Tag: Greatest Hits 2012

Greatest Hits 2012: How a Blind Player Improved Our Game

Post author By Ameron (Derek Myers)
Post date December 19, 2012

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2012. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

Describing enough detail for a blind player to visualize in their minds what’s happening in a typical game of D&D is tough. It requires a vivid imagination and a good grasp on the creatures and places in the game. Doing it well requires practice. Unfortunately it’s not a skill that too many DMs or players possess. But that’s changing.

A lot of people have had a chance to delve into this kind of gaming experience through the D&D Next play testing. It encourages quick combat encounters that don’t use a map or minis. It encourages exploration through description and experimentation. In essence it expects you to describe places and actions as if there was always a blind person at the table. You may not have thought about it in those terms but it’s true.

It all comes down to details. DMs should stop making generalizations by giving something a title; instead describe the details. When you tell the players the room has a king-sized bed and a dresser and a table they’ll get that it’s a master bedroom and not a kitchen. So why use the term “bedroom” at all? Just describe the contents and let the players determine the function. The same goes for people and monsters. Don’t describe NPC by race and class; rather describe their attire, mannerisms, speech patterns, smell and personality. Let the players decide if this is a noble, a thief, or an adventurer.

By making the players use their imagination to take in a scene it will open their thirst for details. They’ll ask questions they never usually ask like what colour is the carpet or if they smell incense. When players can’t use their eyes to see a map or a mini they’ll fill in the blanks with the details the DM provides and likely add a few of their own. When this happens it will take your game to a whole new level of enjoyment.

From March 19, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: How a Blind Player Improved Our Game.

Tags 4e, blind, D&D, D&D Encounters, DM Resources, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Greatest Hits 2012

Editorial

Greatest Hits 2012: The Advantages of Using 3d6 Over Point Buy

Post author By Ameron (Derek Myers)
Post date December 18, 2012
12 Comments on Greatest Hits 2012: The Advantages of Using 3d6 Over Point Buy

Most gamers I’ve met like rolling dice. And most gamers I’ve met like to power game. So when you ask gamers if they’d rather roll their six ability scores randomly or assign them and get the most optimized stats possible you’re unlikely to get a consensus. Personally I like rolling 3d6 for abilities. It makes you play the character and not the numbers. In my experience this always makes for more interesting characters which in turn makes the gaming experience more enjoyable.

I’ve found that experienced gamers are the ones who are most open to the ides of rolling their abilities. This could be in some part because they’ve likely played previous editions of D&D where that’s just how it was done, so they don’t see it as a big deal. I also think experienced gamers are more open to rolling their ability scores because they realize that there is something to be said for randomness. They realize that it’s not the extraordinary scores that make your character interesting, but the lower ones. Rolling your stats makes you intimately and immediately aware that a character is more than the raw numbers on the page; something many newer gamers have a hard time understanding.

By rolling your stats you’re more likely to be appreciative of that one good score, even if it is only a 14. And in cases where an ability score is particularity high, say an 18, it’s going to have a big impact on the PCs and the game. In a world where most people have relatively flat ability scores, anyone with an 18 will be truly extraordinary. Just think of how people will treat a guy with an 18 Charisma? This super-Charisma guy is going to be a spectacle for all the right reasons. His 18 makes him special. However, if an 18 Charisma is extremely commonplace, as it is when everyone uses a point buy system, it denies everyone that chance to feel special because they happen to roll something statistically improbable.

I’m not suggesting that we completely abandon point buy; it certainly has its place and serves a practical purpose. But I think that we should all realize that there is something to be gained from trying the 3d6 method of generating ability scores as anyone who has participated in the D&D Next play testing can attest to.

From January 24, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: The Advantages of Using 3d6 Over Point Buy.

Tags 3d6, 4e, D&D, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Greatest Hits 2012, point buy

Editorial Player Resources

Greatest Hits 2012: When the Plus (+) No Longer Matters

Post author By Ameron (Derek Myers)
Post date December 17, 2012

When I wrote this article it was to make a statement about character development. The idea was that having a magic item with a special power you found interesting was more important than whether or not the magic was +2 or +3. But when I reread this article I realized that it’s also a commentary on the abundance of magic in 4e D&D. When we have so much magic in the game it really belittles all of it.

In a game where only one PC has a magic sword (think King Arthur and Excalibur, for example), everyone will look at the item and the character wielding it as extraordinary. But when every member of the party has a magic sword none of them are seen as special. This is compounded even further if all the bad guys have magic swords. Yet this is exactly how games in the 4e D&D world play out. There’s magic everywhere. And with so much choice it’s no wonder that players will overlook some items for the promise of something more to their liking later. Or in the case of the examples I use in this article, the PCs won’t trade up to better items because they’re happy with the ones they’ve got.

Personally I like games that are magic rich. To me that’s D&D. I’ll admit that eventually too much magic can complicate things (as we’ve learned during 4e epic play) but I’m ok with that. On the opposite end of things I’ve played games in low magic settings (Dark Sun, for example) and I’ve realized that this is not something I enjoy. There needs to be some kind of middle ground and I believe that we’re seeing that shape up in the D&D Next play-test packets.

There seems to be a definite shift with D&D Next towards making magic items special again. The mechanics are being retooled so that adding a +1 sword to any character is going to be a big deal. Tack on some kind of additional special property like a fire, lighting, or acid and now you’re really got something unique. I have high hopes that there will be a lot more balance in the distribution of magic items when they land on final rules. If done right, any magic treasure will be coveted and players won’t find that they reach a point where they no longer care about the plus on their item because they’ll just be happy to have any item at all.

From May 29, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: When the Plus (+) No Longer Matters.

Tags 4e, D&D, DM Resources, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Greatest Hits 2012, Player Resources

Editorial

Greatest Hits 2012

Post author By Ameron (Derek Myers)
Post date December 17, 2012

With 2012 nearing completion the Dungeon’s Master team is taking another look at some of our favourite articles from the past year. In 2012 we posted over 165 articles (down from the 250 we’d posted in previous years when we were running new content 5 days a week). This is still a huge number and there are bound to be a few that you missed somewhere along the way.

Beginning today, and continuing over the next two weeks, we’ll dig up those hidden gems that generated a lot of discussion among the gaming community or that we think best represent what we’re all about. It gives us a chance to make sure our newer readers are exposed to our best work and for our long-time readers and subscribers it allows us to highlight a few articles we think you might enjoy a second time.

Each of our greatest hits will include the original article in its entirety, along with a new introduction. In some cases our opinions may have changed since the article was originally published and in others we’re still holding fast to our initial stance.

You’ll have to check out the greatest hits every day to find out which articles from 2012 made the cut and what new insights we have to offer on those topics. Each day, as we run another of our greatest hits, we’ll list the title below and provide a link for easy access. If you don’t think you’ll be able to visit Dungeon’s Master every day between now and New Year’s you may want to bookmark this page so that you can come back in January and see which article made the cut.

Even though we’ll be running our greatest hits for the next two weeks we will provide our weekly recap of the D&D Encounters (week 8.) finale this Thursday and the season report card the following Thursday.

In January 2013 Dungeon’s Master returns to its regular publishing schedule. Be sure to visit Dungeon’s Master regularly for great 4e D&D articles.

Tags 4e, D&D, Dungeon's Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Greatest Hits 2012