Tag: Dungeons and Dragons

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DM Resources Eberron

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 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.

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DM Resources Editorial Player Resources

An Accidental Solution to the Slow Combat Problem

A lot has been said about combat being too slow in 4e D&D. We’ve shared our ideas for Speeding Up Your Game and provided More Tips for Speeding Up Your Game. But over the past few weeks we discovered what I believe is a solution to the slow combat problem: familiarity and cooperation. Here’s how it happened.

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Editorial

Styles Of Play

The traditional style of play for most RPGs focuses on the long-term campaign. A compelling storyline that both players and DMs invest in. It’s a shared experience that develops over the course of months and in some cases years. Typical campaigns require a level of commitment from all involved to attend regular gaming sessions.

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Player Resources

What Do You Look Like?

Describe your character? It sounds like a simple question, but it’s more difficult than you think. I’m not asking you to tell me your class or level; I want to know what your character actually looks like.

Most characters are described by their race, class and equipment and that’s it. But if I tell you that my PC is a Half-elvin Paladin wearing plate armor that doesn’t really give you a good idea of what I looks like.

Imagine that our PCs have never met before but need to meet in a very public or crowded place. All you have is a vague description of me. What kind of details will make your job easier? Knowing that I wear plate armor is helpful if you’re looking for me on a battlefield, but what if you’re trying to find me at a social function? I’m not likely to be wearing armor at all. So what other details will you need?

Most character sheets have a place for race, sex, height, weight, hair colour, eye colour and skin colour. All excellent details that help define your PC. But how much thought goes into the rest of your PC’s description?

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DM Resources

Preparing Red Herring in 6 Easy Steps

Too often in D&D the party’s objective is spelled out and put in front of them without any significant distractions. PCs do require some direction, but it doesn’t have to be spoon fed to them. By giving them a few false leads every now and then they’re less likely to assume that every encounter is part of the bigger story arc.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

First Look PHB3: Skill Powers

Player's Handbook 3It’s been a few weeks since Wizards of the Coast released the latest preview content for the Player’s Handbook 3: Skill Powers. During that time I’ve read over and digested the new information. Overall, I like what I see.

There was a time when I was worried about the direction 4e was going in, but with the recent release of the Dungeon Master’s Guide 2 and the preview content made available to DDI subscribers those fears have been abated. So just what is WotC provided in this latest offering?

“Skill powers are utility powers that you qualify for not based on your class, but by virtue of your training in a particular skill.” In other words more options for you.

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Book Reviews

Review: Corsair

corsair-01

Corsair
(Blades of the Moonsea, Book II)
Richard Baker

A Forgotten Realms novel

Corsair is the second adventure featuring Garen Hulmaster. The adventure begins only a few months after the events in the first Blades of the Moonsea novel, Swordmage. As with any series, it’s helpful to read the books in sequence but in this case that really doesn’t matter too much. The main characters – heroes and villains – are introduced in the first couple of chapters and everything you need to know from the first book is summarized nicely.

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Book Reviews

Dungeon Master’s Guide 2: Skill Challenges

dmg2The Dungeon Master’s Guide 2 comes out today and I’m very excited to have my copy! As there have already been several sneak peaks and advanced reviews, I’m not going to spend time rewriting what’s already out there. Instead I want to talk about something that is important to the team here at Dungeon’s Master, skill challenges.

That there is an expanded section on skill challenges in the DMG 2 is no surprise. Wizards of the Coast knew that there was more work to be done on the subject.

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DM Resources Editorial

What Does World of Warcraft Have To Do With Your D&D Campaign?

Change is coming to World of Warcraft with the announcement of the new expansion: Cataclysm. Whether you’re familiar with WoW or not change in fantasy games can be a good thing.

With the launch of 4e D&D, Wizards of the Coast brought change to the Forgotten Realms by advancing the timeline almost 100 years. This kind of change is pretty major and significant, but what about the smaller changes. I’m not talking about world breaking change. You don’t need to redefine the geography or have the PCs survive an apocalypse. I’m talking about smaller, subtler change to keep things interesting for the PCs.

When was the last time you brought change to your game?

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DM Resources Eberron

Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 2)

War and political intrigue aren’t the only things brewing in Eberron. With the war over, various different groups are looking to profit during the new found peace. Of course developments over the course of the war have led to new barriers and opportunities in the pursuit of wealth.

In our second segment of Secrets of Eberron Revealed we take a look at a plot hatched by House Orien and a gambling scheme developed by the Wayfinders Foundation. In Secrets of Eberron Revealed (part 1) we featured the House Sivis Repository and the House Tharashk Fields of Blood.

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

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