Category: Player Resources

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

First Look PHB3: Skill Powers

Player's Handbook 3It’s been a few weeks since Wizards of the Coast released the latest preview content for the Player’s Handbook 3: Skill Powers. During that time I’ve read over and digested the new information. Overall, I like what I see.

There was a time when I was worried about the direction 4e was going in, but with the recent release of the Dungeon Master’s Guide 2 and the preview content made available to DDI subscribers those fears have been abated. So just what is WotC provided in this latest offering?

“Skill powers are utility powers that you qualify for not based on your class, but by virtue of your training in a particular skill.” In other words more options for you.

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Player Resources

Use Your Daily Powers Every Day

Do you use all of your daily powers every day? If you’re anything like me, you’re reluctant to use them if they won’t yield the best possible results. But how often have you held your daily powers in reserve and then not had a chance to use them? I know this happens to me almost every time I play.

PCs in 4e D&D have numerous powers at their disposal. Encounter powers are tougher than at-will powers, and daily powers are tougher than encounter powers. So if the daily powers are the strongest in you PC’s arsenal why are they not being used more often? By not using your daily powers every day you are, in essence, putting your PC at a disadvantage and are less effective.

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DM Resources Eberron Editorial Player Resources

Keith Baker Answers 13 Questions

keith-bakerKeith Baker, creator of Eberron, took time out of his busy schedule to answer 13 questions for us.

When we ran our early Eberron Campaign Guide review in July, it generated a lot of buzz and a lot of comments. I was thrilled to see that the book’s author, Mr. Baker himself, not only took the time to read our review but offered his 2 cents by leaving some comments of his own.

I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Baker in person a few times during this summer’s GenCon. He’s a very friendly and down-to-earth guy. I sat in on his free-for-all discussion about Eberron and it was well worth it. As you’d probably expect, he speaks of Eberron with remarkable enthusiasm. His insights into the draconic prophecy, resurrection in Eberron and undersea adventuring was awesome.

When Mr. Baker agreed to answer a few questions for us, the team at Dungeon’s Master tried to come up with something unique. We wanted to pose questions that Mr. Baker may not have been asked before or probably isn’t asked that often. We finally decided to just ask the questions that we, as gamers who play in Eberron every week, would find interesting. We hope that you find this Q&A as enlightening and enjoyable as we do.

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DM Resources Player Resources

Your Coin is No Good Here

“That’ll be two gold for the drinks and the meal,” says the waitress as she clears your plates and refills your mugs.
“Here you go, darling” says Braddoc the Fighter as he slides a few coins across the table. “This should take care of the bill along with a few extra for you.”
“Um, thanks,” she says as she eyes the coins awkwardly.
“What’s the problem?” ask Braddoc.
“You have to pay in real money. I can’t take these strange coins.”

Many aspects of D&D are simplified in order to make the game run smoothly. Currency squarely falls into this category. Currency in D&D is typically the same regardless of where you are in the campaign world and what you’re trying to buy. What 1 gp buys in your home town is generally what 1 gp buys in the next town. But if you’re looking to add a little bit of flavour to your next campaign why not treat money in D&D a little bit more like it’s handled in real life?

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Book Reviews Player Resources

Wizards of the Coast: 2009-2010 Release Schedule

Wizards of the Coast shared some highlights of their upcoming release schedule through the next year. I’ve compiled the list for your easy access. Where possible I’ve provided a link to the Wizards of the Coast product description and a link to Amazon.com. If you want to see what the covers of these upcoming releases look like, click though. Some of the products releasing much later in the year do not have links available at this time. I’ll try to keep this page up to date and add the links in as I see that they’ve become available. So bookmark this page and keep coming back throughout the next year to find out what Wizards is releasing next.

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Player Resources

Ameron’s 2009 GenCon Schedule

GenCon 2009 is just a few days away and I can’t wait. Being the D&D snob that I am, my schedule is packed full of nothing but D&D. Since GenCon is all about meeting new people and playing along side them, I invite any of our readers who might happen to have the same games in the same time-slots to join me for some D&D next weekend in Indianapolis. Post a comment below or send me an email so we can arrange to meet ahead of time.

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Editorial Player Resources

The Gaming Jerk

During a recent D&D game at my Friendly Local Gaming Store (FLGS) I got stuck next to a gaming jerk for four hours. Being the nice guy that I am I didn’t say anything at the time, but the more I thought about it afterwards the more I realized that gaming jerks need to be singled out and reprimanded for the good of the game.

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Editorial Player Resources

The Ultimate Character for the Ultimate Dungeon Delve

Next week I’ll be participating in the Ultimate Dungeon Delve at GenCon. I’ve done my homework and I think I’ve come up with the best possible character for the delve. I’ve only got a few days remaining in which to make tweaks and changes to this PC, so I’m asking you – the readers – to give me your input.

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Player Resources

Riding Off Into the Sunset: How to Retire a PC

There comes a time in every campaign when a player is ready to retire his character. Whether because of boredom, the release of a new Player’s Handbook or character death sooner or later every character retires.

There are many different ways to retire a PC. The method that works best for you is determined by the campaign you’re playing in and the conversation you have with your DM. In a 3.5e campaign I played, my character was a Fighter who specialized with the Spiked Chain. He was designed to disarm and trip his opponents. As the campaign unfolded I learned that 90% of our opponents had multiple legs and attacked with natural weapons. All my feat selections and expertise was wasted. I retired the character and brought a new one to life that fit the campaign much better.

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you might retire your PC.

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Book Reviews Player Resources

Review: Divine Power

divine-powerOh my god Divine Power is a very cool book. Although not officially released until next week, I have a copy of Divine Power now. It provides new powers, feats, paragon paths and epic destinies for divine classes as well as introducing new rules for divine domains. If you play a divine PC you need to get this book.

The first four chapters are dedicated to the four divine classes. Contained within each is exactly what you expect: new builds, new powers and new paragon paths. Here are the highlights.

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