Tag: Wizards of the Coast

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Editorial

Greatest Hits 2009: Psionics Suck!

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 2009. 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.

It takes a big man to admit when he’s wrong, so this is me being a big man – I was wrong. When I wrote the original article Psionics Suck! I did so based on a lack of experience or knowledge of how psionics were to be used in 4e D&D. I (incorrectly) assumed that new classes relying on a psionic power source would be no more than poor imitations of arcane classes with a more mental focus. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Since running the original article and reading the abundance of comments from readers with very strong opinions, I’ve had a chance to see the Psion and the Monk in action. Although I haven’t played either class, or the Ardent (the latest psionic class), I must admit that they have intrigued me.

Wizards of the Coast took the psionic power source and made it unique. It doesn’t behave like the arcane or divine power sources at all. Looking back I’m not sure why I expected it would. The Psion’s Psionic Augmentation and the Monk’s Full Discipline both take the psionic power source and use it in a way that makes sense for those classes. It’s not just reading minds and moving objects without touching them, it’s full incorporation of psionic energy and channeling it to suit each class and role.

By making these classes available through DDI and Character Builder months before their release, Wizards has turned me completely around on psionics and I’m now a true believer who can’t wait for the PHB3.

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Editorial

Greatest Hits 2009: Taking The Dungeon Out Of Dungeons And Dragons

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 2009. 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.

The concept of the dungeon crawl has had a great deal of debate since the release of 4e. The design of encounters in 4e, has changed the nature of the dungeon. Rather than a large, traditional-style dungeon that players explore five feet at a time, dungeons in 4e are more about large set piece encounters. The dungeon is little more than a series of hallways connecting the rooms that drive the plot or adventure forward.

The focus of this article was to debate whether the dungeon crawl could be removed in favour of a skill challenge. The article generated a great deal of discussion amongst the community. Looking back on those comments it’s apparent that the community has a great deal of interest in trying out new concepts. It was also apparent that there is a great deal of passion and debate about how this classic aspect of Dungeons & Dragons should be handled.

Without desiring to launch an edition war, we decided to bring this article out of the archives for a second look. There are a great many concepts presented that we at Dungeon’s Master will be following up on in the new year.

From April 7, 2009 Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Taking the Dungeon Out of Dungeons & Dragons.

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Editorial

Greatest Hits 2009: Keith Baker Answers 13 Questions

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 2009. 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.

Scoring this interview with Keith Baker was certainly a high point for the Dungeon’s Master team. I met Keith at GenCon this past summer and he was a really nice guy. He answered questions about Eberron and seemed genuinely interested and enthusiastic to meet the fans who play in the campaign world he created.

I’ve almost finished reading Keith’s latest Eberron novel, The Son of Khyber (book two in the Thorn of Breland series). I don’t want to say too much yet, but it’s quite good. I’ll post my complete review in early 2010. For those who may be thinking of picking it up, pay close attention to questions 9 and 13 below. If you’re interested in learning more about House Tarkanan then this book is a must read.

Not long after we ran this interview I had the opportunity to meet another Eberron author, Don Bassingthwaite. Our interview with Keith Baker was mainly about the Eberron setting, whereas our interview with Don was more about how he broke into the business. If you enjoy the interview below, I encourage you to check out An Interview With Eberron Author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3).

If you’re a fan of Eberron be sure to check out all of our articles in the Eberron Category. In 2010 we’ll continue with our ongoing series, Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4). The locales we’ve described work best in Eberron, but are easily adaptable to fit just about any campaign setting.

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Top 10

10 Ways To Get Your D&D Fix Over The Holidays

The Holidays are here. Time to kick back and relax with family and friends. Perhaps you’re blessed with a few days off work or a slower paced environment for a few short weeks. As a D&D player your mind will invariably drift to your favourite hobby and how you can get a few more hours of game time in.

My normal gaming group is on holiday hiatus and we won’t reconvene until the new year when we begins a new campaign. It’s actually more of a ressurected 3.5e campaign that’s been given a face lift and fresh legs with 4e, but I digress.

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Editorial

Holiday Dungeon Contest Update

Thanks to everyone who has designed and submitted a dungeon or encounter for our contest. We’ve enjoyed reading all the entries so far.

If you haven’t submitted your entry yet and are worried you might not get it in on time you’ll be happy to know that we are extending the deadline to Tuesday, December 22, 2009. Full details about the contest can be found at the official contest post.

The reason for the extension is that Wizards of the Coast is running a holiday themed encounter contest. We recognize that many of you might be interested in submitting an entry, so we wanted to give you a few extra days for our contest.

Of course you could always double dip. After all, we’re likely to get far less entries here, which increases your chance at winning something!

We thank everyone for their submissions and wish you the best of luck with both our competition and the one being held by WotC.

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DM Resources

LFR Magic Item Treasure Bundle List

Living Forgotten Realms games are great. As a DM you just select the adventure you want to run and download it from the Wizards of the Coast website for free. All the prep work is done for you. All you have to do is read the adventure. As a player you can use the same character at any sanctioned LFR event (provided you are of the appropriate level). You also know that if you complete the adventure you’re in for some fairly good rewards.

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Book Reviews Eberron Editorial

An Interview With Eberron Author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 3)

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Today we complete our interview with Eberron author, Don Bassingthwaite. In this installment Don talks about The Tyranny of Ghosts, the third novel in the Legacy of Dhakaan trilogy, inventing the goblin language and who he would cast in the movie versions of his books.

Although the interview is presented in print and in multiple parts, we’ll make the complete interview available as an audio download in November’s Month in Review article.

You can read all about Don and follow him at his own website DBassingthwaite.com. You can also visit the Don Bassingthwaite page at Wizards of the Coast. It has a mini bio as wells as a list of the Forgotten Realms and Eberron books he’s written. They also provide sample chapters of his recent works for download.

If you missed the other installments, be sure to check out An Interview with Eberron author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 1) and (Part 2).

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Editorial Player Resources

One More Reason that Character Builder is Awesome

A few weeks ago my regular gaming group began a short-term, four week campaign. Our characters started at level 7 and at the end of each week we level up. This gave us a great chance to jump right into some of the new classes and give them a try.

By keeping just below the Paragon tier we’re at the heroic “sweet spot.” We’ve got a few powers and items to choose from on our turn, but we’re not bogged down with so many choices that it slows play. It’s been a fantastic ride (with one more week to go). I highly recommend trying this approach to gaming. But that’s an article for a different day. Today I want to again express my admiration for the character builder.

For the mini-adventure described above I choose to play a Barbarian. And since I had my brand new copy of Primal Power I thought it would be a good idea to try out one of the new builds. The character I made was a kick-ass, dual-weapon wielding, Razorclaw Shifter, Whirling Slayer Barbarian. The problem was that most of the powers I wanted were from the new book, and until today they weren’t available in Character Builder. So I improvised.

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Editorial

Should Players Suffer When PCs Die?

Death. Until this week, I’d never witnessed the death of a PC. It can have serious short-term and long-term ramifications on your campaign. In a world without easily accessible magic to raise a dead PC, death is final. Your guy dies and it’s time to create a new PC. But in most D&D campaigns magic is readily available (for a price) and you can revive a fallen comrade easily enough. Chances are if a PC dies as part of a long-term campaign you’ll bring him back from the dead, but what about a one-off game?

In a recent Living Forgotten Realms (LFR) game I played at my friendly local gaming shop I sat down with six complete strangers to play a level 4-7 adventure. During the first combat encounter one of the PCs was killed. Dead, dead. We had to decide what was more important, making the best in-game, role-playing choice or making the best out-of-game, real life choice.

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Book Reviews Eberron Editorial

An Interview With Eberron Author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 2)

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We continue our interview with Eberron author, Don Bassingthwaite. In this installment Don talks about how much D&D’s game rules impact his writing as well as some of the challenges he experienced when 4e came out.

Although the interview will be presented in print and in multiple parts, when we’re finished we’ll make the complete interview available as an audio download.

You can read all about Don and follow him at his own website DBassingthwaite.com. You can also visit the Don Bassingthwaite page at Wizards of the Coast. It has a mini bio as wells as a list of the Forgotten Realms and Eberron books he’s written. They also provide sample chapters of his recent works for download.

If you missed the first installment, be sure to check out An Inteview with Eberron author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 1).

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