Category: Player Resources

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Humour Player Resources

Survive a Zombie Attack by Using the Zombie Survival Flowchart

Are you prepared for a zombie attack? Would you be one of the poor schlubs who gets eaten in the first hours of the zombie apocalypse or are you one of those fanatics who is ready for this unlikely, worst-case-scenario? If you’re anything like the team at Dungeon’s Master then you’re probably not going to survive very long if zombies ever rise up and attack humanity.

In case of a zombie attack, be it in your next D&D adventure or in real life, we want you to survive. To ensure that the human race stands strong when the undead rise, we’ve created a flowchart outlining what you can do to survive a zombie attack. Things will no doubt be chaotic when the zombies come for you, so the flow chart only covers the absolute essentials. Good luck!

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Religion

The most common use for knowledge skills is to identify monsters and perform rituals. The knowledge skills tend to take a back seat to social and physical skills during most skill challenges. The knowledge skills are so tightly focused that most players assume these skills have a limited scope. But this doesn’t mean that they have limited uses. It’s up to players to be imaginative and creative.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Diplomacy

After Perception, Diplomacy seems to be the skill used most often in my games. Any time your PC finds himself in a social situation you know that you’re going to end up making a Diplomacy check. But Diplomacy is more that just talking the talk. It’s usually about knowing what to say and how to say it. Your PC’s body language can also have as much of an impact as the words coming out of his mouth.

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DM Resources Player Resources

D&D Party of One: Solo Adventuring (Part 3)

As we continue our look at solo adventuring we shift our focus from tips for DMs to tips for players. No matter how many hours of D&D you’ve played, taking on a solo adventure for the first time is a real eye-opener. Most players find it challenging yet highly rewarding. For players new to the game who may not have tried this approach to D&D, we’ve provided a few tips that should prove useful. We encourage DMs to check out D&D Party of One (Part 1) and D&D Party of One (Part 2) for the flip side of this series.

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DM Resources Player Resources

A Dragon’s Horde of D&D Resources

As players and DMs we love our tools and toys. The things that make playing Dungeon’s & Dragons even more enjoyable. Assembled here is a list of resources that are available on the web that I’ve found of use during my time playing D&D. I won’t pretend that this is a complete list, indeed in some cases I’m directing you to even more lists of great D&D resources.

I hope you enjoy and feel free to point out other items that might be of interest to others.

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DM Resources Player Resources

D&D Party of One: Solo Adventuring (Part 2)

Never split the party. The very tagline of 4e D&D implies that adventures should revolve around an entire party and not one lone hero. But that doesn’t mean that an adventure can’t revolve around a party of one.

In this article we continue with our look at how to run a game for just one PC. In D&D Party of One (Part 1) we explored the ups and downs of combat encounters during solo games. Today we’re going to look at skill challenges and the unique role-play opportunities that solo gaming presents. In D&D Party of One (Part 3) we’ll be focusing on the solo game from the PC’s perspective.

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Class Discussions Player Resources

The Necromancer

The Necromancer
The Necromancer

Necromancy, the study of the Black Arts.

Necromancers study death in a way that few other mortals would contemplate. Motivated by power, knowledge, greed or life eternal, these individuals will stop at nothing in their search for the understanding of life and the secrets it holds.

Our exploration of the Necromancer in 4e D&D continues at Dungeon’s Master. We’re expanding on our initial Necromancer articles and focusing on the motivation behind this often misunderstood class. In our previous examination of the Necromancer we provided powers and resources that you could use in your regular games.

Revised

We’ve recently undertaken the process of updating these articles to balance the powers.

Over the past few weeks we’ve noticed increased activity on these pages and as we enter into October and Halloween draws nearer, this article on the Necromancer is the first of several articles that will discuss the undead and their place in Dungeons & Dragons.

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DM Resources Player Resources

D&D Party of One: Solo Adventuring (Part 1)

When was the last time you played D&D and it was just one PC and one DM? I’d be amazed if anyone can say that they’ve done this since the release of 4e D&D. The changes that accompanied 4e make solo gaming almost too difficult to be practical. That’s not to say that it’s impossible, but it’s a lot more work for a DM to create and run a game with just one player in 4e then it ever was in previous editions.

Some of the most memorable and enjoyable games of D&D I ever played had only one player. It’s an entirely different way to experience D&D regardless of which side of the screen you’re on. As much as I like 4e and as much as I believe it’s a vastly improved system over its predecessors, these improvements have come with some sacrifices. One of those sacrifices is the feasibility of the one player game.

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DM Resources Editorial Player Resources

An Accidental Solution to the Slow Combat Problem

A lot has been said about combat being too slow in 4e D&D. We’ve shared our ideas for Speeding Up Your Game and provided More Tips for Speeding Up Your Game. But over the past few weeks we discovered what I believe is a solution to the slow combat problem: familiarity and cooperation. Here’s how it happened.

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Player Resources

What Do You Look Like?

Describe your character? It sounds like a simple question, but it’s more difficult than you think. I’m not asking you to tell me your class or level; I want to know what your character actually looks like.

Most characters are described by their race, class and equipment and that’s it. But if I tell you that my PC is a Half-elvin Paladin wearing plate armor that doesn’t really give you a good idea of what I looks like.

Imagine that our PCs have never met before but need to meet in a very public or crowded place. All you have is a vague description of me. What kind of details will make your job easier? Knowing that I wear plate armor is helpful if you’re looking for me on a battlefield, but what if you’re trying to find me at a social function? I’m not likely to be wearing armor at all. So what other details will you need?

Most character sheets have a place for race, sex, height, weight, hair colour, eye colour and skin colour. All excellent details that help define your PC. But how much thought goes into the rest of your PC’s description?

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