Thursday, May 31, 2012

Recent Changes to the Site

Hey all.  Just a quick post to tell you of a couple of new changes that have appeared on the site.  I have decided this season to podcast the recaps of the weekly encounters sessions.  I will be podcasting all the sessions of Web of the Spider Queen, season 9 D&D Encounters.


Click the following links to access the podcasts:

Web of the Spider Queen - Week 1, and the Web of the Spider Queen - Sneak Preview.

Secondly, I have added a pre-generated characters from 1st to 3rd levels of the original modules as well as some of the characters created by the good gents at Hit-on-Crit.  They were kind enough to let me use their work on the site, so go take a look, they have a lot to offer.


Take a look at the pregenerated page here.

Lastly, I have added a collection of possible great purchases for anyone's gaming table.  From condition arrows, to combat markers, to customized figurines.  Check out The Store tab and buy to your heart's content. I have listed here some of the content of the store.

Thanks for your continued readership and have a great weekend.  

Until next time, have a blast!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Review: Venom in Her Veins - A Forgotten Realms Novel

You know if you have read this blog often enough, that I am a huge fan of most fantasy novels based in the world of Dungeons & Dragons, whether it be Eberron, Forgotten Realms, plain old D&D and even Dark Sun (still not a fan of the world).

I highly respect the authors who take the time to write these books, all the hours they put into them and the numerous revisions and spelling errors they have to catch before the initial release of these novels.  

I thoroughly enjoy most of the novels.  They are neither too deep, nor do they require post-secondary education to understand them (unlike a novel like Game of Thrones) and most do have very enjoyable story lines.  

The novel "Venom in Her Veins" by Tim Pratt is no exception to this rule.  Based on the description of the novel by various sites, I was hesitant to buy the novel, but I said what the heck and bought it, since I had a coupon for 50% off the next Kobo book I bought.  I needed something to read and was not disappointed.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

D&D Encounters: Web of the Spider Queen: Session 1 - The Old Skull Inn

I seem to have started getting the hang of doing something like this.  Here is the podcast of Week 1- The Old Skull Inn of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen.

This week and for the remainder of the season, I will be posting weekly recaps as a podcast, to facilitate my tasks for the week.

I will also be posting the map associated with each encounter below to give you an idea of the layout if you have not played the adventure thus far.

I hope you enjoy them.  Please give me some feedback as to the quality of the audio and the content in the podcast (too much or too little etc.)





Thursday, May 17, 2012

Review: The Mark of Nerath - A Dungeons & Dragons Novel

When I discovered the Dungeons and Dragons novels, I immediately jumped online and bought quite a few of them for my e-reader.  One of the first novels I read was this one (prior to my reviewing books).  It took me awhile to get back to this one but I guess I saved one of the good ones to review.

This novel, by Bill Slavicsek, is one that is set in the world of D&D.  It is his first novel, and I hope it is not his last.  When 4th disposed of releasing Greyhawk and instead invented this world for the players to do with as they saw fit, what other perfect setting for a book such as this one.

This novel introduces the continuing series of The Abyssal Plague.  It is a great introductory novel, introducing us to some of the characters we may love for future iterations of Dungeons & Dragons novels.

Monday, May 14, 2012

D&D Encounters: Web of the Spider Queen Preview


Hey everyone are you all stoked for the new season of Encounters? I am. I have decided to try to showcase this season as a podcast, starting with the sneak peek at the upcoming season.

Please note that the initial 5-10 seconds of the podcast is very loud, so before you play it, please turn your volume down.

Just to let you know that the things I am talking about in the podcast are attached to the post for your convenience.

Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Jeremy Crawford. The Future of DndNext?

I have been following the community and following all the progress of DnDNext.  Ican tell you honestly I was extremely wary, thinking to myself: "How are they going to combine all the forms of D&D together in something that will consolidate all the editions to bring the community together?"

It almost seems like an insurmountable task.  What will they include, what will they exclude?  I like certain things that I know will be excluded, yet they will go on an create this new game.

Don't get me wrong, I love this game.  It has been part of my life for over 25 years.  I have played Ad&d and up.  It helped me survive my childhood with some form of sanity.  Still, I am wary of 5th edition! Why? I think there are many factors that contributed to this. The biggest one in my opinion was the lack of tranparency when  4th edition came out.

All this changed when I viewed The Future of D&D Panel at PAX East - 2012.  I say we vote Jeremy Crawford to be the spokesman for Wizards of the Coast.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

D&D Encounters: The Elder Elemental Eye Session 7

I am trying to catch up with my postings, finishing my courses did not allow me a lot of time to keep up.  I will try to get to session 10 by the end of this week.

The characters are in the Great Shrine area at the start of Session 7.

Here is the session 6 recap:

-The Merchant Council and Lady Bron of Iriaebor asked the characters to investigate rumours of an outbreak of the abyssal plague in Easting.  A cult is responsible for spreading the plague.

-Characters might have contracted the plague after a battle against plague demons in Easting.

-A cultist captured during the same battle revealed the location of the cult's temple in the badlands south of Easting

-The characters found the temple entrance and fought its elemental guardians, and explored some of the temple interior.

-Adventurers might have interacted with captured cultists and/or Malgrym, a prisoner in the temple. From such sources, they might have learned about the Great Shrine and its guardian (a "blue ooze"), the Black Cyst, and the source of the abyssal plague. Ask if the players know anything extra about the temple, and assume the party knows what the players know.