Tag: Dungeons and Dragons

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Legacy of the Crystal Shard (Week 1)

legacy-of-the-crystal-shard-coverThis was the official start to D&D Encounters season 16. Last week we played the launch weekend adventure which set the stage for this season, but this week we got into the guts of it. We picked things up seconds after the battle at the gates of Bryn Shander ended. The PCs patched their wounds and took in their surroundings, surveying the damage and trying to get a sense of what would happen next.

This week at Harry T North in Toronto we had another big turnout. We’re running four tables this season and I think that may not be enough. Three tables are running D&D Next, while I’m running a 4e table. A handful of our regular players were absent due to illness, but we filled their seats with two brand new players. The D&D Next groups had six, six, and five players while at my 4e table we ran with four.

My party consisted of the following level 3 PCs: Revenant (Eladrin) Assassin, Dragonborn Cavalier, Tiefling Paladin, and Gnoll Barbarian. Our Halfling Rogue was ill.

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 16 Week 1) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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D&D Encounters DM Resources

D&D Encounters Podcast Now Available One Day Sooner!

It’s fair to say the Dungeon’s Master is one of the most vocal supporters of the D&D Encounters public play program. We’ve shared our weekly gaming experiences every week since the program began and we have an abundance of resources available to support your gaming experience.

A few seasons back we began doing a weekly podcast called Recounting Encounters in which three DMs talked about their personal experiences at the gaming table that week. One thing we often talk about during our show is what we’d do differently if we had a chance to run it again. We realized that this feedback would be a lot more helpful to DMs if they heard it BEFORE they played the session. So we’ve decided to make Recounting Encounters available one day earlier.

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DM Resources Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: No New Magic Items

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From December 7, 2011, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: No New Magic Items.

What if it was no longer possible to make new magical items? We don’t often focus on the magic item creation side of the game; we just assume that somewhere in the background new items are being created. When your PC needs new magical items he can usually got to “Ye Olde Magic Shoppe” and purchase what he needs. But if the supply of new items stopped how would the economy of D&D change and what would that mean for your campaign?

How things play out really depends on whether or not you’re introducing this idea to an existing campaign world where magic used to be plentiful and is about to dry up, or if you’re establishing this as the norm for a brand new setting. If the PCs and other inhabitants of the world don’t know any differently then this is just going to mean a shift in the way your players think about acquiring items. If items have always been rare then the world’s mentality should reflect this. The idea of a party walking around and each PC having 10 or more magic items would be absurd. But if this is a sudden change then the only way to acquire new magical items is to find them in a treasure horde or take them from someone else. Both situations present interesting challenges and both could make for a very interesting long-term campaign.

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Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: Your Coin is No Good Here

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From August 28, 2009, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Your Coin is No Good Here.

“That’ll be two gold for the drinks and the meal,” says the waitress as she clears your plates and refills your mugs.

“Here you go, darling” says Braddoc the Fighter as he slides a few coins across the table. “This should take care of the bill along with a few extra for you.”

“Um, thanks,” she says as she eyes the coins awkwardly.

“What’s the problem?” ask Braddoc.

“You have to pay in real money. I can’t take these strange coins.”

Many aspects of D&D are simplified in order to make the game run smoothly. Currency squarely falls into this category. Currency in D&D is typically the same regardless of where you are in the campaign world and what you’re trying to buy. What 1 gp buys in your home town is generally what 1 gp buys in the next town. But if you’re looking to add a little bit of flavour to your next campaign why not treat money in D&D a little bit more like it’s handled in real life?

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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Murder in Baldur’s Gate – Report Card

murder-in-baldurs-gate-coverWe’ve reached the end of another season of D&D Encounters. Murder in Baldur’s Gate was a season unlike any we’d had thus far. It was a new kind of adventure and it introduced some significant changes to the way the D&D public play program works. Many long-time participants of D&D Encounters were upset that they now had to buy the adventure, but the quality of the product Wizards produced was substantive and quickly won over many of the naysayers.

There were plenty of good things about this season, but there were certainly areas for improvement. Today we’ll look at the season as a whole and go over the good and the bad. We welcome your feedback and want to know if you agree or disagree with our assessment. We also want to hear about anything we missed that you feel was important.

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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Legacy of the Crystal Shard – Preview

legacy-of-the-crystal-shard-coverLegacy of the Crystal Shard is different than any other D&D Encounters adventure we’ve seen so far – and I mean that in a good way. Although it does bear some similarities to previous season and holds true to some of the conventions you’ve come to expect from the D&D Encounters program, it takes a huge leap into new territory as we’ll describe below. My initial impression is that this will either be the very best or very worst season of D&D Encounters; there will be no middle ground.

The adventure itself is part of The Sundering, the ongoing series of stories happening throughout the Forgotten Realms. It’s the second of fives D&D Encounters adventures that tie in to The Sundering, the first being last season’s Murder in Baldur’s Gate. This adventure builds on the events of R.A. Salvatore’s original Icewind Dale trilogy. Although it’s not necessary for the DM or any of the players to have read these books, if they have it will give them with additional insight this season (so read them if you haven’t because they’re fantastic!).

Legacy of the Crystal Shard is presented as edition-neutral and can be run using 3.5e, 4e, or D&D Next mechanics.

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Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: What Do PCs Do For Fun?

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From December 16, 2009, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: What Do PCs Do For Fun?

Adventuring is hard work. You’re always putting your life on the line for fame and fortune. But what do you do when you’ve got some down time? How do PCs relax and unwind? We’ve given it some thought and present a few options for your consideration.

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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Murder in Baldur’s Gate (Week 12)

murder-in-baldurs-gate-coverThe party’s candidate for Duke, Carl the Half-elf Paladin, was invited to speak before the Parliament of Peers during last week’s session. While there he discovered evidence that someone was planning to blow up High Hall and all Members of Parliament with it. At the same time Ravengard had ordered mass executions of hundreds of criminal, many of whom did not deserve a death sentence if any punishment at all.

The PCs had to make hard choices about where to intervene, deciding in the end to split their efforts. Although the some PCs managed to save the Members of Parliament, High Hall was destroyed. The rest of the party successfully freed 300 “criminals” sentenced to death thereby stopping the pubic executions.

We had a packed house at Harry T North in Toronto. We had a table of seven and two tables of six. At my table were the following familiar faces: Carl the Half-Elf Paladin, Dwarf Fighter, Human Monk, Elf Mage, Human Cleric and Warforged Fighter.

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 15 Week 12) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: 5 Ways to Make Mindless Undead More Interesting

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From October 23, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: 5 Ways to Make Mindless Undead More Interesting.

A lot of DMs have a love/hate relationship with undead; I know I do. Whenever I need a monster to round out an encounter I know that some kind of undead will always fill the gap. With so many different kinds of undead to choose from they can easily become the go-to monsters. However, as the party gets tougher I find that I’m less likely to use undead staples like skeletons and zombies. Sure I can adjust their scores to make them level-appropriate for tougher parties but these undead are really one-trick ponies. By the time the party reaches upper heroic tier they know the trick and they’re no longer impressed.

This is why I try to limit how often I use undead creatures in my campaign. Some of the most common undead, at least the ones you’re most likely to encounter in great numbers (skeletons and zombies) tend to be mindless. They rely on their overwhelming numbers rather than any advanced tactics. After all, how can a creature with no brain, or a rotten decaying brain, think at all? This lack of reason makes them boring and predictable.

But undead have their place in D&D and we shouldn’t just cast any of them aside, regardless of the PCs’ level. So in order to make mindless undead more interesting I’ve come up with 5 tips that the players won’t see coming and the PCs will never forget.

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D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Murder in Baldur’s Gate (Week 11)

murder-in-baldurs-gate-coverDuring last week’s session Ravengard declared marshal law in Baldur’s Gate and the PCs learned that the Guild was smuggling weapons from Wyrm’s Rock and arming people in Outer City for “something big” that was going to happen in the next 24 hours. As the PCs were finishing their confrontation with their Guild contact they heard an explosion emanate from somewhere in Lower City.

We had a very full house at Harry Tarantula North in Toronto this week. I ran a table of six while the other two DMs each ran tables of seven. My table had the same six players I’ve had for the past few sessions. The party consisted of a Human Monk, Elf Mage, Human Cleric, Dwarf Fighter, Warforged Fighter, and Half-elf Paladin (Carl the would-be candidate for Duke).

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Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 15 Week 11) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download