When Dungeons & Dragons began, large parties of characters entered the dungeons. When AD&D came along, it was basically assumed that nine people would venture into the dungeon, in a 3 by 3 square. By the rules of the time, three men could stand abreast in a 10-foot corridor. Although D&D was inspired by miniature gaming, it quickly lost the miniatures and became what we … Continue reading Trends of Lowering Character Numbers
We ran this session of The Shattered Obelisk on Monday, February 12, 2024. The party began the session at the great crossroads at the heart of Gibbet Crossing, after killing the lone alpha grick that was there. Listening carefully, they heard rustling sounds to the west. My party is very much of the mind that you shouldn’t leave monsters to creep up on them, so … Continue reading The Shattered Obelisk, session 16
If you want to get me mad about something, take away agency from the players in a situation where they believe they have it. Yeah, it’s the Quantum Ogre. What’s a Quantum Ogre? It’s an ogre encounter that appears regardless of the choices of the party. You ask them, “Left or Right” when they come to an intersection, but both paths lead to the ogre. … Continue reading Left or Right?
If there’s a style of running adventures that a lot of people don’t get, it’s running an investigation. You’ll find a lot of good advice on the net about how to structure them – I particularly recommend Justin Alexander’s articles on “The Three Clue Rule”. But ultimately, what you’re wanting to give is this: A sense of momentum. After every encounter, the players should feel … Continue reading About Running Investigations
On Friday, February 16, 2024, our World of Greyhawk continued with the party exploring a lost temple of Xan Yae at the foot of the Ullspurs. By this stage, it was an underground structure, with indications that the worship of Xan Yae was once more than just as the Mistress of the Twilight. The exploration of the temple had begun with the players defeating bugbears … Continue reading Adventures in Greyhawk – The Lost Temple
During the long history of Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeon Masters and designers have sought ways to make monsters scary. Well, scary to fight at least. Sort of. If you ask people about how combat should feel in the game, you’ll get a bunch of different answers. There is one strand that thinks that fighting is a failure state, and that combat should be incredibly deadly. … Continue reading Fear the Monsters
We played this session of The Shattered Obelisk on Monday, February 6, 2024. The action continued through Chapter 6, and the exploration of the dwarven crypt sacred to Dumathoin’s clergy. The characters started this session looking at a blank wall. The players had worked out it would be opened when they pulled both levers at once, but let’s consider the wall. How out of place … Continue reading The Shattered Obelisk, session 15
Have you heard of Tomb of Horrors? Designed by Gary Gygax for the original Dungeons & Dragons game (and based on an idea by Alan Lucien), it is infamous as a character and party-killer. It was designed to test the skills of D&D players and was the D&D tournament module at Origins I in 1975 – that’s only a year after Dungeons & Dragons itself … Continue reading Classic D&D Review: Tomb of Horrors
Although the main part of our original AD&D Greyhawk game was now over, there was one offshoot of it, and it all came down to my brother’s character, Brunak the Barbarian. You see, Brunak was a Frost Barbarian. He was a long, long way from home. I have this sneaking suspicion that in the early stages we actually said he came from the Wild Coast … Continue reading Memories of Greyhawk Campaigns Past: Brunak the Barbarian
CM3 Sabre River was published in 1984 as a level 18-22 adventure for the Companion Set rules. Unlike the two previous adventures in the series, Sabre River does not use the dominion rules at all. Instead, it’s an adventure featuring a lot of dungeons. It is also it is a mostly linear, story-based adventure. The plot the adventure kicks off with a young boy reaching … Continue reading Classic D&D Review: Sabre River
