Category: D&D

D&D 5E, Design, Initiative

More on D&D Initiative: Weapon Speeds, Teamwork and Ranged Combat

As I’ve mentioned before, D&D combat is not really the most realistic of systems. This doesn’t matter much, because it’s fun! However, with Mike Mearls talking about providing an alternative initiative system, it’s revived my interest in the various initiative systems D&D has used over the years – an abiding interest of mine. Mike’s system, for those who haven’t seen it, requires all combatants to … Continue reading More on D&D Initiative: Weapon Speeds, Teamwork and Ranged Combat

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D&D, D&D 5E, Design, Initiative

A Look at Initiative Systems in Dungeons & Dragons

Combat in Dungeons & Dragons is not particularly realistic. Its mechanics exist to make a good game rather than accurately relate what would happen in a real fight. The current initiative system can be described as a cyclical system. At the beginning of each combat, an initiative roll is made (a Dexterity check) by each combatant. The combatants are then ordered from highest roll to … Continue reading A Look at Initiative Systems in Dungeons & Dragons

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D&D, D&D 5E, Design

Dungeon Exploration: Wandering Monsters and Tracking Time

Dungeons & Dragons began in the dungeon. It’s the form of the game that I keep returning to, because dungeons are cool. They provide an environment that allow the players to make interesting choices, whilst allowing the DM to easily understand their structure. With the release of Tales of the Yawning Portal, we’ve been given seven classic dungeon scenarios to play with. I’m a very … Continue reading Dungeon Exploration: Wandering Monsters and Tracking Time

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D&D, D&D 5E, Review

5E Adventure Review: For the Sake of Shaleigh

Have I mentioned how much I hate monospaced fonts? If you are using them for the main text of a DMs Guild product, you are doing it wrong. Such is the fate that befalls For the Sake of Shaleigh, a pay-what-you-want adventure by D.L.Wilson. Or, to get in to the spirit of it, a pay-what-you-want adventure by D.L.Wilson for characters levels 2-3. The adventure sees … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: For the Sake of Shaleigh

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D&D 5E, Review

5E Adventure Review: Into the Belly of the Beast

Jeff C Stevens’ adventure Into the Belly of the Beast is a wilderness adventure set in a swamp for a party of 5th-8th level adventurers. Having found a map to treasure, all the adventurers must do is get to it. The journey isn’t easy. A swamp goblin village, a hag’s hut, a troll’s lair, and a cave formed from the bones of a dragon lie … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Into the Belly of the Beast

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D&D 5E, Review

5E Adventure Review: Windride Hangover

Windride Hangover is a short adventure for first or second level characters. It also presents the very real possibility of the adventure ending in the first encounter if a key NPC is killed. Discovering the text notes “should Vesryn somehow survive the encounter” and also says “the remainder of the module assumes he survives”, leads me to think that someone hasn’t thought through the logic … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Windride Hangover

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Curse of Strahd, D&D 5E, Design, Play Advice

Adventure Structure: Curse of Strahd

One of the bigger problems with Princes of the Apocalypse is that it has an adventure structure that allows the players to very quickly end up in areas that are far too dangerous for them. However, the story is pushing them towards those areas. What’s the quest? Rescue the prisoners. Where are the prisoners? In a dungeon designed for level 12 adventurers. What level are … Continue reading Adventure Structure: Curse of Strahd

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AD&D, D&D, Review

AD&D Adventure Review: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is the first module of the “C” or “Competition” series of modules. It was originally used (as Lost Tamoachan) in the 1979 Origins tournament, and this module was the first to give a scoring system within its pages. Although most of the previous modules released by TSR had been tournament adventures, this was released to be used as a tournament … Continue reading AD&D Adventure Review: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan

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D&D, D&D 5E, D&D Adventurers League, Review

5E Adventure Review: Tales of Good and Evil

Tales of Good and Evil begins the second series of level 1-4 adventures produced by Baldman Games set in the city of Melvaunt for convention play. Written by James Introcaso, this is a role-playing investigative scenario, where the adventurers are sent by an officer of the law to investigate a number of people who have drawn the attention of the authorities in the unsettled conditions … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Tales of Good and Evil

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D&D 5E, D&D Adventurers League, Rage of Demons, Review

5E Adventure Review: Death on the Wall

The final Tier 1 adventure of the Rage of Demons series for the D&D Adventurers League is Death on the Wall, a two-hour scenario where the adventurers, through a series of unfortunate events, end up being the only ones who can stop the xenophobia, tyranny and madness afflicting Hillsfar. In the previous adventure, Hillsfar Reclaimed, the adventurers stole a set of plans showing the First … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Death on the Wall

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