Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything has a lot of interesting material in it. As I am far more likely to be the Dungeon Master rather than a player, I thought I might share with you a few thoughts about the new material in the “Dungeon Master’s Tools” chapter. Note that I am deliberately excluding both Group Patrons (Chapter 2) and the new magic items of Chapter … Continue reading A Quick Look at the Dungeon Master’s Tools of Tasha’s
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything has landed! Hooray! I immediately turned to the DM section to see what it could offer me. The answer is rather mixed, but that is to be expected: I am an experienced DM who is rather set in his ways. Advice on Session Zero is not new to me, and I tend not to include puzzles in adventures I design. I … Continue reading Negotiating Desires
The Dungeons & Dragons game is built around the idea of small skirmish combats – fights with no more than a dozen combatants on each side. Of course, occasionally you have lots of opponents, but typically they are there mostly as scenery. One fireball or other area effect spell and they go down and do not trouble the characters again. One thing that the rules … Continue reading Running Chase Movement in Dungeons & Dragons
In the beginning: The original cleric class debuted in the first version of Dungeons & Dragons in 1974. There were only three classes in those days: Fighting Man (Fighter), Cleric and Magic-User (Wizard). The Thief (Rogue) came along the next year with the Greyhawk supplement. The original cleric was good at fighting but initially could not cast spells. Instead, it gained that ability at level … Continue reading The Cleric in Dungeons & Dragons
The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl was published in 1978 as the second of the “Giant” series. It one of the earliest Dungeons & Dragons adventures. Incredibly, to our modern eyes, it is a mere 8 pages, with maps printed on the interior of the cover. The plot of the adventure sees the heroes sent on a mission of revenge against giants that have … Continue reading AD&D Adventure Review: The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
One of the flaws I have seen in Organised Play adventures (such as the D&D Adventurers League) is this: Starting the scenario with a wide-open question and no set goal. For instance, you start in a town’s marketplace. Or a tavern. And the next question is “what do you do?” What is missing here? An immediate goal for the characters! Why are they in the … Continue reading On Opening Scenes of Organised Play Adventures
In 1984, TSR published the second of the Conan adventures, Against Darkness, by Ken Rolston. Oddly, it also proclaims on its title page that Anne C. Gray developed it; I can only imagine that Anne contributed significantly to the adventure. Such a significant credit line is rare in the products of the TSR era! As with the first adventure, Conan Unchained, this is a very … Continue reading AD&D Adventure Review – Conan: Against Darkness!
In Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, the characters are looking for the Sword of Zariel. They learned in Chapter 2 that their holyphant companion, Lulu, abandoned the sword in an alabaster castle surrounded by a red scab. In the early stages of Chapter 3, the amnesiac Lulu remembers where it is. She is wrong. After that, she has divine inspiration and points the characters to … Continue reading Running Descent into Avernus part 11: Starting the Path of Devils
The skill system in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons says only a little about what each skill can do, certainly when compared to previous editions. 3.5E, for instance, was very detailed about what skills covered. However, with that lack of definition comes freedom – and confusion. Especially when one player moves to a different group and discovers that the skill does not do what they … Continue reading Thoughts about Skills in Dungeons & Dragons
I have recently been contemplating the Runequest game, which I find fascinating and challenging to approach at the same time. One of the reasons I find it so difficult is that the stat blocks in the game are long. And there are a lot of them. One of the introductory adventures features the characters defending a town against raiders. And every single raider has their … Continue reading On the Complexity and Length of Stat Blocks
