Tag: Player Resources

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Editorial Player Resources

Giving Hollywood Stars D&D Levels

Have you ever wondered how NPCs interpret your character’s level? Do they look at you any differently when you’re level 3 then when you’re level 8? What about when you reach paragon tier?

Just because your PC has earned enough XP to advance a couple of levels doesn’t necessarily mean that the world will look at you any differently. But as you continue to gain additional levels you should eventually start to distinguish yourself from other adventurers.

Your level represents a wide variety of things about your character. It’s tied directly to the amount of XP you’ve earned, or in other words the deeds you’ve accomplished. It also reflects the amount of wealth and material goods you’ve accumulated. And don’t forget that as you earn levels you’ll acquire power and influences in social and political circles.

Based on these criteria, I’ve taken a stab at drawing parallels between D&D character level and the career successes of famous Hollywood movie stars. I’ve put together a list of some of today’s most famous and popular stars and tried to rank them according to their corresponding D&D level.

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Month in Review

Month in Review: January 2011

We began January with what turned turned out to be one of our most inflammatory articles to date. It created a lot of comments (the most we’ve ever received on any article) and polarized the online gaming community. We also covered a wide variety of other topics in January including the latest DM app for your iPad, action points, henchmen, conflict resolution strategies,adventure hooks, skill challenges, LFR and D&D Encounters (season 3 and season 4).

If you missed any of the excitment throughout January this is you chance to get caught up. Below is a recap of everything we ran during the last month. We encourage you to read any of the articles you might have missed or to revisit some of your favourites.

We want to thank everyone who visited Dungeon’s Master throughout the month of January, with a special shout out to everyone who left us comments. We measure our success largely based on what you, the readers, have to say. We welcome your feedback and encourage continued debate and discussion on every article we write.

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Player Resources

D&D Encounters: D&D Fortune Cards

Included in the D&D Encounters season 4: March of the Phantom Brigade DMs kit was information about the new D&D Fortune Cards. Here’s what Wizards of the Coast provided along with instructions on how to distribute the free cards earned when players accumulate enough Renown Points.

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Player Resources

D&D Encounters: March of the Phantom Brigade – Pre-Generated Characters

D&D Encounters Season 4: March of the Phantom Brigade begins on February 9. Today we’re sharing copies of the pre-generated characters. When comparing these characters with the ones provided over the past three season I have to say that these are by far the best yet.

Not only are the characters built better, but the character sheet layout is fantastic. Finally we’ve got all of the skills actually listed on the character sheet. I was also impressed by the fact that on each character sheet some tactics are provided. This will be a tremendous help for newer players and should speed things up considerably.

Each character also has a difficulty rating from 1-3 stars indicating how much experience is required to easily run each PC. Again, I think this is a fantastic improvement.

One thing that is missing is alignment. I guess Wizards figured that it’s up to the player to determine their own alignment and run the character accordingly.

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Player Resources

D&D Encounters: Keep on the Borderlands Level 3 Characters

Beginning today all characters for D&D Encounters: Keep on the Borderlands have advanced to level 3. Wizards of the Coast encourages everyone to create their own character using D&D Essentials. However, for those players who don’t have the time or resources (character builder) to create their own level 3 character, Wizards has provided six pre-gens.

What Wizards has not provided are guidelines for leveling up the pre-gens. So the Dungeon’s Master team has created level 3 versions of all six pre-gens for your convenience.

You can download the characters individually or all six together in one zip file. We’ve also made the character builder files available for download so that you can equip the pre-gens with any magical treasure they might have acquired during the previous 16 weeks of adventuring.

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DM Resources Player Resources

Running the Combat Part of Combat Blisteringly Fast

Running the mechanical part of combat blisteringly fast allows you to spend more time role-playing your character and describing the action in combat. You’re not trying to get through combat quickly because you dislike it; you’re instead trying to move past the computational elements of the game so that the story-telling can take the forefront.

By focusing on the story-telling your game can become so much more exciting. Instead of waiting for the Warlord to thumb through the PHB to look up his class features (again) you can describe how the Warlord leapt from the second story balcony, dodged a provoked opportunity attack by doing a shoulder roll, toppled the gnarled hag with a low cut to her thigh, then sprung to his feet to stare down into her rapidly dimming eyes.

Below is a list of suggestions that will help you get through the mechanical part of combat blisteringly fast. These instructions are not for the faint of heart, and though some tables may pick and choose from these suggestions to speed up some areas of a dragging combat, only the committed will achieve the supersonic pace described by this article.

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Month in Review

Month in Review: December 2010

During the first half of December we brought you new 4e D&D articles every day. During the second half of December the Dungeon’s Master team took some time off for the holidays and during that time we ran our 2010 greatest hits. With a mixture of new and old articles, readers visiting Dungeon’s Master in December were treated to a lot of great 4e D&D.

On or around the first of each month we collect everything we’ve published in the previous month and make it easily available for all of our readers. This lets you revisit your favourite article from the month before or if you’ve just discovered Dungeon’s Master it’s an easy way to get caught up on anything you might have missed.

Thanks to everyone who visited us throughout December. We welcome your feedback and appreciate it when you leave your comments.

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DM Resources Player Resources Top 10

Greatest Hits 2010: Convention Tips 6 for Players, 6 for DMs

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 2010. 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.

When we were deciding which articles would make the cut and be included as our Greatest Hits of 2010 I kept coming back to the 6 Convention Tips for Players and DMs. After rereading them and I realized two important things.

1) Although the lists were inspired by things I witnessed (or regrettably didn’t witness) at a convention last year, most of these tips are applicable at any D&D game.

2) These tips are just as relevant today as they were when we first published them 10 months ago.

Upon making these realizations I knew that I had to include them in our Greatest Hits. But rather than run them as two separate articles I felt they’d pack more of a punch if they were combined into a single Greatest Hits article.

No matter how long you’ve played D&D or how many times you’ve been the DM there’s always room for improvement. Whether you’re playing a public game at your FLGS like LFR or D&D Encounters, or you’re playing a private game at your dining room table, be mindful of the things I’ve mentioned in the article below. If we all follow these simple rules games will run smoother and things will be better all around.

Playing with a tight-knit and experienced group in my regular weekly home game, we adhere to most of these points. However, I have noticed a couple of these things as big issues when I’ve played D&D Encounters on Wednesdays. Specifically #2) know your PC, and #5) plan ahead.

I realize that most of us are still getting used to D&D Essentials so there is going to be a learning curve on how the powers work. But if you’ve created your own character before the game started then it’s your responsibility to learn what all of the powers do and how to use them. Come on people, the PCs are only level 2 you don’t even have that many powers.

After playing a marathon session just this past Wednesday at D&D Encounters I’m also getting really frustrated by players that just don’t pay attention. First they have no idea when they’re going to act in the initiative (even though they always go after the same person). When their turn comes up they haven’t given any thought to which power they’re going to use. When it’s your turn, if you can’t decide what to do in 5-10 seconds then your default action should be basic attack or double move.

Take a look at our 6 tips for players and 6 tips for DMs and let us know of any other tips that you’ve found helpful at your table in the comment below. By sharing these pointers we all work together to make the D&D experiences a better one.

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DM Resources Player Resources

The 5-Minute Work Day: Blame the Players

Do you want to know why the 5-minute work day is such a big problem in 4e D&D? The players. That’s right, I said it. The players are to blame. DMs are constantly looking for ways to fix this problem and I’m saying that it’s not their responsibility to fix it. Players are to blame and players need to shoulder the burden of fixing this problem.

There’s been a lot of recent discussion on the blogs about how to eliminate the 5-minute work day, referred to by some as the bed problem. In short, the problem is that players want to take extended rests as often as possible and DMs are finding it difficult to come up with good reasons to say no.

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Editorial

How To Return From A Gaming Hiatus In 5 Simple Steps

The life of an adventurer is a tough one. It’s a life full of adversity. Obstacles oppose them at every turn. Monstrous races seek to thwart adventurers at all opportunities. In their quest for riches and eternal glory every task is weighted and considered. Time between adventures is spent honing weapons and mastering skills.

While we as players seek to advance our heroes onwards to even greater feats of strength and bravery, occasionally the monster known and Real Life rear’s its head and stomps its foot down. Be it family obligations, illness or work, occasionally we might miss a prolonged period of gaming.

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