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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard (Week 5)

“Who’s buried in Evard’s Tomb?” During this week’s encounter the PCs learned more about what caused Duponde to shift into the Shadowfell, details of Evard’s Curse and the fate of the Wizard Nathaire. So begins Dark Legacy of Evard, chapter two.

Before we began this week’s encounter I cautioned the players that this chapter of the adventure has five encounters. That means that they have to survive through five battles before they get an extended rest. In most cases they’d have to really pay attention to how many healing surges they used during each battle. PCs with 10 or fewer healing surges couldn’t afford to use more than two per fight. With this cautionary tale behind us we continued.

This week the party at my table consisted of Jarren, an Eladrin Cleric, a Human Druid, a Vryloka Blackguard and a Dragonborn Paladin.

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Book Reviews DM Resources Player Resources

Playing Yourself as a D&D Character

Last week fantasy author Joel Rosenberg died. Rosenberg’s Guardians of the Flame series was my introduction to fantasy fiction. In book one, real world college students become the characters they created when they are transported into their fantasy role playing game. Once inside the game world they realize that in addition to possessing all of the powers and skills of their characters, they still also know everything they did in real life. These characters apply their modern beliefs and values along with rudimentary technology into the game world and become a powerful force striving to make an imperfect world better. As an avid gamer I thought this was the most brilliant premise I’d ever heard the first time I read these books.

The series capped at 10 books, but for many fans the essence of what made this series great ended with book five. Books six through 10 saw the real world character retire (or die) and their children become the focus of the adventures. I’ve read those first five books many times. And even though I’ve read hundreds of other fantasy novels since then I still think that the initial premise of the series holds up. I mean, really, who among us hasn’t imagined themselves as their character at one time or another?

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D&D Encounters Player Resources

D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard – Chapter 1 Video Recaps

During the last season of D&D Encounters we recorded our weekly adventures and made them available as weekly podcasts. This season we’ve got something a little bit different, but no less exciting. In addition to the weekly recaps that we post every Thursday, we’re adding a video component.

The Dark Legacy of Evard video recaps provide a new and different way to be a part of D&D Encounters. Each episode is part session recap, part episodic story. They chronicle the weekly adventures of a large group of gamers playing Wednesday nights at Dueling Grounds in Toronto, Ontario. They also provide a glimpse into the tabletop gaming scene in Toronto.

These videos are intended to entertain as well as shed light on new D&D products and websites. They also offer some insight into why Dungeons & Dragons continues to be such a strong gaming force, still holding universal appeal after so many years.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard (Week 4)

As the party caught their breath following the battle against the two-headed Dusk Beasts from last week’s encounter, two members of the town militiaarrived on the scene. Captain Grimbold sent these men to retrieve the party and bring them to the Chapel of Peace. Brother Zelan, the town’s priest, had something urgent to discus with the heroes.

This week we ran two tables at myFLGS – a table of six and a table of seven. The party at my table was made up of Fargrim, Jarren 1, Jarren 2, Byshir, Dolora, Drenda and a Human Vampire.

When the PCs arrived at the Chapel of Peach they discovered that many of the townsfolk had sought shelter within. They must have gathered there when Duponde shifted into the Shadowfell. Grimbold assigned six of his soldiers to protect the chapel and ensure the safety of everyone gathered there.

Brother Zelan, upon noticing the PCs arrival, welcomed them to the chapel despite the circumstances and quickly ushered them into his private antechamber. Once everyone crammed into the small room the good priest did his best to win over the PCs. He explained that Grimbold told him of their deeds at the Old Owl Inn and at the armory. Brother Zelan was very impressed and knew that these heroes were certainly powerful enough to take on a special (and likely dangerous) task on behalf of the people of Duponde.

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DM Resources

RPG Blog Carnival: Memorable Characters Inspired From Real Life

  • Truth is stranger than fiction.
  • I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t see it with my own eyes.
  • You can’t make this stuff up.

No matter how creative and imaginative we think we are nothing trumps real life. This is why so many popular TV shows feature stories that are ripped from the headlines. This is also a big reason that we’ve seen an explosion of reality TV in the past decade. People want stories inspired by or based on people and events that really happened.

For June’s RPG Blog Carnival, the Dungeon’s Master team wants you to look to reality for gaming inspiration. We’re asking you to create a memorable character (hero or villain) based on a real life person and provide guidelines for how this character might be used in an RPG. Just because we’re a 4e D&D site doesn’t mean that your memorable characters needs to fit within the confines of D&D (although we wouldn’t be opposed to that idea).

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Month in Review

Month in Review: May 2011

May was another great month for us here at Dungeon’s Master. We continued our exploration of racial powers, shared our weekly experiences with D&D Encounters and took a detailed look at divine classes. We also covered monster variety, DM rehearsals, controller powers and a look back at fantasy movies from the 80s. If you missed any of the great articles from May this is your opportunity to get caught up.

And of course the Dungeon’s Master team would like to take this opportunity, as we always do in the Month in Review, to thank everyone who visited our site and commented in May.

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DM Resources

Accepting a Suicide Mission

How often do you know the outcome of your adventure before you even begin playing? Almost never. But, what if you did know the way the adventure was going to end? More importantly, what if you knew – before you ever sat down to play – that the PCs could only achieve victory by sacrificing themselves in the process?

I’m not talking about a typical TPK. This isn’t just a really difficult encounter where the PCs, through bad luck, poor rolls and dismal tactics end up dead. I’m talking about an adventure that’s specifically designed as a no way out scenario. The PCs, and more importantly the players, know at the beginning of the campaign that they won’t be coming back.

This kind of set up makes for a very different D&D adventure. Normally the players assume (and rightly so) that their characters will survive everything that’s thrown at them. No one plays D&D and expects for their character to die. Where’s the fun in that? Well, I’m going to tell you.

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Adventure Hooks Class Discussions DM Resources

Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters (Part 2)

Last week we gave you 10 Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters. Today we add to that list by providing 10 more. As we mentioned in last week’s article, adventure hooks featuring divine characters can be a lot more complex than typical hooks.

The faith of the divine PCs will often dictate which side of the conflict presented in the adventure hooks they land on. It’s up to the DM to decide which side of the conflict will make for the most interesting encounter. Just remember that divine PCs may choose to act in the best interest of their faith even if it’s not in the best interest of their party.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Dark Legacy of Evard (Week 3)

After securing the armory, Captain Grimbold and the rest of the volunteer militia arrived and equipped themselves. Now the townsfolk were armed and capable of defending Duponde from the shadow creatures that were running rampant throughout the city. Grimbold asked the PCs if they would assist the militia and take to the streets, helping the locals and destroying or chasing off any threats that may be lurking in the shadows. The PCs eagerly agreed.

At our local FLGS we again had enough players to run three tables. At my table we had five PCs: Jarren, a Dragonborn Paladin, a Human Warlock, a Human Vampire and a Githzerai Swordmage. This is the first time in about 20 sessions that there wasn’t a leader at my table.

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Class Discussions

Exploiting Racial and Class Powers: Warforged Resolve

Warforged are an unstoppable race. They wade into battle and keep fighting long past the normal limits of other their flesh and blood companions. Their durability bolstered by their racial power, lets them call on their deepest reserves to heal damage, gain temporary hit points and make saves to shrug off ongoing damage. Few other races are as all around tough as Warforged.

Warforged Resolve is a great racial power because it allows your PC to gain temporary hit points as a minor action. If you wait to use the power when you’re bloodied it also provides a way to get healing without expending a healing surge. The fact that it scales as your level increases. makes this power even more versatile. This alone may at first make Warforged Resolve seem like a poor cousin to Dwarven Resilience (which lets you use your second wind as a minor action and thereby spend a healing surge to regain a lot of hit points), but thre’s more. On top of the real and temporary hit points, you get to make a save against ongoing damage when you use Warforged Resolve.

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