I occasionally think of myself as a “Killer DM” – you’ll find it on my profile at RPG Geek, for instance. However, when you get down to it, I don’t kill that many player characters. The fact is, I’m far more interested in seeing how the story plays out, and it’s hard to have a story when everyone’s dead. Thus, upon hearing my players last … Continue reading The Total Party Kill I Remember Best
Mike Mearls’ “Greyhawk” Initiative system has provided a welcome shake-up in the consideration of the Dungeons & Dragons rule system. It’s a completely optional system, and one that seeks to provide a little more unpredictability and tension into combat by removing the predictable order of actions that is part of the basic 5E ruleset. I’ve now run two sessions with versions of these rules. (You … Continue reading Greyhawk Initiative: Another Look
I recently ran a set of three short sessions using the original Dungeons & Dragons rules. I tried as much as possible to keep to the rules as presented in the original three booklets (plus Chainmail), without introducing any of the material added in Supplement I: Greyhawk or in later versions of the game. It was a fascinating experience. I struggled with using the rules-as-written … Continue reading Original Dungeons & Dragons: The Magic-User
While the upper level of The Sunless Citadel presents a typical dungeon-delving experience, the lower level shifts gears into one of horror. The concept of evil plant-creatures is already creepy, and the body horror of the transformation of Sir Braford and Sharwyn is very unsettling. Belak fits the trope of “mad scientist” quite well, and this section has the adventurers discovering his experiments in the … Continue reading Running the Sunless Citadel: The Grove Level
One suggestion that has been made to me many times is that miniatures are much cheaper if you paint them yourself. Right… There’s just one problem with that: painting miniatures takes time. And quite an investment up front in the paint and brushes. In the spirit of making sure I know what I’m talking about, I’ve spent time over the past few weeks painting the … Continue reading More on Miniatures
In the beginning, when a party of adventurers encountered a group of monsters, both sides rolled a six-sided die. If a side rolled a 1 or 2, that side was surprised and had to stand by while the opposing side got a free round of attacks (or of fleeing, if the opposition looked scary). As the game developed, certain characters and monsters changed the chances … Continue reading The Joys and Horrors of Passive Perception
At my current point in life, I’m finding myself extremely busy with work and with running Dungeons & Dragons, but with very little time to set aside to preparing adventures (or writing reviews or blog posts). I steal what time I can, but I’m not always able to do the preparation I want to. (I’m hoping things get less frantic later this year; there have … Continue reading More on Improvising Sessions
Resurgence is the third part of the first Hillsfar trilogy from Baldman Games, playable as part of the D&D Adventurers League. It is a curious adventure, which while being perfectly adequate, doesn’t quite manage to hit any heights. Its chief problem is that it doesn’t do a very good job of building tension. As this adventure is the climax of the trilogy, the lack of … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Resurgence
My first real experience with a DM was with the adventure Keep on the Borderlands, a classic adventure that many, many players had as their first adventure since it was published with the introductory Basic D&D rules for about a decade. The thing is: it’s not a very good introductory adventure if you’re a new DM. Well, half of it is: the dungeon half. That … Continue reading On Introductory Adventures
The High Moor is a 28-page supplement for the D&D game that offers information on a section of the Forgotten Realms, drawing on information presented in previous books and updating it for use with the current edition and the current date in the Realms. It is nicely written, and gives a good overview of this wilderness area. The High Moor is not known for human … Continue reading 5E Supplement Review: The High Moor
