D&D XP: PC's Want to Know...or do They?

We sit at the game table, sometimes once a week, sometimes once a month, sometimes once a year, but it does not matter.

There is a certain progression we expect from playing this game every week, which comes in the form of experience point and eventually, leveling up.  Everyone wants to level up for a few reasons:  More hit points, better powers, more challenging monsters.

Some people like to calculate their XP using the rules and the XP allocation tables in the Dungeon's Masters guide.  Some people like the roleplay, to be told to level up when it is necessary, not worrying too much about how much XP they are going to get.

Review: The Last Garrison - A Dungeons & Dragons Novel

The Last Garrison, a novel by Matthew Beard is a novel published by Wizards of the Coast in December 2011. This book happens to be the authors' first book.

The story begins in a little town in the middle of nowhere called Haven.  A town protected since the fall of  the Empire by the 'Old Stargazer'.  The Stargazer is a powerful spellcaster who traded his soul for the power to protect the people of the village.

Now his power is fading, the protection of the village is fading and the enemies of Haven are preparing an assault on the populace.

Nergei, servant and adopted son of the 'Old Stargazer', is thrown into an adventure, to accompany 3 other village children; Kohel, Padlur, Luzhon.  The children are taked with taking supplies to the town at the bottom of the hill to hire some seasoned adventurers to help defend the city against the invading force.

D&D Encounters: The Elder Elemental Eye Session 4 - The Sunset Shrine

This week is session 4, and most of the stores should have played the 4th session of D&D Encounters.

Here is the recap of session three:

- 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 of dwarven Ghaunadaur worshipers is responsible for the spreading the plague.

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

- Jakairn, a cultist captured in the same battle, revealed the location of the culr's temple, the Sunset Shrine in the badlands south of Easting.  He might have provided more information on entering the temple.  If half or more of the players

- The trail to the temple was far from sage. Characters had a clash with cultists and a run-in with a couple of drow scouts.

- The adventurers found Sunset Shrine but have not investigates its entrance.

This is what happened this week:

Stuffer Shack: SOTY(Site of the Year Award) Update 5

Another heads' up that submissions are still being accepted for Stuffer Shack's Site Of The Year award and they are doing it in great style.

Prize #5 has just been announced by Tourq Stevens, owner of Stuffer Shack

Benoit from Roving Band of Misfits just announced their contribution to the winner of the SOTY award

See all the information on what Roving band of Misfits is offering here! Read on for additional information.

D&D Encounters: The Elder Elemental Eye Session 3 These Hills Have Eyes

This week is session 3 and most of the stores should have played the third session of this season of D&D Encounters.  I've finally got our group caught up to the third session (we have been playing catch up since Christmas season.).

I will now be briefly recapping our sessions in the following weeks.

Here is the recap of week two:

- The Merchant Council and Lady Bron of Iriaebor hired the characters to investigate rumours of an outbreak of the abyssal plague in Easting.

- A cult of Ghaunadaur, greater god of oozes and aberrant creatures, seems to be responsible for the plague in Easting.

- Characters might have contracted the plague after a battle in the village.

- Jakairn, a cultist captured in the same battle, revealed the location of the cult's temple, the Sunset Shrine, in the badlands south of Easting.

- Insane dwarven cultists attacked the characters in the badlands.

Closet Gamers: Their Friends Think They go to Poker Every Friday!!

I know.  I owe you all a couple of posts.  I have been busy with a lot of things these days.  Good stuff, I hope coming in the next couple of weeks.  Nothing huge mind you, but some tweaks to the site and some information being added.  Loving the year so far.  But enough of me.

I have been endorsing the "Reading an RPG in public" motto that the escapist has been promoting for years.  It occurred to me that there are still people out there that are embarassed to play RPG's in public.

I have had member of various groups tell me later on as we have played together for a few years and tell me that they could not tell their friends they were gaming every Friday night.

Stuffer Shack: SOTY(Site of the Year Award) Update 4

Another heads' up that submissions are still being accepted for Stuffer Shack's Site Of The Year award and they are doing it in great style.

Prize #4 has just been announced by Tourq Stevens, owner of Stuffer Shack

Chaotic Shiny has just announced their prize in the form of free City Builder Generator Pack.

See all the information on what Chaotic Shiny is offering here!Read on for additional information.

100th POST!! - Fifty Things to Celebrate!

It has been an incredibly busy week here at 20ft Radius and lo!  It is my 100th post and to celebrate, I will keep it short and sweet.  This post is just writing down 50 things that I celebrate and am thankful for almost every day of my life and things I would like to do in the future. Here is the list and in no particular order I might add.

Secrets of Eberron - Guest Posted at Dungeon's Master!!

I have recently discovered the joy of the world of Eberron.  For the last 3-4 months I have been pouring through the books  and have not been able to get enough of this rich world.

When I first got introduced to Eberron years ago, I thought that warforged were stupid and ridiculous.  Flying ships. Dumb.

Maybe it was my maturity level at the time, or my non- involvement in the RPG world, but I was not into it at all.  Come to think of it, I was pretty isolated in my little home town.

Things change; times change.  I am now a 100% fan of Eberron.

I have recently been published over at Dungeon's Master.

See my article: "Secrets of Eberron Revealed: Part 14".

Thanks for reading and check it out.

Alton

Stuffer Shack: SOTY(Site of the Year Award) Update 3

Another heads' up that submissions are still being accepted for Stuffer Shack's Site Of The Year award and they are doing it in great style.

Prize #3 has just been announced by Tourq Stevens, owner of Stuffer Shack

DriveThru RPG has just announced their prize in the form of a 50$ gift certificate to their store.

See all the information here!Read on for additional information.

DM Aides: Ideas to Help Run Better Sessions

Have you ever DMed a session and come out of the session absolutely exhausted?  What was the reason for the exhaustion: players questioning every rule, monsters get beaten too easily, or just plain tired from having DMed so long?

For me it is neither of these.  I usually felt this way when I botched encounters, simply because I was overwhelmed with having to remember all sorts of conditions that players had applied to my monsters.

Forgetting conditions on other players was also one of my headaches.  My forgetting conditions such as these often ended what could have been some Epic fights in some sessions.  Whether it is in 3.5e or 4th, I often forgot what went where and how.

Since then, I have learned to organize myself (properly I think and hope), to be able to run session with some form of fluidity and accuracy, to prevent monsters from going down too easily and from forgetting to apply the conditions on the players, giving them a little worry during battles.

I will share with you, some of the tools that I have acquired along the way that have helped me keep myself organized, ready to act and play. Take what you will from it.  I love to share because so many have shared with me.

Stuffer Shack: SOTY(Site of the Year Award) Update 2

Just giving a heads' up that submissions are still being accepted for Stuffer Shack's Site Of The Year award and they are doing it in great style.

Tourq Stevens, owner of Stuffer Shack has just announced the prize #2 for this contest.

Voidstar has graciously donated both the Strands of Fate and the Strands of Power books to sweeten the pot.

See all the information here!Read on for additional information.

D&D Encounters: The Elder Elemental Eye Session 2 - Across the River

This week is session 2 and most of the stores should have played the second session of this season of D&D Encounters.  Here is the recap of week one:

• The Merchant Council and Lady Bron of Iriaebor asked the characters to investigate and outbreak of the abyssal plague in the village of Eastling
• The adventurers found the rumours to be true and Easting in the grip of fear.
• The villager's leaders, Father Evendur and Sir Arveen, gathered the infected in one place but were unsure what to do next.  Arveen, infected herself, wanted to kill the plague victims, but Evendur objected.  They asked the adventurers for advice.
• Before the heroes made a decision, a few of the victims turned into demons and attacked their guardians.  Characters might have contracted the plague after the fight.
• The characters captured one of the villagers, the dwarf Jakairn, alive.  He is somehow in league with the demons, although this fact surprises the village leaders who think the dwarf is a local tinker.

Review: Shadowbane, a Forgotten Realms Novel

Shadowbane, a Frogotten Realms novel by Erik Scott De Bie, brings us back to the story of Kalen Dren, Waterdeeps' own vigilante.  This novel, set one year after Downshadow, brings us to the plague ridden city of Luskan where any semblance of organization and order do not exist.

In a message delivered by Fayne, Kalen rushes to the aid of Myrin, a girl who went out on her own to find her lost memories.  Having lost an apprentice, and lost his faith, Shadowbane must confront his own demons in order to save a city he hates and a woman he loves.

Relentlessly pursued by gangs, caught up with a young idealist who wants to be his apprentice, and stuck in the middle of the plots of higher beings, this novel promises a non-stop read, filled with epic battles, blind love, and misplaced faith.

Read an RPG in Public Week: March 4-10

While checking out the latest information in regards to GM day, I happened to stumble onto a great idea put forward by The Escapist.

For those of you unfamiliar with The Escapist, they are a website promoting advocacy of the game we love the most.

For a few years now they have been advocating to publicly advocate reading RPG books in public places and taking the photos of yourself reading these books in public.

I thought to myself: "Quelle idée géniale!" and decided to participate by:

a. Writing about this awesome sounding idea on my blog site,
b. Taking a photo of myself reading something RPG related,
c. Help dispel the stigma attached to RPG games and gaming in general by helping promote an event such as this one.

A Weekend, a Cottage, Good Friends and DnDNext (Part 2)

Last weekend, my friends and I got together for our annual D&D weekend.  We head north of Toronto, to my friends cottage with 5 others and play D&D for the entire weekend.  This has been an almost annual occurrence for most of us since 2005 or so.  We take the Friday off usually and head back on the Sunday.

Playing all weekend is so much fun, reminding me of the hours we used to play as teenagers in our parents' basements, sometimes until the wee hours of the morning.  Let's just say that I am still trying to catch up on my sleep.

In the last post, I posted some photos of the setup and some of the things I use when I game and DM. This post deals with some of the hard dealings I had with the running of the game.

I came to the realization of a couple of things, changes I would like to see deleted and added for DnDNext...

March 4th: GM Day

Happy GM day to all those GM's who make gaming on a regular basis possible.  


It is easy to be a player, but to be a GM...well it is the only reason we players are able to play.


So a big thank you for putting up with us players and hope you continue to crit us and make us sweat during our games!!!


May your dice roll 20s!


Sincerely,
Alton

D&D Encounters: The Elder Elemental Eye Session 1 - Easting Plague

I have decided to start posting again on a weekly basis reporting on the D&D Encounters again.  I will not however be reporting on the gameplay at my table.  My schedule is hectic enough that sometimes we have to miss some sessions.

My aim for these posts are to:

1. Give the players who may have missed out on a session, the details of the current weeks' session.
2. Possible outcomes and things that should have been done.

Let the game begin.

Stuffer Shack: SOTY(Site of the Year Award) Update

Just giving a heads' up that submissions are still being accepted for Stuffer Shack's Site Of The Year award and they are doing it in great style.

Tourq Stevens, owner of Stuffer Shack has just announced the prize #1 for this contest.

Kobold Quarterly is just one of the many sponsors and has generously donated many cool prizes for this years' contest.

See all the informtation here!Read on for additional information.