Tag: Dungeon’s Master

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DM Resources Editorial

I Want Individual Rewards in D&D

Is having a good time reward enough for playing D&D? Hell no! I want treasure and I want XP. I’ve earned it. Gimme, gimme, gimme. I’ll admit that as a player I fall pretty squarely into this camp. Having a good time and socializing with friends is a great part of playing D&D, but what I look forward to most at the end of the session is the reward. And thanks to the mechanics of 4e D&D I’m rarely disappointed.

The rules for rewarding players are so simple and streamlined that I know at the start of the night what I can expect by the end of the night. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing at all. By having some general foreknowledge of what I’m risking my PC’s life for, I’m more strongly motivated to rush headlong into a fight with a dragon or attempt to decipher the ancient glyphs protecting the entrance to the lost treasure trove.

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Month in Review

Month in Review: March 2010

March was a great month for D&D and for Dungeon’s Master. Wizards of the Coast released the Player’s Handbook 3 and they began the new D&D Encounters program. Our article on D&D Encounters (Week 1) was referenced on the Wizards site in their D&D in the News article from Monday, March 22. They also linked to Dungeon’s Master from the Dungeons & Dragons Facebook page. We always appreciate it when we get a shout out from Wizards. For readers who found us through these links, we welcome you to Dungeon’s Master. On the 1st of every month we do a round-up of all the article we published in the previous month. This gives everyone a chance to check out any of the articles that they might have missed the first time around.

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Book Reviews

Review: Avenger

Avenger
(Blades of the Moonsea, Book III)
Richard Baker

A Forgotten Realms novel

Avenger is the third adventure featuring Garen Hulmaster. The Blades of Moonsea trilogy comes to a thrilling conclusion in Avenger. The Hulmasters were usurped from their family stronghold and forced to flee Hulberg at the end of Corsair, the second novel. Avenger picks up a few months later as the Hulmasters are struggling to devise a plan to retake their home. But before any plans can be enacted, the family is struck upon by assassins.

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Class Discussions Player Resources

Death Pact Necromancer

One of the first articles published at Dungeon’s Master was our series on the Necromancer. It started as a way of addressing the lack of specialist Wizards in 4e D&D. As one of our oldest articles, our series on the Necromancer continues to see regular traffic from a variety of sources. The idea of expanding the Necromancer beyond the Wizard class is one that I’ve had for some time now. The Warlock is a natural fit for the Necromancer.

Nothing speaks of a deal for power, as making a pact with death itself. The Death Pact Necromancer does just that, trading their soul for power and a command over death.

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DM Resources Player Resources

Improve Your Defenses With Energy Resistance (DMs Analysis)

I think we inadvertently angered a lot of DMs with our series on items that provide energy resistances. Few players needed our help min/maxing and power-gaming, yet over the past couple of weeks the Dungeon’s Master team made it immensely easier for PCs to find items that will protect them from various energy attacks. Today we’re going to set things right. The final installment of this series is geared specifically at the DM. We’ve analysed the item lists across heroic, paragon and epic tiers and offer some advice to DMs on how to best use energy-specific attacks.

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Player Resources

Improve Your Defenses With Energy Resistance (Epic)

At heroic tier energy resistance is nice to have. At paragon tier it becomes a little bit more important. And at epic tier energy resistance is a must. If a party wants to have any chance at surviving multiple encounters between extended rests then they need to avoid damage, and energy resistance will help you there.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters (Week 2)

D&D Encounters is a 12-part adventure from Wizards of the Coast and it’s played out one encounter each week over the next 12 weeks.

When D&D Encounters (Week 1) began last week I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had a great time playing, but as with any new campaign it took me a while to get to know my new character and it took time to get to know the rest of the party.

This week D&D Encounters (Week 2) was a very different experience. We managed to keep the same party and that made things a lot easier. Now that we’d completed one encounter we were better prepared to move forward. Or so we thought.

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Player Resources

Improve Your Defenses With Energy Resistance (Paragon)

There are going to be times when no matter how high your defenses are you’re still going to take a few hits. Whether you’re the nimble striker who opts for mobility over heavy armor or the defender who marks opponents to intentionally draw attacks away from others, all PCs eventually get hit hard. Luckily there is a relatively easy way to reduce the damage from some of the hardest hits that deal the most damage – energy resistance.

A disproportionate number of powerful monsters deal more than just straight-up, every day, normal damage. Many deal energy specific damage. So when you’ve done everything you can to raise your defenses and you still find yourself getting hit and taking an obscene amount of damage, it’s time to find magic that provides energy resistance.

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Player Resources

Make Your Character More Than Just Numbers

Some players are happy to play characters who are just numbers. Characters defined by their exceptional ability scores, high defenses, big weapons and awesome damage potential. I’ll admit I’ve played a few of these characters myself. This type of PC is alright in the short-term, but for long-term campaigns you’re likely to want more. Put some thought into who your character is, beyond just the numbers.

This extra level of detail is certainly not mandatory, but does pay dividends over time. The enjoyment you get out of playing any character is directly related to the amount of work you put into creating and defining him. If you’re not interested in doing any more than the minimum requirements necessary to get your PC created and into the game, then that’s your call. But if you are interested in really trying to make your PC a unique individual, then we’ve got some resources to help you flesh out your PC.

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DM Resources

I Took The Railroad To The Sandbox And Told A Great Story

At its core Dungeons & Dragons is a role-playing game. When you put aside all the mechanics, character classes and dice rolling the game is about the story. The story is usually narrated by the DM who explains what transpires. The DM is literally responsible for everything the PCs experience. The DM is also responsible for shaping the direction of the story. From planning encounters, designing skill challenges and writing the adventures the DM fills some pretty big shoes.

One of the most important decisions a DM makes is choosing which mode of storytelling they want to adopt for a particular campaign. Do you use existing adventures from Dungeon magazine or Living Forgotten Realms (LFR) modules? Do you create your own adventures and storyline. How much choice will you allow the PCs to have? Will you railroad the PCs down the path you want the adventure to progress in or will you allow the PCs any choice they wish and run a sandbox campaign? Why not a little bit of both?

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