Princes of the Apocalypse - Module Recaps

Here is the newest podcast where we talk about some of the modules played during this season of Encounters.  Listen and enjoy!!

Click the link to listen

Here are a couple of podcasts that did not make it to itunes.  

Wrap up Apocalypse

and

Gencon

Recounting Encounters: Etiquette at the Gaming Table

Have you ever been annoyed with some of the things that happen at the gaming table?  Have you ever wanted to tear someone to pieces for some of the stupid things they do?  Here is a little list of do's and don'ts to helping you diplomatically survive D&D.

Click HERE to listen or stream the podcast by clicking the link below.

Recounting Encounters: Shawn Merwin Unleashed!!!

Join us for this special episode of Recounting Encounters where Derek and I have an in depth encounter with the one and only Shawn Merwin, co-writer of this seasons D&D Encounters: War of Everlasting Darkness.

We ask Shawn about his experiences as a writer for this season, tips for the newbies and some of the design strategies involved in undertaking such a monumental piece of work.

Or link HERE to open up an new page.

For additional resources for D&D Encounters you can visit the following pages:

D&D Encounters Insider
D&D Encounters Community Forums
Dungeon's Master
Pregenerated Characters



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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.

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.

Let's Have a Blast!!! Don't Burst my Bubble!!!

DM: OK!  Here is your pre-generated character for your first time playing D&D here at the store.  Thanks for coming in by the way, and hope you have a great time.

Player: Ummm, thanks! This wizard named Jerren looks good, I think I'll play him him!

DM:  Good choice the party actually needs a controller.  They have got good blast and burst powers.

Player: ?????

Presenting Choices in Encounters: Morality and the PC's

I remember playing way back in high school in the good old days - that being 2nd Edition(about 20+ years ago).  We were playing an evil campaign of PCs and I was an 11th level elf wizard.  We were in town to fetch some supplies, stay a few days to rest and then move on.  It just so happens that there were some girls there and we wanted to do them.

While we were off doing our thing the rest of the party went into town to see what was happening.  It just happens that someone recognized some of our party members and reported us to the authorities.  They tried to stop us all, but my character could not escape.  I was fresh out of spells.  So I surrendered.

The hearing did not go well (after they recited all my exploits). After a night in prison, they sentenced me to death by burning and brought me out into the town square and tied me up on a post in the middle of a wood pile covered in oil.

I Used to Have a Home!

This weekend while I was travelling back from Toronto, I was spending the tedious 6 hours thinking of random stuff when all of a sudden - Blammo!!! Whatever happened to adventurers having holds, keeps and castles?

Do RPGs Cater to Include Everyone?

I'm sitting here right now, finishing an assignment for my social sciences course and came across an interesting topic.  Learning modes and how they affect students in the classroom.

I don't know if you all know it, but everyone learns in different ways.  This has been the concern of the ministry of education in the province of Ontario for the last 20 years or so.  The ministry has been advocating the all-inclusive model for students in the classroom.  All students have the right to an education, but not everyone is comfortable with the magisterial way that teachers used to do things in class.

Teachers will try to vary their teaching methods to reach out to every student to keep them motivated in the classroom.

I was thinking that Dungeon & Dragons should strive to imitate same model.

Tactics 101: Aquatic Combat

I love 4th Edition for the simplicity it has to offer.  The rules are easy to follow and learn, play time is simpler (you do not have to reference all the books with the online compendium handy), and roleplaying is encouraged and necessary to differentiate yourself from other characters.

The following post will cover the basics of an aquatic setting and give some tactics to use against some of these monsters.  Aquatic combat has so much untapped potential in the game; there is so little written about it.

Sure, adventurers can teleport to strange exotic places in a heartbeat, travel to different planes and even travel into the cosmos, without anything hampering their way.  Put them in a little bit of H20 and all hell breaks loose.

The DM Cannot Do Everything For You

4th Edition D&D, especially Essentials, has made gaming more accessible to the general population.  No longer is it a game for the hardcore nerds and geeks. WotC has opened the possibility to everyone that just want to come in, take a seat, and just play. However, those that choose to just come in and play still must understand the basic rules of character creation and the general combat rules when playing their characters.

I am frustrated with the lack of initiative new gamers bring to the table.  I can understand if you are a brand new player, who is just trying the game for the first time and want to see what it is like.  I can understand that some people are exceptional learners and have trouble absorbing information from written works.  I can also understand that buying all the books is costly and can really put a dent in your budget, especially if you are a student at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary level.

Character's Character - Magnum Opus & Bam Bam

Magnum: I, Magnum Opus, dish out the hurt!
Bam: Um... Me crush.

DM: In the distance you spot a cave entrance. You can see a faint light flickering inside.  Bam Bam, you catch a whiff of something foul in the air.  Like a combination of rotting food and dirty socks - it's definitely goblins.
Bam: Me smell goblin. Me like crush goblin.
Magnum: I, Magnum Opus, wish to approach the cave.
Bam: Um... Ya, me like crush goblin.  Me need new socks too.
Magnum: ... (looks quizzically at Bam Bam)
DM: OK, you both start walking towards the cave.  The odor becomes stronger; Magnum you notice it now too.  Magnum, you think you see movement inside the cave!
Magnum: I stop.
Bam: I charge!
DM: Initiative, please!

Punitivations: A Cure for Very Naughty Players.

According to the Alton Vocabulary:


Punitivation(Pu-ni-ti-va-tion) is a form of player punitive measures to motivate players to perform at the game table in order to hasten or quicken their turn in the spotlight.


I think every gaming group at one time or another have problems with their players.  Sometimes I wish I could wring their necks and throw them out on the streets.  I am not that type of person.  


I have on occasion, imposed a few motivational punishments (punitivations) in order to try to speed up combat. Here are a few of them that are not too harsh on the players and will perk them up to be ready to act in the following round.

Quick Turn: The Feat Every Player Should Have

Nothing breaks up a night of gaming more than players taking forever to take a turn in combat.  You lose your groove for the evening, especially if combat is dragging on.

"Um? Let me see. Yeah I know. Just a second...(or 20)."

These are just a few of the words that I hear around the table lately and it really is starting to get on my nerves.  On Tuesday last week, we ended up being short two players and the three of us decided to play a pickup game with new level 5 characters.  We rolled them up and started playing at about 8:45pm.  Within two and a half hours, we had almost finished 2 encounters, and a giant skill challenge full of good old roleplaying.  How awesome was that?!!!

Medieval Live Action Theatre: The Apprentice

Ever wondered what people do in Dungeons & Dragons to unwind after a long weekend of dungeon crawling.  Well ask no more!  Welcome to "The Apprentice", starring Fistandantilus as the head wizard.  Come to the High Tower of Palanthas where apprentices from all over the planes would be competing for a glorious position of studying under the Master Wizard.

I was reading the recent post from Dungeon's Master about social encounters and thought a little longer about it and came up with a new idea for those nights where you are missing a player or three. Instead of cancelling your evening for lack of players, you can use this idea to design an evening of skill challenges for your characters that are present. I will describe possible ways to have fun roleplaying this idea into your campaign.

Character's Character - Basics

Ever since I was a teenager I have enjoyed creating characters. Sometimes just by drawing a picture, other times only by writing them up. It has only been for the last 8 years or so that I have had a stable group of people to role with so that I have actually been able to play my characters; before that it was just for fun. Now, it's serious! I know, I know... if you get too attached to your character it can be extremely difficult to accept the "Ultimate Sacrifice" should it fall upon you, but I believe that you are more likely to act in a self-preserving, and therefore, more honest way while in character if you have this attachment.

Over the next little while, I will share with you some of my most beloved characters. I will also pepper the dialogues with my drawings; some old, some new. But first, what is it to play, rather, to be a character? What does it mean to play a role? And how does your role fit in with the Party?

Tactics 101: Flying Creatures

I love 4th Edition for the simplicity it has to offer.  The rules are easy to follow and learn, play time is simpler (you do not have to reference all the books with the online compendium handy), and roleplaying is encouraged and necessary to differentiate yourself from other characters.

There is one thing that bothers me and continues to bother me about 4th edition.  Flying creatures!  I personally find them annoying in combat situations. There are no real tactics to deal with them.  For example, your party will normally be faced with land bound creatures such as orcs, gnolls, kobolds, and within a few rounds your party can eliminate the opposition one by one.

However, you add a flying creature into the fray and all tactics of focusing fire are gone to hell and combat continues endlessly between ranged strikers and controllers (mostly).

D&D Encounters: March of the Phantom Brigade Level 2 Pregens

March of the Phantom Brigade is proving to be the most exciting season of D&D Encounters yet.  What more could we add.  Unfortunately we were not given the level ups of the pregens so today I present the level e versions of pregens.

Here are the level 2 versions of the pre-generated characters for those who have reached this milestone in the campaign.  Even though WotC have not given us any guidelines for the levelling of the pre-generated characters, I have chosen what I thought were good powers for the characters.

The next session all my players will be level two characters and thought I would share them with the rest of the players out there. Don't forget to manually add any magic items you have received.  You can do this by downloading the CB files and modifying them with the Character Builder if you have a DDI subscription, or you can even ask a friend who has a subscription to do it for you.

Continue to read to get the files.

Defenders are the Best Role to Play!

Do you enjoy jumping into the thick of battle? Do you enjoy being a masochist? Do you love to show and tell your battle scars while sitting around the hearth drinking with the rest of your party? Do you love the praise which comes at the end of the battle from the rest of your squishy party members?  Do you like the attention the monsters give you in battle? Do you like to kill things?  Then the defender is the best role to play.

Coming down to the final installment of the description of the roles, we showcase one of the most misunderstood roles in 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons.

DMing Styles

"I would like to introduce Tysylio, a good friend of mine who has agreed to submit some of his work over the course of time to 20ft Radius.  Read a little more about Tysylio in the About section.  I hope you enjoy his work and I look forward to working with him in the future. He is a great guy, so read well..."

-Alton 

The group I play in currently enjoys a Dynamic style of DM rotation. That is, we rotate the DM responsibilities every module. Whereas other groups don't do this; they have one DM, and that's it; a Static style. Another way could be a Static/Dynamic DM, where one person DM's players from 1st to 30th, and then passes the torch.

There are obviously pro's and con's to each method.  Here is a little brain storm of how I see the pro's and con's of each: