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DM Resources Editorial

Don’t Skip the Slow Parts

Does this sound familiar?

We’re going to skip the next three rooms of the dungeon. There are no traps, no monsters and no treasure. I want to speed things along so we can get to the good part.

I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve uttered these lines a few times when I was the DM and it was repeated just this week at my gaming table by our current DM. It got me thinking: if we’re going to blow past a few rooms or a minor encounter because it’s not deemed important or exciting, then why is it in the module in the first place?

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DM Resources Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Matrix by Class and Race

The core classes and races now span three books: PHB, PHB2, and FR Player’s Guide. I’ve created two skill aides: one lists skill offerings by class, the other lists bonuses to skills and attributes by race.

I developed these to make things easier when creating skill challenges. They provide quick snapshots of all the skills by class and race, and eliminates the need for me to keep flipping between books.

As an added bonus I’ve found these aides incredibly useful when creating characters. They provide side-by-side comparisons of racial bonuses to attributes and skills.

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Adventures

Module: The Spy In Our Midst

The Spy In Our Midst is the second module offering from the team at Dungeon’s Master. This module continues the adventure path started in our first module, The Magistrate’s Daughter. It is designed for first level characters. Playing both modules should provide PCs with enough experience to advance to second level. We hope that you enjoy the module and would appreciate your feedback.

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DM Resources

The Spoils of War

When the fighting ends and the dust settles, it’s time to look at the spoils of war. How will your PC claim his fare share of the reward when the war ends? Your character’s motives for fighting will be the best guide for the DM when he decides how to reward the players.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: History

History is one of those skills that many PCs are trained in but don’t really know how or when to use it. Here are 10 new and creative ways to get more out of History.

The basic assumption is that History can only be used to remember things that happened in the past. Sure it can be used in this way, but this is certainly not the only way to use History.

Eleven of the seventeen core classes can take training in History. Three races have a +2 racial bonus in History. So there is a very strong likelihood that every party will have multiple PCs who count History as one of their best skills. If everyone’s so good in History why isn’t it being used more? Lack of imagination, that’s why.

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Humour

Dice

dice-01aIf you’re like me, you have a variety of dice in all shapes, sizes and colours. Many people, myself included, are very particular about their dice and have many superstitions about them. Let’s look at a few.

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DM Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Challenge: It’s Mine

A retired soldier, down on his luck and in desperate need of cash, recently pawned his dead wife’s wedding band. After coming into a few coins, the result of a lucky wager, he returned to the pawn shop to buy back the ring. Unfortunately the shop was recently burgled and the ring was stolen along with four others.

Setup

  • The PCs are hired by the soldier to recover his wife’s missing ring. He could have a previously existing relationship with the party or maybe he heard of thier heroic deeds.
  • The PCs are hired by the shopkeeper to recover the stolen rings. As a reward, he offers to give them the item they came into his shop looking for in the first place.
  • The PCs overhear the soldiers tale of the missing ring while they have a meal in the local tavern. They take pity on his situation and offer to help.
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Editorial

Worldwide D&D Game Day 2009

gameday2009I spent Worldwide D&D Game Day 2009 at 401 Games, a game store in downtown Toronto meeting new gamers and playing the adventure One Night in Weeping Briar. This was an adventure for five, 11th level characters and was designed to appeal to experienced gamers as well as people trying out D&D for the very first time. Overall, I think it was a great success, but I do have some feedback about Game Day that I’d like to share based on my experience.

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DM Resources Player Resources

Playing Really Smart Characters

So you’re playing a character with a really high Intelligence, a really high Wisdom or both. You, on the other hand, are just an average guy who likes to play D&D. Your real-life Intelligence and Wisdom are probably somewhere between 8 and 11 (I’ll be generous). So how do you make the most of a smart character’s best attribute?

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DM Resources

Split the Party

Generally speaking, you shouldn’t split the party. Sure, it might make sense based on the situation the PCs are in, but it’s a nightmare to play it out. What usually ends up happening is that half the people at the table can’t do anything but watch while their companions go left and they go right. It’s extremely difficult to keep the people not in the “active” group focused since PCs not in the scene can’t offer suggestions or actively participate. When I’m the DM, I do everything I can to discourage splitting up.

But an interesting thing happened this weekend during my Sunday night game. We split up and it worked spectacularly. My hat is off to Suddry, that evening’s DM, for taking a usually disastrous situation and making it one of the most memorable nights of D&D we’ve had in a long time. Here’s how it played out and what we learned from it.

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