race and class; rather describe their attire, mannerisms, speech patterns, smell and personality. Let the players decide if this is a noble, a thief, or an adventurer.

By making the players use their imagination to take in a scene it will open their thirst for details. They’ll ask questions they never usually ask like what colour is the carpet or if they smell incense. When players can’t use their eyes to see a map or a mini they’ll fill in the blanks with the details the DM provides and likely add a few of their own. When this happens it will take your game to a whole new level of enjoyment.

From March 19, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: How a Blind Player Improved Our Game.

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Editorial

Greatest Hits 2012: The Advantages of Using 3d6 Over Point Buy

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2012. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

Most gamers I’ve met like rolling dice. And most gamers I’ve met like to power game. So when you ask gamers if they’d rather roll their six ability scores randomly or assign them and get the most optimized stats possible you’re unlikely to get a consensus. Personally I like rolling 3d6 for abilities. It makes you play the character and not the numbers. In my experience this always makes for more interesting characters which in turn makes the gaming experience more enjoyable.

I’ve found that experienced gamers are the ones who are most open to the ides of rolling their abilities. This could be in some part because they’ve likely played previous editions of D&D where that’s just how it was done, so they don’t see it as a big deal. I also think experienced gamers are more open to rolling their ability scores because they realize that there is something to be said for randomness. They realize that it’s not the extraordinary scores that make your character interesting, but the lower ones. Rolling your stats makes you intimately and immediately aware that a character is more than the raw numbers on the page; something many newer gamers have a hard time understanding.

By rolling your stats you’re more likely to be appreciative of that one good score, even if it is only a 14. And in cases where an ability score is particularity high, say an 18, it’s going to have a big impact on the PCs and the game. In a world where most people have relatively flat ability scores, anyone with an 18 will be truly extraordinary. Just think of how people will treat a guy with an 18 Charisma? This super-Charisma guy is going to be a spectacle for all the right reasons. His 18 makes him special. However, if an 18 Charisma is extremely commonplace, as it is when everyone uses a point buy system, it denies everyone that chance to feel special because they happen to roll something statistically improbable.

I’m not suggesting that we completely abandon point buy; it certainly has its place and serves a practical purpose. But I think that we should all realize that there is something to be gained from trying the 3d6 method of generating ability scores as anyone who has participated in the D&D Next play testing can attest to.

From January 24, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: The Advantages of Using 3d6 Over Point Buy.

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Editorial Player Resources

Greatest Hits 2012: When the Plus (+) No Longer Matters

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2012. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

When I wrote this article it was to make a statement about character development. The idea was that having a magic item with a special power you found interesting was more important than whether or not the magic was +2 or +3. But when I reread this article I realized that it’s also a commentary on the abundance of magic in 4e D&D. When we have so much magic in the game it really belittles all of it.

In a game where only one PC has a magic sword (think King Arthur and Excalibur, for example), everyone will look at the item and the character wielding it as extraordinary. But when every member of the party has a magic sword none of them are seen as special. This is compounded even further if all the bad guys have magic swords. Yet this is exactly how games in the 4e D&D world play out. There’s magic everywhere. And with so much choice it’s no wonder that players will overlook some items for the promise of something more to their liking later. Or in the case of the examples I use in this article, the PCs won’t trade up to better items because they’re happy with the ones they’ve got.

Personally I like games that are magic rich. To me that’s D&D. I’ll admit that eventually too much magic can complicate things (as we’ve learned during 4e epic play) but I’m ok with that. On the opposite end of things I’ve played games in low magic settings (Dark Sun, for example) and I’ve realized that this is not something I enjoy. There needs to be some kind of middle ground and I believe that we’re seeing that shape up in the D&D Next play-test packets.

There seems to be a definite shift with D&D Next towards making magic items special again. The mechanics are being retooled so that adding a +1 sword to any character is going to be a big deal. Tack on some kind of additional special property like a fire, lighting, or acid and now you’re really got something unique. I have high hopes that there will be a lot more balance in the distribution of magic items when they land on final rules. If done right, any magic treasure will be coveted and players won’t find that they reach a point where they no longer care about the plus on their item because they’ll just be happy to have any item at all.

From May 29, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: When the Plus (+) No Longer Matters.

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Editorial

Greatest Hits 2012

With 2012 nearing completion the Dungeon’s Master team is taking another look at some of our favourite articles from the past year. In 2012 we posted over 165 articles (down from the 250 we’d posted in previous years when we were running new content 5 days a week). This is still a huge number and there are bound to be a few that you missed somewhere along the way.

Beginning today, and continuing over the next two weeks, we’ll dig up those hidden gems that generated a lot of discussion among the gaming community or that we think best represent what we’re all about. It gives us a chance to make sure our newer readers are exposed to our best work and for our long-time readers and subscribers it allows us to highlight a few articles we think you might enjoy a second time.

Each of our greatest hits will include the original article in its entirety, along with a new introduction. In some cases our opinions may have changed since the article was originally published and in others we’re still holding fast to our initial stance.

You’ll have to check out the greatest hits every day to find out which articles from 2012 made the cut and what new insights we have to offer on those topics. Each day, as we run another of our greatest hits, we’ll list the title below and provide a link for easy access. If you don’t think you’ll be able to visit Dungeon’s Master every day between now and New Year’s you may want to bookmark this page so that you can come back in January and see which article made the cut.

Even though we’ll be running our greatest hits for the next two weeks we will provide our weekly recap of the D&D Encounters (week 8.) finale this Thursday and the season report card the following Thursday.

In January 2013 Dungeon’s Master returns to its regular publishing schedule. Be sure to visit Dungeon’s Master regularly for great 4e D&D articles.

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DM Resources Editorial

What a Dick Move Taught Us About Party Goals

I’ve said it many times before: I want the players at my table to play the character they want to play. Unless the campaign revolves around a specific theme (like the last season of D&D Encounters where everyone had to be Drow) or some other facet that the characters need to share, I welcome whatever race/class combo you can imagine – without restriction.

We don’t usually pay a lot of attention to the EXTREME diversity in a party’s composition. Heroes of six different races each of whom represents a different class all come together and go adventuring together. It’s just a part of the way D&D works. Unless you want to make this an important part of your campaign we have learned to just accept it and move on. But for players with considerable experience they’ll often ask questions and dig deeper. What brought theses characters together? Why do they continue to stay together? As a DM and player I’m completely open to this additional character development.

Yet even when the players ask these kinds of questions and look for the deeper motivation or party goals, they know that at the end of the day the party will go adventuring. It’s certainly nice to have a common motivation that will rally the troops into action, but for most of us, most of the time, we just agree that the PCs will form a party and take on the adventure the DM places in front of them. Six strangers will work together, trust each other, and risk their lives for one another along the way because that’s what we do in D&D.

This is the norm. This is what we all expect from the other players at the table. But it makes sense that some players will eventually feel that their character really needs a stronger motivation to keep going. A time when the character will finally look around and realize that he’s got no good reason to stay on the team. The question is what does the player do when he feels his character has reached this unusual predicament?

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Editorial

I’m Getting Published in Dungeon Magazine

I’ve always said that writing for this blog is a lobour of love. It is its own reward. While that is indeed true, in the back of my mind I’ve always secretly hoped that it would give me the experience and exposure needed to write for Wizards of the Coast. Well, that dream is becoming a reality in September as Wizards will be publishing two of my submissions.

Way back in April 2011 Wizards reached out to a wide field of up-and-coming writers asking if they’d be interested in contributing to Dragon Magazine or Dungeon Magazine. Many of these would-be authors, myself included, had no professional writing experience aside from what we posted on our gaming blogs. Needless to say I jumped at the chance to contribute to the D&D cannon.

The Table of Contents for Dungeon #206 (September 2012) is now live on the Wizards of the Coast website. I don’t know when in September my articles will be live, but when they are I’ll let everyone know.

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Editorial Player Resources

What’s In Your Backpack? A Healthy Dose of Reality

When it comes to fantasy role-playing there are a lot of things you have to just accept in order for the game to function. Magic exists. Dragons exist. Elves exist. I have no problems with any of these things. They may be fantastic but they’re familiar and acceptable. But when it comes to the amount of gear a typical adventurer can carry in his backpack many players believe that anything goes. This is not a fantasy that I’m willing to accept. There needs to be some common sense applied some of the time to D&D and for me the buck stops with your backpack.

The way I see it there are two real issues when it comes to the reality of your backpack: 1) How much can it hold, and 2) How easily you can grab something out of that backpack in the heat of combat. I have had way too many players push the boundaries of what is actually possible in both cases that I’ve had to introduce a house rule when it comes to equipment the first thing that goes into any character’s backpack is a healthy does of reality.

This month Game Knight Reviews wants to know “What’s in *your* backpack?” as part of the August RPG Blog Carnival. I expect we’ll see a lot of posts where people list off their favourite must-have items. Here at Dungeon’s Master we’ve decided to approach the discussion from a slightly different angle.

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