Tag: dungeon master

Confessions of a Gamer

Are you proud to be a gamer? Or do you hide the fact that once a week you play Dungeons & Dragons? I’m 34 years old, I’m a gamer and I’m proud to admit it.

I’ve been playing RPGs since I was 10, so 24 years now. And during that time I’ve met many different types of gamers. Most, like me, are proud to be gamers. Others are what I like to call “in the closet gamers.” They loved to play D&D, but would die a slow and painful social death if anyone outside of our immediate gaming group learned this terrible secret.

Tags 4e, Confessions of a Gamer, D&D, DM, dungeon master, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Nerd, stereotype, Wizards of the Coast

DM Resources

Campaign Design: Prevalence of Magic & Cosmology

Post author By Wimwick (Neil Ellis)
Post date March 6, 2009
1 Comment on Campaign Design: Prevalence of Magic & Cosmology

What would a fantasy setting be without magic and divine beings fighting their celestial wars? At this point you have decided which historical and fictional elements to use in defining your campaign world. You are now ready to start fleshing the world out in greater detail.

Tags 4e, arcane, campaign design, D&D, deities, divine, DM, DM Resources, dungeon master, Dungeon Master Resource, Dungeon's Master Resources, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeon’s Master, Magic, magic systems, pantheon, religion

DM Resources

Campaign Design: Historical and Fictional References

Post author By Wimwick (Neil Ellis)
Post date February 28, 2009
6 Comments on Campaign Design: Historical and Fictional References

In the last article we dealt with the Next Steps in campaign design, today we’ll discuss various campaign settings, historical periods, novels and talk about the themes that exist within the fantasy genre. This is my favourite part of design as it’s where you get to really dream about the different possibilities. Make sure you have your notebook handy and any of the Resources that you’ve collected to help you along the way. You’re bound to have more than a few flash insights at moments that you aren’t actively working on your campaign world and you’ll want to jot them down for future use.

Tags 4e, a song of ice and fire, Beowulf, campaign design, D&D, DM, DM Resources, dungeon master, Dungeon Master Resource, Dungeon's Master, Dungeon's Master Resources, Dungeons and Dragons, george rr mart, Glen cook, JRR Tolkien, resource, RPG, the black company, Wizards of the Coast

Class Discussions

Necromancer Paragon Path

black-mage-colour With the launch of Open Grave, Wizards of the Coast have begun to release powers and rituals geared towards Necromancers. They have also announced that the Arcane Powers source book will have a Necromancer Paragon Path. While I’m glad that this is upcoming, I still believe they provided a disservice by not having any specialists in the first PHB.

Building on the Necromancer: Heroic Tier we published a few weeks ago, we now present the Necromancer: Paragon Path, an option for you to play until the official version is released. If you are interested in the Necromancer at the Epic Tier, visit our article about that.

We see the Necromancer as an individual who fights for good but is often mistaken as evil. Just like the early practitioners of medicine in our own world, who dug up graves to study anatomy. A practice that was deemed unethical and morally wrong at the time. The Necromancer is an individual who walks the dividing line of ethical behaviour.

Tags 4e, D&D, DM, dungeon master, Dungeon Master Resources, Dungeon's Master Resources, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeon’s Master, Necromancer, PC, player, resource, RPG, undead, Wizard, Wizards of the Coast, wotc

DM Resources

Campaign Design: Next Steps

Post author By Wimwick (Neil Ellis)
Post date February 20, 2009
1 Comment on Campaign Design: Next Steps

You have decided to design your own Campaign World and you have the necessary resources in place. Now you’re wondering what are the next steps? It’s time to consider how you’re going to approach game design. There are a number of different ways to begin working on your campaign and there are still a few questions you need to consider before you begin. We’ll take a look at several of them.

Tags 4e, campaign design, D&D, DM, DM Resources, dragons, dungeon master, Dungeon Master Resource, Dungeon's Master Resources, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeon’s Master, resource, RPG

Humour

What Alignment Is Your Dungeon Master?

Post author By Wimwick (Neil Ellis)
Post date February 8, 2009
10 Comments on What Alignment Is Your Dungeon Master?

Dungeon Masters Guide Sitting at the end of the table the Dungeon Master planned his next move. If the party burst through the door as was their habit he had a nasty surprise in store for them. Without fail Braddoc the Fighter pushed Ethan the Rogue aside, kicked the door down, and charged into the room.

“Braddoc,” the DM explains, “as you enter the room you are assaulted by the smell of sulphur! Rising out of the gloomy room a large Red Dragon belches out hot flame at you!” The DM was waiting for this moment all night! Grabbing his d20 he rolled his lucky die, come on he thought. Looking down at the die he was dismayed to see a 1 come up. Good thing I roll behind a screen he thought, “Natural 20! That’s max damage Braddoc, this is going to hurt!”

Tags alignment, chaotic, dragons, dungeon master, dungeons, Dungeons and Dragons, evil, good, lawful, neutral