I find that one of the biggest challenges I have when playing in a role-playing game is that I’m working from imperfect information. I don’t know everything that my character would know. I often don’t know the big picture stuff – what are the nations, the names of the rulers, the countries we’re at war with. And I’m even less likely to know small picture … Continue reading Handling Imperfect Information
I’ve started running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist as part of my Roll20/Discord D&D games during the lockdown, but this is the first time that I’m doing so not as a D&D Adventurers League game. As a result, I’m going to be changing things up a bit. The fact is that the first chapter is as about as good as I want an opening chapter in an … Continue reading Running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist – again!
By the time the characters enter Elturel, they should have two NPCs with them: Lulu, the winged hollyphant, and Reya, the Hellrider of Elturel who has been doomed (with the rest of Elturel’s defenders) to Hell. As noted in my last instalment, the reasons for them descending are muddy in the adventure-as-written, but I suggest that they have already learned of the need to gain … Continue reading Running Descent into Avernus, part 6: Entering Elturel
The latest session of my Dungeons & Dragons Greyhawk campaign was the first one of the series that we played on Roll20. We spent the first hour mucking around with the interface, the next two hours negotiating with the djinn, and spent the final hour finally fighting the Wind Dukes of Aaqa! The set-up is as follows: In an expedition to a magical cave, Paul’s … Continue reading Adventures in Greyhawk: Wind Dukes and Djinn
Dungeons & Dragons came from players of miniature wargames. And, in the earliest days, there was an expectation that the characters would become powerful lords and archmages and command territories and armies. The funny thing is that this rarely happened. The origin of the game came from the players assuming the roles of the leaders of the territories and commanding armies, but it dropped down … Continue reading Not a Wargame
Annihilation Hold is an adventure for characters levels 10–16 by Alan Patrick and Jeff C. Stevens. The setting of the adventure is the ruins of an orcish citadel. Within, the heroes can discover many undead orcs and a particularly dangerous artefact. Yes, it’s a dungeon crawl, where the primary motivation is a treasure. A magical treasure! However, calling it a dungeon crawl doesn’t quite do … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Annihilation Hold
It feels like I’ve been waiting for this product for a while. Laeral’s Silverhand’s Explorer’s Kit is a new release from Wizards of the Coast that presents a selection of eleven dice, one double-sided map, and twenty cards with pictures and information about places, people and organisations in the Forgotten Realms. The set also provides two, felt-lined dice trays. The map – I guess you … Continue reading Accessory Review: Laeral Silverhand’s Explorer’s Kit
I’m going to keep this relatively short. I’ve had problems running Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus that began when the characters reached Candlekeep. Some of these are easily overcome. But others require more reworking. Candlekeep’s chief function is to move the characters down into Avernus, the first layer of hell. They have in their possession the infernal puzzle box, and they have a contact: a … Continue reading Running Descent into Avernus, part 5: Candlekeep
Going back through my past reviews, I discovered this one on a defunct website, so I’m reposting it on my main blog. Wizards released Races of Stone in August 2004 for Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition. This review originally appeared on 3rdedition.org, but sadly that site has been defunct for many years. Races of Stone represents a departure by Wizards of the Coast from the … Continue reading 3E Supplement Review: Races of Stone
The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide has many fascinating sections in it. While it often fails to elucidate the rules in a clear manner, it’s nothing if not full of inspirational material for DMs. From glimpses of the sort of campaign that is proposed for Dungeons & Dragons, to manifold tables to help stock dungeons, towns and the wilderness with interesting monsters and … Continue reading Adventures in Greyhawk: Shrine to the Wind Dukes
