Tag: DM Resources

Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 3)

Post author By Wimwick (Neil Ellis)
Post date September 24, 2009
3 Comments on Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 3)

The Treaty of Thronehold was signed three years ago. Since then old grievances have festered and grown into a cancerous hatred. Those with a grudge look for ways to eliminate their enemies. Prosperity, of a sorts, has also returned and individuals with extra gold look to acquire unique pets for their own purposes.

In Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 1) we explored the House Sivis Repository and the Tharashk Fields of Blood.
In Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 2) we explored House Orien’s Project Ascent and the Nymph’s Laugh, a unique gambling den run by the Wayfinders Foundation.

In our third installment of Secrets of Eberron Revealed, we look at a rogue faction of House Deneith that is abusing the power of the Sentinel Marshalls. Next, we look at a Nature Reserve on the Talenta plains and the secret the Halflings are hiding.

Discover more Secrets of Eberron Revealed in our latest installments of this ongoing series.

Tags 4e, Blademark guild, D&D, DM Resources, DM tools, Dragonmark, Dragonmarked House, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Eberron, house deneith, House Vadalis, Secrets Of Eberron, Talenta Plains

Month in Review

Month in Review: August 2009

Post author By Ameron (Derek Myers)
Post date September 1, 2009

August may be gone, but it is certainly not a month to be fogotten. We ran a lot of great articles and brought you our highlights and opinions about this year’s GenCon. Dungeon’s Master continues to grow every month and August was no exception. Thanks to all of our readers, especially those who comment regularily. Your feedback helps us improve and often gives us ideas on what kind of articles to write moving forward. So to all of our readers, thanks for making August great and we look forward to providing you with a lot more to read and talk about throughout September. For those who are new to Dungeon’s Master or if you missed some of our articles while you were on summer vacation, here are the month’s highlights. Enjoy.

Tags 4e, D&D, D&D Championship, DM Resources, Dragonmark, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Eberron, GenCon, Month in Review, Ultimate Dungeon Delve, Wizards of the Coast

DM Resources

Your AC Is What?!?

The evenings gaming session is going great. So far you’ve had some great role playing, a unique skill challenge and now you’re entering the first encounter of the evening. The defender charges into combat. The NPC’s turn comes up and you decide to attack the defender by using one of the NPC’s encounter powers. You roll the dice and call out the attack score. This is going to hit you think, only to have the defender calmly announce that you’ve missed his AC by a long shot.

What do you do when session after session you can never hit the defender or when one player min/maxs their character to the point of absurdity?

Tags 4e, character builder, D&D, Defender, DM, DM Resources, Dungeon Master Resource, Dungeon's Master Resources, Dungeons and Dragons, RPG

DM Resources

Snakes On An Airship

The Lyrander airship cleared the Endworld Mountains and cruised above the Blade Desert. The journey from Q’barra was pleasant and the captain expects to arrive at the Boneyard ahead of schedule. A cry from the crow’s nest signals trouble. Riders are seen in the distance. The number of hippogryph’s is astounding. Ridden by Halfling warriors they quickly form up and attack. Three of the hippogryph’s break off from the main force and pass over the deck of the ship. The riders release a crate that smashes on to the deck below, covering it in very angry snakes.

Tags 4e, airship, D&D, DM, DM Resources, Dungeon Master Resources, Dungeon's Master, Dungeon's Master Resources, Dungeons and Dragons, encounter, Indiana Jones, RPG, Samuel L Jackson, Snakes on a plane

DM Resources Editorial

Adventure Tools Through a Different Lens

Post author By Suddry
Post date August 10, 2009
5 Comments on Adventure Tools Through a Different Lens

Unless you’ve been living inside a portable hole you’ve already heard of Wizard of the Coast’s recent release of Adventure Tools. I am the current DM for Wimwick and Ameron and I have to say that the Monster Builder – even in beta form – is a godsend. Sure the beta has its bugs and missing features but it has already saved me hours of prep time. But that isn’t the point of this article. If you want to hear more about the Monster Builder then search the RPGBlogger community for the many informative Monster Builder reviews out there. What I’d like to do here is take a guess (make a wish?) as to what the other lenses of the Adventure Tool main screen will lead us to.

Tags 4e, Adventure Tools, D&D, DDI, DM Resources, Dungeon Master Resource, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons & Dragons Insider, Dungeons and Dragons, Encounter Builder, Game Table, Monster Builder, Wizards of the Coast

DM Resources

DM Tips for Restarting a Retired Campaign

Post author By Ameron (Derek Myers)
Post date July 30, 2009
7 Comments on DM Tips for Restarting a Retired Campaign

After almost a year we are putting our current campaign on hold, and rather than start something brand new we’ve decided to return to a campaign that we put on hold just before the release of 4e. In many ways going back to a retired campaign can be even more difficult than starting from scratch. As I prepare to put on my DM hat and dust off my old notes I’ve been thinking about all the things I need to do to make this transition run smoothly.

Tags 4e, D&D, DM Resources, DM Tip, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, resource, Retired Campaign

Editorial

Staff Picks

Post author By Wimwick (Neil Ellis)
Post date July 20, 2009

We’ve added a new feature to Dungeon’s Master, the Staff Pick. These are older posts from our archives that Ameron and I wanted to highlight. Look for our Staff Picks in the left navigation below our five most popular posts. We’ll update our Staff Picks regularly with articles we think new readers might find interesting and that long-time readers may benefit from discovering again.

Tags 4e, D&D, DM Resources, Dungeon Master Resource, Dungeon's Master, Dungeon's Master Resources, Dungeons and Dragons, Necromancer, playing faster, RPG, speeding up your game

Adventure Hooks DM Resources Humour

The Hangover: The Movie That Begs to Be a D&D Adventure

Post author By Ameron (Derek Myers)
Post date July 8, 2009
9 Comments on The Hangover: The Movie That Begs to Be a D&D Adventure

As a DM, I often draw inspiration for my D&D games from the most unexpected places. This weekend I saw the movie The Hangover and afterwards I realized that the way the story is structured would work beautifully as a D&D game. For those readers who haven’t seen the movie, I won’t present anything in this article that will ruin it for you. The high points that I’m going to cover are all revealed in the trailer.

Tags 4e, D&D, DM Resources, Dungeon Master Resource, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Plot Hook, Skill Challenge, Skill Challenges, The Hangover

DM Resources

Fighting One Monster is Boring

Post author By Ameron (Derek Myers)
Post date June 3, 2009
16 Comments on Fighting One Monster is Boring

As a PC, I’d rather face five opponents than one. And, as the DM, I’d rather throw five opponents against the PCs than just one. This has been my take on combat since my earliest days of D&D. As new editions of D&D got released I kept an open mind and explored the possibilities again, but every time I found the outcome the same. It’s better to have the PCs fight a mob rather than one really tough foe.

I’ve encountered very few gamers (DMs or players) who disagree with me on this point. The number one reason I’ve heard is that it’s boring to fight just one monster no matter how powerful it is. So if no one wants to fight just one monster then it sounds to me like something’s not right with the game. And if that’s the case perhaps we can do something to change that. Let’s figure out a way to make fighting one really tough opponent as much fun as fighting five guys.

Tags 4e, Brute, D&D, DM Resources, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Fighting One Monster, Solo

DM Resources

Rewards Beyond Experience

You’ve just defeated the powerful red dragon. Now it’s time to reap the rewards. As expected, the DM hands out treasure according to the treasure tables and provides experience points. The PCs take an extended rest and then they move onward towards the next challenge. This tried and true system has served us well for years and provides as the primary measuring stick for a PC’s success. Although this is the normal and expected means of progression for the game, there are other ways to reward the PCs beyond heaping new magic items on them or giving them enough XP to level.

Tags 4e, D&D, DM, DM Resources, Dungeon Master Resource, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Medals, resource, Rewards, XP