Employing Dreams and Other Nocturnal Visions
We provide you with tips to spice up the night’s rest other than a surprise attack during second watch. Check out five ways that a characters dreams can enhance your campaign.
The Secret of Martial Power
They might not be able to conjure flames in their hands or heal with a touch, but martial heroes can be every bit as cool as their friends. Learn how to maximize the impact of a fighter’s bone crunching blows and how to properly reward a conquering warlord!
How to kick up your game energy: meta-gaming edition
Are your players dragging themselves to the table and struggling to lift their dice? Not sure how to jump start your players’ enthusiasm? Forget the Red Bull I.V., all you need are the tips from our Kicking Up the Energy series. First up, metagame edition!
The Price of a Pact
Warlocks make pacts with powerful entities… And it should show!
Top 5 ways to run a game without a grid map
Who needs a gridmap? You forgot your gridmap? Or your minis? Or you need a change of pace for your campaign? Here a 5 ways to replace the battlemat. Top 5 ways to run a game without a grid map Whiteboard or chalkboard When I was in college I would often get together with some…
D&D Instant World Builder
Build a better world in less time This is a quick read that will help you shave dozens of hours in world building. A lot of work went into this document and the content was edited and updated since it was first written. Have fun. Download the Instant World Builder PDF (right-click and “save as”)…
Instant world builder – Part V: Thinking big
This article is part 5 of the Instant World Builder series. Starting small. Thinking big. In the previous Instant World Builder article – Starting small – I mentioned that designing a small area to start a campaign is a great way to save time, but the campaign still needs a grand plan. So what’s the…
Instant world builder – Part III: Gathering data
This article is part of the Instant World Builder series. Instant world builder #3: Data You could spend weeks gathering information about the world you’re creating – poltical system, level of magic, climate, fauna, how awesome red dragons are, etc. So how do you determine what is valuable information and what is just irrelevant fluff?…
D&D Instant World Builder – Part 1: Maps
This article is part of the Instant World Builder Project. Instant World Builder #1: Maps Drawing maps for a new campaign might be my favorite DM activity. It’s what I start with when I design worlds and campaigns. I am usually motivated, inspired and always surprised to see the plot hooks that arise during map-drawing….
387 Free D&D Maps
I stopped counting There’s actually more than that but I was tired of counting! Given the popularity of the 83 free D&D adventures article I decided to clear a few hours in my schedule and look for free D&D maps. I found so many of them that I didn’t have time to look into map…
Drawing D&D maps
Cartography is an art and a science, yet adventurers running through a daedalus of underground caves and passages while being pursued by evil creatures draw maps with extreme precision. I hate that. So I have developed a way to screw the players over when they’re trying to find their way out of a maze.
18 ways to increase combat duration
It is impossible to defeat an army of goblins in 5 rounds. It takes at least 6 rounds. Role-playing sucks? They’re called role-playing games but for most of us the fun part is killing stuff. Why else would computer games like World of Warcraft get millions of players? Because they got rid of most of…
Party pooper: 5 ways to wipe out your D&D party
I can already picture my players as they’re reading this! Relax, I don’t intend to wipe out my party and I don’t suggest that anyone should plan to kill all the PCs in their game. But…
Start A Campaign – Part 4: How to prepare a great game in less than 30 minutes
This article is part 1 of the “Start A Campaign… Now!“ series. Start A Campaign – Part 1: The first game Start A Campaign – Part 2: Before the second game Start A Campaign – Part 3: The second game Start A Campaign – Part 4: How to prepare a great game in 30 minutes…
House rules
Random thought I was at the local Borders library last night for the launch of the Harry Potter book. Until the clock struck midnight, they had activities and games. It was promoted as a big party for Potter fans. There was only one problem. If you want to have a wicked party make sure that…