Tag: Dungeon’s Master

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Player Resources

Using Rituals In Skill Challenges

circleStonehengeIf your gaming group is anything like mine, rituals are the most under utilized aspect of 4e. Since the release of the newest edition of D&D, I’m not sure if one of our PCs has ever used a ritual. For me, this is because I’ve played PCs who aren’t trained in ritual casting for our long term games. When I have played PCs who have the feat, it’s been for one-off Dungeon Delves, which don’t normally require the use of rituals to progress through to the end.

Recently I’ve been considering skill challenges from the perspective of a PC and how players can make skill challenges more fun for themselves. You can only make so many Diplomacy or Perception checks before you start getting bored. If your PC is heavy on knowledge skills you may find that you have nothing to do or don’t feel qualified to fully participate in the majority of skill challenges. So you settle with assisting those PCs who are trained in the relevant skills.

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Book Reviews Eberron Editorial

An Interview With Eberron Author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 3)

don-bassingthwaite-a

Today we complete our interview with Eberron author, Don Bassingthwaite. In this installment Don talks about The Tyranny of Ghosts, the third novel in the Legacy of Dhakaan trilogy, inventing the goblin language and who he would cast in the movie versions of his books.

Although the interview is presented in print and in multiple parts, we’ll make the complete interview available as an audio download in November’s Month in Review article.

You can read all about Don and follow him at his own website DBassingthwaite.com. You can also visit the Don Bassingthwaite page at Wizards of the Coast. It has a mini bio as wells as a list of the Forgotten Realms and Eberron books he’s written. They also provide sample chapters of his recent works for download.

If you missed the other installments, be sure to check out An Interview with Eberron author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 1) and (Part 2).

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Player Resources Top 10

10 Reminders for All D&D Players

During a recent game I took note of all the things the players at my gaming table, me included, could be doing better or doing differently. What I came up with was a list of general reminders that all players should review. Most of these are common sense kind of reminders, but I’m amazed at how often PCs forget to do the most obvious things. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to the game or the most experienced player in the room, everyone benefits from a quick refresher.

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Editorial Player Resources

One More Reason that Character Builder is Awesome

A few weeks ago my regular gaming group began a short-term, four week campaign. Our characters started at level 7 and at the end of each week we level up. This gave us a great chance to jump right into some of the new classes and give them a try.

By keeping just below the Paragon tier we’re at the heroic “sweet spot.” We’ve got a few powers and items to choose from on our turn, but we’re not bogged down with so many choices that it slows play. It’s been a fantastic ride (with one more week to go). I highly recommend trying this approach to gaming. But that’s an article for a different day. Today I want to again express my admiration for the character builder.

For the mini-adventure described above I choose to play a Barbarian. And since I had my brand new copy of Primal Power I thought it would be a good idea to try out one of the new builds. The character I made was a kick-ass, dual-weapon wielding, Razorclaw Shifter, Whirling Slayer Barbarian. The problem was that most of the powers I wanted were from the new book, and until today they weren’t available in Character Builder. So I improvised.

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Class Discussions

Necromancer: Epic Tier (Revised)

female necromancerThis is the third and final part of our revised Necromancer powers. Although few players seem to be playing the Epic Tier regularily, there are opportunities for one-off adventures where you can use these powers to try something different. Our goal is to provide options for those who enjoy the Wizard class and want to add a Necromantic feel.

Once again a big thanks to Wyatt from Spirits of Eden for his feedback and providing the motivation to update these articles. If you would like to see more powers and options for the Necromancer visit some of our previous articles on the subject.

Revised Articles

Original Articles

If you’ve enjoyed these articles on the Necromancer and are looking for more then return to Dungeon’s Master in December when we’ll present new and original takes on the Necromancer.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Streetwise

Streetwise can be more than knowing where to go, who to talk to and what to look for in an urban setting. The most common use for Streetwise is to gather information, but that’s certainly not the only way to use this skill. A clever DM can launch an entire quest beginning with a simple Streetwise check. The PCs may overhear a careless word at the tavern, a trader’s rumours in the market or the vain words of a noble. Streetwise may garnish information but determining its reliability is another matter all together.

PCs trained in Streetwise should have a clear advantage over those who don’t (in addition to the +5 bonus). If the player has provided a clever back-story for how the PC gained training in Streetwise, the DM may decide that certain avenues of exploration are easier than usual to that PC in certain circumstances. The exact nature of any additional fringe benefits is left up to the player and the DM to decide.

As with all skills, Streetwise is only limited by the player’s imagination. If you’re having trouble coming up ideas on how to use Streetwise creatively, here are 10 suggestions that you may find useful.

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Editorial

Should Players Suffer When PCs Die?

Death. Until this week, I’d never witnessed the death of a PC. It can have serious short-term and long-term ramifications on your campaign. In a world without easily accessible magic to raise a dead PC, death is final. Your guy dies and it’s time to create a new PC. But in most D&D campaigns magic is readily available (for a price) and you can revive a fallen comrade easily enough. Chances are if a PC dies as part of a long-term campaign you’ll bring him back from the dead, but what about a one-off game?

In a recent Living Forgotten Realms (LFR) game I played at my friendly local gaming shop I sat down with six complete strangers to play a level 4-7 adventure. During the first combat encounter one of the PCs was killed. Dead, dead. We had to decide what was more important, making the best in-game, role-playing choice or making the best out-of-game, real life choice.

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Book Reviews Eberron Editorial

An Interview With Eberron Author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 2)

don-bassingthwaite-a

We continue our interview with Eberron author, Don Bassingthwaite. In this installment Don talks about how much D&D’s game rules impact his writing as well as some of the challenges he experienced when 4e came out.

Although the interview will be presented in print and in multiple parts, when we’re finished we’ll make the complete interview available as an audio download.

You can read all about Don and follow him at his own website DBassingthwaite.com. You can also visit the Don Bassingthwaite page at Wizards of the Coast. It has a mini bio as wells as a list of the Forgotten Realms and Eberron books he’s written. They also provide sample chapters of his recent works for download.

If you missed the first installment, be sure to check out An Inteview with Eberron author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 1).

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Class Discussions Player Resources

Necromancer: Paragon Path (revised)

We continue our reimaging of the Necromancer with this update of a Paragon Path for wizards. Perhaps I’m the only one, but I miss the old specialist wizards of previous editions. This revision results from reader feedback and a desire to provide the community with a more workable version of the Necromancer.

Once again I’d like to thank Wyatt of Spirits of Eden for his suggestions to provide more balance to this paragon path. You can read more on our thoughts on the Necromancer and our previous versions of the class. We hope to have a revised version of the Epic Tier in the next few weeks.

Revised Articles

Original Articles

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Nature

Nature, like all the knowledge skills in 4e D&D, encompasses a great amount of information. Its scope is quite broad and its use is often limited only by the PC’s imagination. Here are 10 new and creative ways to use Nature.

Knowledge skills can be used for more than just monster knowledge checks. This is certainly a very useful feature of the skill, but its use shouldn’t end there. During skill challenges, Nature can often be used to assist other skills depending on the circumstance.

The Druid, Ranger, Shaman and Warden all receive automatically training in Nature. The Barbarian, Bard, Sorcerer and Wizard have it as an optional choice. Nature may not be the most common skill, but there’s a pretty good chance that someone in the party will have a good Nature check.

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