I have recently been thinking about why I prefer using Experience Points to Milestones. There are a few reasons, and this article covers my thoughts on the benefits and problems encountered by both approaches. I do believe, very strongly, that there is no one right way, but – in the main – Experience Points are superior for my campaigns. And the reason for that derives … Continue reading Milestones and Experience Points
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is out! And immediately, the main thing some of my good friends have focused on is the difficulty of one of the opening quests. This quest pits the characters – quite likely four level 1 adventurers – against a Challenge 3 opponent. Usually, this would outrage me. I have a low tolerance for narratively-required encounters where there is a … Continue reading How Difficult is “Too Difficult”?
Something present in older forms of Dungeons & Dragons that has not survived into the current edition is the destruction of magic items by various effects the party might suffer in combat. In AD&D and original D&D, when you were hit by a fireball spell, every item you had was required to make a saving throw (with success values determined by a special Item Saving … Continue reading Destroying the Players’ Magic Items
Recently crossing my desk was a copy of Gorgons & Oracles, a Pay-What-You-Want supplement posted on the DMs Guild by Jeff Linehan. As you may have noticed, I do not comment on rules material that much. It is tremendously difficult to judge without playtesting. However, I am very familiar with the proper verbiage, and I do appreciate inspiring material. And, as I have not posted … Continue reading A look at Gorgons & Oracles
My home campaign has continued its quest for the Rod of Seven Parts. With the first part in hand, they discovered the second part was possibly in the land of Ket; which was the place with which their nation was at war and why they were seeking the Rod in the first place! As it turned out, the second part wasn’t in Ket! Instead, it … Continue reading Adventures in Greyhawk – Tsojcanth
Once upon a time, I thought the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide was a great book. However, my appreciation of it has dimmed. I have read the book many, many times in the past few years; this isn’t an opinion based on old memories. The biggest problem with the book is that it often fails to explain how the game works. These days, those explanations are … Continue reading Where the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide Failed
The Surrounded is a one-shot adventure designed to be played with pre-generated characters that should take place over a four-hour session. Set in the Forgotten Realms, it sends a group of four 10th through 12th level heroes on a quest to recover a gold dragon egg from the red dragon that has captured it. It is a relatively short adventure with only a few encounters. … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Surrounded
The second half of Elturel concerns the rescue of Duke Ravengard and the revelation of what the players need to do next. Except, as you have probably guessed, the “revelation” is rather badly handled. The rescue of the Duke is nicely done. Here are the basics of the set-up: Duke Ravengard travelled to the cemetery to discover why there are so many undead there. In … Continue reading Running Descent into Avernus, part 7: Duke Ravengard
The plot of my ongoing World of Greyhawk game revolves around the nations of Ket and Veluna. This was not the intention when I started the campaign in the City of Greyhawk all those months ago. I expected to do a lot of delving into Castle Greyhawk and then bring up a threat from Iuz that the party would have to stop. It hasn’t worked … Continue reading Adventures in Greyhawk: Ket and Veluna
Late Dungeons & Dragons third edition introduced us to one a significant innovation in D&D adventure design: The “Delve” format, which laid out tactical encounters on a one- or two-page spread, including all the relevant information you needed. It became the dominant format of fourth edition adventures. Unfortunately, it was a disaster! It was excellent for its primary purpose: running set-piece combats. When you have … Continue reading The Doom that was the Delve Format
