Barbarian primal paths have a problem, and that’s the Totem Warrior path. When one ability (the Bear Totem) is so good – gaining resistance to ALL damage except psychic – it’s hard to compete against that. With that in mind, here’s a few notes on the new Primal Paths that are spotlighted in playtest form in a recent Unearthed Arcana column. Path of the Ancestral … Continue reading Thoughts on the Unearthed Arcana Barbarian Primal Paths
Uninvited Guests, the third release of this season of D&D Adventurers League adventures, is a gem. It is one of the most impressive adventures I have DMed over the years. It is designed for 3-7 characters of levels 1-4, and plays in about two hours; it is also a masterclass in how to write short adventures. Short adventures, especially for organised play, are often very … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Uninvited Guests
Dungeons & Dragons is an amazing game. It’s one of the most enjoyable pastimes you can have and, especially for Dungeon Masters, can require varying amounts of your time: from just a couple of hours running a session, to many, many hours preparing, designing and planning your world and future adventures. These days, I typically use published adventures for most of my games. They allow … Continue reading Adventure Complexity and the New Dungeon Master
The second adventure in the latest season of D&D Adventurers League adventures is a treat. The Black Road finds the adventurers protecting a caravan as it travels through the Anauroch desert. Their destination is the Shrine of Axes in the village of Parnast, to which a new statue must be delivered, but there may be one or two challenges along the way that may delay … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Black Road
The Witchfire Curse is an adventure for first-level characters that, at its heart, presents a dungeon crawl, but also presents a story that engages the players and makes it much more than “just” a dungeon crawl. The set-up for the adventure is this: the town of Durgon’s Rest has been cursed and the witch responsible for the curse has fled. Thus, the adventurers are hired … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Witchfire Curse
I’m writing this article in my hotel room at 6 am, with PAX Australia 2016 starting in about four hours. In five hours, we’ll start running the first our D&D Adventurers League games, and thus a very busy weekend will begin. At big events like PAX, where many of the players have never played before, it’s important to have a character sheet that players can … Continue reading Pregenerated Characters for PAX Australia 2016
In a couple of days, I’m going to be in Melbourne attending the PAX Australia 2016 convention. When I say “attending”, what I mean is that I’m organizing the Dungeons & Dragons games we’ll be running there as part of the D&D Adventurers League. Over Friday 4th-Sunday 6th November, we will run a lot of D&D – well, as much as we can fit in … Continue reading Play Dungeons & Dragons at PAX Australia 2016
The Miller’s Stone is the third of a series of adventures set in the ruins of Leilon, a small town in the Forgotten Realms. This is a short adventure, consisting primarily of five combat encounters. About three of the eight pages are stat-blocks. The situation is simple: the nearby mayor of Durgin’s Hold wants the players to retrieve some magical millstones rumoured to be in … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Miller’s Stone
Protectors is a new adventure released on the DMs Guild set in the famous city of Baldur’s Gate. It is a sequel to the Murder in Baldur’s Gate adventure, one of my favourite Realms adventure, and I was very interested to see what the D&D community – in this case, Hillel Genesove – did with the setting. Unfortunately, while Genesove has some nice ideas, there … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Knights of Balduran, Part 1 – Protectors
The exploration of Argynvostholt, a large ruined manor in the heart of Barovia, began under strange circumstances. I doubt many adventurers have explored a haunted mansion whilst the entire population of a village is camping on the front porch! The adventurers had gone to Vallaki to find the wedding dress the Abbot wanted, but they were worried about how Ireena was faring back in Krezk. … Continue reading Running Curse of Strahd, part 5 – Argynvostholt
