Example: Finding the hidden chambers from Halaster’s Last Apprentice
(Part 6 of a series, which begins with Evolution of the skill challenge.) The first D&D Encounters season, Halaster’s Last Apprentice, included a skill challenge that works perfectly within the...
View ArticleRiding the power curve through D&D’s editions
(This post continues a discussion I started in “What does D&D have to do with ironclad ships?”) In the very first set of Dungeons & Dragons (1974) rules, every weapon dealt 1d6 damage. Short of...
View ArticleBounded accuracy and matters of taste
(This post continues a discussion I started in “What does D&D have to do with ironclad ships?”) In my last post, I wrote about how to-hit and damage bonuses contributed to Dungeons & Dragons’...
View ArticleD&D Next trades to-hit bonuses for enhanced damage
(This post continues a discussion I started in “What does D&D have to do with ironclad ships?”) As I discussed in “Riding the power curve,” the next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons attempts to...
View ArticleAs a player, I enjoy action points, so why do I dislike them as a dungeon...
In my post Immersive vs. gamey in D&D Next, I mocked action points as a metagame resource that forces players out of character. “Perhaps action points are like that surge of energy that brings...
View ArticleWhich two D&D roles are too effective?
When designers of fourth edition Dungeons & Dragons devised the roles of controller, defender, striker and leader, they focused attention on granting characters of each role equal time to shine. At...
View ArticleTwo reasons D&D Next’s inspiration mechanic fails to inspire me (and why the...
From what we have seem so far, the Dungeons & Dragons Next design sticks close the game’s tradition. This makes the inspiration mechanic the design’s biggest surprise so far. D&D’s top dog,...
View ArticleFourth edition gives traps a new design
When the fourth edition designers rethought D&D, they saw traps as posing two core problems: Traps can frustrate players Traps can slow play to tedium Problem: Traps that challenge player ingenuity...
View ArticleConverting Scourge of the Sword Coast from D&D next to fourth edition
The regular players at my regular Dungeons & Dragons Encounters games include a mix of fourth-edition loyalists and folks indifferent to edition. Although I would happily run D&D next, I have...
View ArticleCharacter roles appear in 4th edition D&D, disappear in 5th
In original D&D, thieves ranked as the least effective character on the battlefield. However, when the party explored, thieves took the biggest role. Early D&D players spent most of their time...
View ArticleThe Threat that Nearly Killed Dungeons & Dragons—Twice
Despite the alarmists warning that things like ascending armor classes, women, or fourth edition would ruin Dungeons & Dragons, the game has only faced one serious threat. Ascending ACs are just...
View ArticleWhy Fourth Edition Seemed Like the Savior Dungeons & Dragons Needed
In 2005, Dungeons & Dragons faced a possible future similar to the fate of another popular role-playing game, Vampire: The Masquerade. In this future, D&D only exists as a license for online...
View ArticleWhy Fourth Edition Never Saved Dungeons & Dragons
“Fourth edition Dungeons & Dragons is all about taking that things that work in D&D, keeping them in the game, and fixing everything else,” designer Mike Mearls wrote after the edition’s...
View ArticleThe Grand Campaign, Dungeon Master Gear, Fourth Edition D&D, and Other...
I’m ready for another trip into the comment section. The Grand Campaign My post on the grand campaign prompted a couple of commenters to tell of their long-running grand campaigns. Michael “Chgowiz”...
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