Leonine Roar

One 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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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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This 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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Ever earn bonus XP for brilliant roleplay, creative thinking or some other Moment of Greatness in D&D?  Of course you have! 

But what if you don’t use XP anymore in 4e, leveling instead after a number of encounters or sessions, or at certain story points? 

In any D&D game – whether you use XP or not – there are some great alternative ways to reward outstanding play besides the classic small XP reward. 

Here’s a list of six simple and easy-to-use approaches you can use or ask your DM to consider for your game tonight:  

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