Category: Player Resources

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Editorial Player Resources

7 Reasons I Love Living Forgotten Realms

On Wednesday you had the opportunity to read Buxtehude’s list of 7 Reasons I Hate Living Forgotten Realms (LFR). Today I present the other side of that argument. I happen to love LFR. I like the modular nature of the games. Knowing that every week it’s a totally self-contained adventure gives me the freedom to play when I can and not sweat it too much when I can’t. There’s certainly enough variety to keep everyone interested, whether LFR is your only D&D outlet or it’s just another game on your D&D dance card.

I deliberately did not weigh in on any of the discussion generated from Wednesday’s article. Instead I wanted to wait until I had my chance to run this article. So for everyone who was hurt or offended by Wednesday’s post or for those who can’t imagine how I can support LFR in any way, shape or form, here are 7 Reasons I Love Living Forgotten Realms.

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Editorial Player Resources

7 Reasons I Hate Living Forgotten Realms

Living Forgotten Realms (LFR) is a series of organized game-play sanctioned by the RPGA. The “Living” in Living Forgotten Realms represents a framework for D&D games that allows players all over the world to participate in adventures using the same guidelines. Some people love LFR and others hate it. I happen to fall about as far into the hate it camp as you can get. Today I’m going to share 7 reasons I dislike LFR so much. But don’t worry, for those of you who enjoy LFR, Ameron will be providing the flip-side of this discussion on Friday when he provides 7 reasons that he loves LFR.

I originally wanted to call this article “Why I Hate Living Forgotten Realms: A Terrible Culture of Play” but I thought that might be too inflammatory. I also though it might lead some readers to believe that I’m suggesting everyone abandon LFR, which is absolutely not the case. This article is based on my personal experiences with LFR. It’s “Why I Hate LFR” and not “Why You Should Hate LFR” so keep that in mind when you leave your comments.

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Player Resources

Character Creation Tips – D&D The Next Generation

Think of the most memorable characters that have made appearances at your gaming table over the years. Don’t let this trip down memory lane be restricted to just the characters you played. Think about all of the PCs that have made an impact to your D&D experience. Now assume that many years have past – enough that these characters have settled down and raised families. What is the next generation of heroes like?

I find that creating characters is one of the most exciting parts of D&D. However, creating a character from scratch presents the player with a lot of options. So many that the task can be overwhelming unless you have a good idea of what you want this character to be like before you open character builder. Once you have that initial idea or concept the rest of the process becomes a lot easier.

The next time you and your gaming group decide it’s time to build new characters why not create the next generation of D&D heroes? Think of all the characters that have graced your gaming table over the years. Now imagine what their children are like? You know the parents, how have they influenced and shaped who their kids became?

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Player Resources

Creating A Character Around A Concept

Character concepts come from a myriad of sources. Sometimes we take an idea that is tried, tested and true. On other occasions we branch out and try new builds. Of course loading up Character Builder and looking for the optimal combination of class, race and feats can be a lot of fun and very satisfying.

For many character concepts we draw inspiration for a variety of sources. Whether this is fiction, personality quirks, or mastery of a weapon this single concept can lead to a deep and complex character.

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Editorial Player Resources

The 2010 D&D Open Championship

Last weekend at GenCon a new champion was crowned at the D&D Open Championship. Regretfully it was not us. We didn’t even make it to the finals, which was sorely disappointing. However, we still had a lot of fun playing and a lot of fun preparing for the competition. We like to think of this as a learning experience and want to share our findings with you.

This year’s Championship was an adventure called A Hole in the World. Five level 25 pre-generated PCs, were provided. Each team had to complete five encounters, each encounter with a 45-minute time limit. If you didn’t complete an encounter in 45 minutes you were eliminated. If the party decided to take an extended rest you were eliminated. It was designed to challenge the best and most experienced D&D players and it certainly did just that.

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Player Resources

The Future of D&D Encounters

During GenCon I attended the D&D Encounters seminar. Not only do we have details about season 3, but there’s big news for the rest of season 2. We also have the dates for seasons 4-6 as well as information about upcoming World Wide Game Days through 2010 and 2011.

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Book Reviews Player Resources

Wizards of the Coast: 2010-2011 Preview (Part 2)

Wizards of the Coast shared some highlights of their upcoming release schedule through the next year. We already covered D&D Essentials in our 2010-2011 Preview (Part 1). This installment is for the experienced gamers who want more materials for their existing campaign and characters. We’ll also share the limited details provided about D&D Gamma World. You may want to bookmark these articles and keep coming back throughout the next year to find out what Wizards is releasing next.

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Book Reviews Player Resources

Wizards of the Coast: 2010-2011 Preview (Part 1: D&D Essentials)

Wizards of the Coast shared some highlights of their upcoming release schedule through the next year. Since there is so much coming out over the next 12 months we’re breaking this into two articles. Part 1 focuses on the upcoming D&D Essentials products. Part 2 covers everything else. You may want to bookmark these articles and keep coming back throughout the next year to find out what Wizards is releasing next.

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Player Resources

Adventuring With A Sub-Optimal Party (Part 4)

Strikers are flashy and deadly, cunning and dangerous and every adventuring party needs one. Strikers are the damage dealers of 4e D&D and most parties have at least two of them. Ideally, one striker attacks from range and the other melee. The striker’s ability to dish out a lot of damage keeps combat moving at a good pace and protects the party from burning through too many healing surges and other resources. In short, combat ends sooner when there are strikers on hand. But what happens when an adventuring party doesn’t have representation from this essential role?

This is the fourth article in our series on adventuring with non-standard adventuring parties. Be sure to read the installments on parties without a leader, defender or controller. Our final installment focuses on the absence of the striker in the adventuring party and the adjustments that need to be made by the remaining party members to survive.

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DM Resources Player Resources

GenCon Resources for Players and DMs

In preparation for GenCon we’ve scoured our archives and compiled the most useful convention tips for players and DMs. Of course, most of these tips are suitable for any gaming environment, so if you’re unable to get to Indianapolis next weekend we think you’ll still find this collection helpful.

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