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Month in Review

Month in Review: September 2010

In September two topics dominated Dungeon’s Master: the Adventure Builder Workshop series and our coverage of D&D Encounters. These weren’t the only topics we covered but they certainly filled out the month. We also debated the pros and cons of LFR and began our series on the Tomb of Horrors. There was a lot of great gaming advice and lively debate happening at Dungeon’s Master in September. If you happened to miss any of it, here’s your changes to get caught up.

Our regular readers know that we normally publish our month in review article on the first day of the month. We were ready to publish it on Friday, but after reading about the proposed changes coming to LFR based on D&D Essentials we decided to preempt our normal schedule to cover this more timely topic. So without further delay, here are all of the highlights from September.

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Adventure Builder Workshop: Repercussions

According to Newton’s laws of motion, “For every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.” The same can be said of the actions of your players. Every decision that they make, every action they take, has a repercussion.

The village is burning, while rushing back the PCs encounter bandits with villagers as prisoners. The PCs can rescue the prisoners or attempt to save what’s left of the village. There is only time to take one of these actions, which actions will the PCs take and what will be the repercussions?

The PCs can eliminate a major force of evil in the campaign, but killing this foe will leave a power vacuum that other rival factions will seek to fill. Is the devil you know better than the ensuing chaos that will ensue with the death of this foe? If things go from bad to worse and it is common knowledge the PCs are the ones responsible, how will they be perceived by the common people?

This is the final instalment in the Adventure Builder Workshop, based on the seminar at GenCon this past August. To read the complete series view the articles listed below:

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Adventure Builder Workshop: Rewards

Every player likes treasure. From gold, to gems, to shiny magic swords, we love our treasure. Our eyes glaze over as we dream about the perfect item for our character. Players have been known to lie, cheat and steal to keep a larger share of the treasure for themselves. We just can’t help it, it’s in our nature. As a DM it’s your job to dole out those tantalizing parcels of loot to your players.

This is the seventh instalment in an ongoing series about the Adventure Builder Workshop, based on the seminar hosted by Wizards of the Coast at GenCon this year. The previous entries in the series are:

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Adventure Builder Workshop: Allies & NPCs

Your villain has henchman, so it’s only right that you provide some suitable allies for your players. Allies are the useful folk who populate your campaign world, providing motivation, plot hooks and reasons for the PCs to undertake the adventure. Without allies your players would be set adrift in a world full of enemies, constantly looking over their shoulders.

This is the sixth instalment of the Adventure Builder Workshop, based on the seminar presented by Wizards of the Coast at GenCon this year. The other entries in the series are listed below:

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Adventure Builder Workshop: Henchmen & Antagonists

If you’ve started to notice a trend of overlapping topics in the Adventure Builder Workshop series, today’s post will come as no surprise. Henchmen and Antagonists are closely related to the villain and there is bound to be some overlap. However, henchmen and antagonists are separate enough topic that they deserve their own post and place of discussion.

Your players will face off against the villain’s henchmen far more often than the villain himself, so it’s vital that you be prepared. Henchmen and antagonists is the fourth installment in our series inspired by the Adventure Builder Workshop run by Wizards of the Coast at this year’s GenCon. The previous posts discussed:

Today we’ll look at how henchmen and antagonists interrelate with these other aspects of adventure design.

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Adventure Builder Workshop: Location

Movies and television are great for portraying fantastic locations. I can still recall the sense of wonder I first felt when I saw the Argonath while watching The Fellowship of the Ring. With equal wonder I recall the first time I saw Naboo and the massive waterfall that cascaded away from the city. These two scenes fill me with wonder and a sense of adventure. Of course movies and television have the advantage of being primarily visual mediums. As a DM we use words more than visuals, this doesn’t mean we are limited in what locations we portray to our players. We are merely limited by our imaginations.

This is the second in a series that focuses on the Adventure Builder Workshop held at GenCon this past August. The first in the series focused on the villain, today we turn our attention to locations.

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Adventure Builder Workshop: The Villain

Every adventure has a purpose and more often than not that purpose is stopping the villain from completing their malevolent agenda. The central villain of an adventure is perhaps one of the most important design decisions a DM makes. If the appropriate time and effort is put into designing the villain, the rest of the adventure will form around him, creating memories you and your players will remember for years. However, if you don’t take the appropriate time to craft your villain you may find your adventure sessions shallow and lacking a clear sense of purpose.

What was the Fellowship without the evil of Sauron and the One Ring? Sherlock Holmes has Professor Moriarty as a nemesis and Batman has the Joker. All of these villains provided the requisite motivation to keep the hero working towards the success of his quest or mission.

This is part one of a series based on the Adventure Builder Workshop held at GenCon this year. Part one will focus on the villain, what you will receive in this series is a breakdown of the seminar that was led by Rodney Thompson from Wizards of the Coast. Earlier in August I posted a high level review of the Adventure Builder Workshop, what this series will do is go into much greater detail about the individual sections.

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