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DM Resources Editorial

Cat Lord

a-to-z-letters-cI remember it vividly. I was flipping through the AD&D Monster Manual II (still the only AD&D hardcover rule book I don’t own) and there he was on page 22 – the Cat Lord. Something about this creature grabbed my attention and my imagination in a way that few other monsters ever have. I think it was a combination of the name “Cat Lord” and the accompanying picture (by Harry Quinn) depicting a feline humanoid. This monster was majestic in a way that only a powerful hunting cat could be; yet he also exuded a sense of cool sophistication that has always stuck with me. It’s hard to put my finger on an exact reason, but something jumped off the page and into my imagination that has always led me to believe that the Cat Lord is one of the most interesting creatures in Dungeons & Dragons.

Throughout April Dungeon’s Master is participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge is to write a new article ever day in April, excluding Sundays. That’s 26 articles over the course of the month. To make things even more interesting the title of each article will begin with a different letter of the alphabet. Today’s “C” topic is the Cat Lord, one of my all-time favourite D&D characters/monsters.

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Editorial

Board Games

a-to-z-letters-bIn the last year my home gaming group has played less D&D and more board games. At first it was just something to do when we didn’t have full attendance, but now we alternate every week between board games and role-playing games. When you’re playing board games that frequently you need some variety; after all you can only play so many games of Monopoly and Risk before you need to broaden your board game repertoire.

Over the past year or two my board game collection has increased from about a dozen classic games to over 50 games counting the new additions. I’ve also tried numerous games at my FLGS, gaming conventions, and some of the other guys in my gaming group have brought over their favourites. I’d say I’ve probably played close to a hundred different board games in the past year or so. It’s become such a big part of my social life that I’ve even got my wife and my parents to try new games.

Throughout April Dungeon’s Master is participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge is to write a new article ever day in April, excluding Sundays. That’s 26 articles over the course of the month. To make things even more interesting the title of each article will begin with a different letter of the alphabet. In today’s article we shift from D&D to Board Games, our “B” topic for day two.

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Editorial

The Art of D&D (Part 3)

a-to-z-letters-aRole-playing games like D&D are the theater of the mind. The characters and events are only as real as the participants imagine them. For new players this can be overwhelming. After all, in a fantasy setting there are going to be a lot of things that your character should be familiar with but you, as an inexperienced player, have never heard of. This includes everything from exotic weapons to strange monsters. This is why the D&D books have always been rich with art.

The covers of most D&D books depict scenes where heroes battle monsters in some lavish and clearly fantastic setting. This draws you in and gets you to pick the book up (an important first step), but the interior art plays a very important role as well. It’s the interior art that’s going to fill in those blanks we’re talking about. In the original AD&D hard cover rule books the interior art did an amazing job of unlocking the imagination and guiding new players towards the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

Throughout April Dungeon’s Master is participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge is to write a new article ever day in April, excluding Sundays. That’s 26 articles over the course of the month. To make things even more interesting the title of each article will begin with a different letter of the alphabet. In today’s article we return to a popular subject and one we’ve written on before: The Art of D&D, our “A” topic to kick off the month.

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Editorial

Dungeon’s Master joins the Blogging from A to Z Challenge

When we first launched Dungeon’s Master we posted new content every single day for the first month. After that we decided to just post on weekdays. For over three years we posted new content every single weekday. For the last year I’ve been slipping. I’ve tried to post content at least twice a week but even that’s been a struggle some weeks. In April things will change.