Archive for September, 2011

12 Ways to Describe Minions: First, Stop Calling Them Minions!

Friday, September 30th, 2011

alt textDo your battles with minions ever sound or feel a bit too gamey? 

Do you cringe when your DM describes an exciting combat scene and its terrifying monsters, only to punctuate it with a gamey punch the face, finishing setting the scene with “And, oh, these are all minions.”

And back to board game-like non-immersive reality we go! 

No thanks.  Here’s a Leonine 12 primer on better ways to introduce our beloved minions without ever saying the word “minion” – yet still give our brave, treasure-seeking party enough context clues to suggest the all-important minion trademark: the Number One. 

Use these examples by creature type or theme for inspiration when describing your own minion monsters.

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Posted in Creative Writing, Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies, Storytelling & Roleplaying | 2 Comments »

D&D Video Gems: Get The Adventure Coach!

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Looking for help as an adventurer?  Need some laughs?  Then you need the Dungeon Bastard! 

That’s right, you want Bill Cavalier, also known as The Adventure Coach.  Bill has created hilarious videos covering some of the quirkiest aspects of D&D throughout all its editions.

Here’s a peek at what The Adventure Coach can do for you and your game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i5Yw4ZoDO0

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Posted in Media & Technology | 1 Comment »

What is D&D? How to Explain D&D to Anybody

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

alt textOne question we get asked a lot as Dungeons & Dragons players from friends and family who don’t know or understand the game is… what the heck is it?  What’s it about?  What’s it like?  What do you do?  How does it work? 

Since getting new folks to give D&D a try – or at least give them a better picture of what it’s all about – is a good thing, I’ve put together some simple and easy ways to answer the question of “What is D&D?”  The focus of these answers is on comparing D&D to similar games, concepts or art forms, and thus painting down-to-earth and familiar connections.

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Posted in Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies, Storytelling & Roleplaying | 1 Comment »

More Minions: Chillvenom Seawasp

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

Aren’t minions so much fun?  Whether you love to wade through and down a swarm of them or wickedly craft that same swarm to test the mettle of your party in fast-paced combat, minions are an absolute blast. 

This begins a new series of custom created minions I use in my games, with both engaging tactics and lore for you to use in your game tonight!  More minions: you know you want ’em!

Chillvenom Seawasp: Lore

Chillvenom seawasps originally spawned in the Astral Sea’s Nine Hells as a swarm of hellwasp devils (see MM3).  These particular hellwasps, when exposing themselves to the world’s harsh Frostfell lands and its frozen seas, evolved, mutated and weakened into less intelligent creatures, losing some strength, size, and the ability to speak over time, becoming much more similar to the world’s monstrous vermin in the process. 

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Posted in Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies, Storytelling & Roleplaying | 2 Comments »

Stop Rolling Your Bonus Crit Dice

Friday, September 16th, 2011

alt textAhhh… “CRIT!”  Is there any more exciting word to exclaim during D&D combat? 

Critical hits are beloved for a reason.  Or many reasons.  The d20 just looks so cool.  A big “20” showing up on it looks even cooler!  Oh, and there’s that whole wallop they pack from all that bonus damage.  Good times!

And yet, something’s missing about crits in 4e.  Something’s not quite right.  Do you feel it or see it too?  I bet you do. 

You forget what and how many bonus dice to roll, don’t you?  Crit math feels like an eternity sometimes, doesn’t it?  Especially when that guy or that girl or that jerk has all sorts of riders and bonus dice from eight different sources between race, item type, damage type, class feature, skill, sex, and favored underwear.

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Posted in Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies | 2 Comments »

Faster Combat: Rule of Three

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

alt textThis week’s Rule of Three article by Wizards’ R&D team includes a question and answer that is near and dear to my heart: faster combat! 

I have a lot of strong opinions on this (and a related project I’ve been working on), as what element of D&D better exemplifies the classic balance of immersive cinema and tactical brilliance than its exhilirating combat encounters? 

In D&D 4e, faster combat is at a premium simply because of the new mechanics of this rules set and combat system: rich and deep, but also too frequent, complex or slow to both decide upon and resolve.  Still, trust me when I say that faster combat is achievable in 4e, or any RPG, with the proper tools, approach and mindset. 

R&D’s Advice

If you haven’t seen this week’s Rule of Three article on this, here’s a snippet from question #3:

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Posted in Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies, Storytelling & Roleplaying | 10 Comments »

D&D Looks, Fires: Touchdown! NFC Edition

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

One more Gaming & Gridiron article and poll before we officially kick off tonight!  If you missed it, here’s Tuesday’s AFC poll.  Thanks for voting!

World Domination… or Saving?

I’ve selected several of the top teams and Superbowl hopefuls, and given them a gaming personality.  Which NFC team would you send to conquer – or save – the D&D Universe?

If you could only send one team, which would you send to conquer – or save – the worlds of Nerath, Dark Sun, Dragonlance, Eberron and the Forgotten Realms?

 

Which team would you send to conquer - or save - the D&D Universe? NFC Edition

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Conquering – or saving – the world is what you and your D&D playgroup do.  You’re heroes!  And like I mentioned in the AFC edition post, it takes solid teamwork to reach some of these incredible heights and be able to tell these amazing stories.

Want to know more about about teamwork and tactics in D&D?  Look right here if you haven’t yet!

TPK

What?  All those teams would fail?  The D&D Universe is doomed?  I suppose it could happen.  After all, we never really know if that next encounter might be our last, do we?  The total party kill is a more agile, elusive beast in 4e (curse those healing surges!)… but nonetheless, it is possible!   Who would you send instead?

Enjoy tonight’s opening NFL season game, Saints-Packers, everybody!  And here’s to you and your playgroup taking over or saving the world in your next D&D game!

Posted in News, Previews & Reviews, Storytelling & Roleplaying | No Comments »

D&D Looks, Fires: Touchdown! AFC Edition

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

alt textSeptember is here and that means so too is NFL football!  And since I love both that and D&D – and the fact that there’s a lot of similarities between team sports and RPGs, and especially D&D 4e – here’s a fun poll question for all of you.

Team Play

I’ve selected several of the top teams and Superbowl favorites, and given them a gaming personality.  Which team does your gaming group most resemble?

 

Which NFL Team is Your Playgroup? AFC Edition

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Now I’m from Rhode Island, and was lucky enough to have had season tickets during the Patriots’ recent three Super Bowl titles, so you can guess which team I always want my playgroups to resemble!  We all have our bad games though as DMs or players, just like NFL teams, so sometimes reality doesn’t always match the goal.

Your Teams

Now it’s your turn to tell me about your favorites teams – either or both in football and D&D.  Who are they and why do they rock?

How much do your game nights feel like a team sport-like event?  Who would you say is the the brilliant coach, star quarterback or diva wide receiver on your D&D team?

Check in later this week for the NFC edition!  Here’s to your D&D teams and football, kicking off this Thursday, September 8th! 

Image source: GraphicsHunt.com

Posted in News, Previews & Reviews, Storytelling & Roleplaying | 2 Comments »

Win the Crowd: Play to Everyone’s Style

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

alt textYou saw it in Gladiator, and you see it in your game every week.  It’s important to win over the crowd, to give them what they want.  To put on the grand show they’re expecting, the way they love it most.  But how do you know to do that?  And how do you do it? 

What we’re talking about here is player personalities or motivations.  That’s where it all starts.  And this includes the DM, whether that’s you this week or someone else in your gaming group.

You’d think it’s obvious, and that we’d just automatically do this without thinking every week – but we drop the ball on this all the time, as a player or DM.  We need a reminder once in a while.  It’s a cooperative game, right? 

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Posted in Storytelling & Roleplaying | 2 Comments »