EN World: D&D & Tabletop RPG News & Reviews
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Gamehackery: The Initiative Initiative
One of my gadget-strewn quests over years of gaming has been finding a good way to track initiative. I've seen a lot of methods -- and everyone loves what they're doing (or doesn't obsess about it), but I've got my favorites. What We Need Initiative is important for DMs, who need to keep things running in an orderly way. Taking control of initiative is critical to good tactical play...
Experience Point: The Zeigarnik Effect
Do you know who Bluma Zeigarnik is? Well if you don’t then you should totally click on that link because, in addition to be awfully pretty (as Russian scientists go), she did some really fascinating research back in the early 20th century. The “Zeigarnik Effect” came out of that research, which is basically how your brain won’t let something go if it got interrupted in the middle of doing...
Pretty Darn Fun (A look at new PDFs)
This week we have 10 excellent and interesting PDFs to take a look at. We have Shadowrun mixing with politics, advice on comedy, some new rule sets with cool settings, some new settings for cool fantasy campaigns, some books that can be used in just about any game and a mix of other styles/genres/systems. The Spotlight highlights an old but superb game system making its way to PDF form. It’s...
The Ten RPG Player Types
As a GM and game designer, I think it’s laughable that you could ever separate people into different personality types, let alone gamers. However, since I have to write another article, why not? Yes, today I’ll be pigeon-holing all gamers into several broad, vague, and inaccurate ‘types’ with no hint of useful information anywhere in sight. In fact, this article’s sole purpose can be said to...
Review of Ed Greenwood Presents: Elminster’s Forgotten Realms by Wizards of the Coast
so is this 4e or DDN or neither?
Review of Kobold Quarterly Issue #23 (Fall 2012) by Open Design
I got NSFW art in there!
Review of DUNGEON! Fantasy Board Game by Wizards of the Coast
It's damnably cheap! Just £12 here in England.
Review of Dungeon Crawler Miniatures
Not sure I agree with the 3.75 out of 5.0 score. The minis are all high quality. You know what you are buying ahead of time, so it's not like you are going to get blind-sided with randomly packaged minis you don't want or need. I'd give them a score of 4.0 or 4.5, with a 5.0 score reserved for an incredible sculpt and or paint job.
Wil Wheaton's TABELETOP #14: Pandemic
Wil Wheaton and guests Ed Brubaker (Writer—Captain America, Criminal, Angel of Death), Robert Gifford (Founder—Geek Chic), and Morgan Webb (Host—X-Play) play Pandemic over on Geek & Sundry's latest episode of Tabletop. Pandemic is a cooperative board game designed by Matt Leacock and published by Z-Man Games in 2008, based on the premise that four diseases have broken out in the world, each threatening to wipe out a region. The game accommodates 2 to 4 players, each playing one of five possible specialists: (dispatcher, medic, scientist, researcher or operations expert). The game is unlike most boardgames as the gameplay is cooperative, rather than competitive. Through the combined effort of all the players, the goal is to discover all four cures before any of several game-losing conditions are reached.
Review Triple-Play: Monsters of Sin: Avarice, Envy, and Lust by Open Design
An an Italian, it is my duty to correct the spelling of Dante's surname... 
It's Alighieri.
It's Alighieri.Pre-Release Review of 13th AGE (Part 2) by Pelgrane Press
Thanks so much for the review - I'm glad you like the game. The finished artwork and layout I hope will clear up your issues with the pre-release version. One minor point for clarity - 13th Age does not preclude the use of maps or miniatures. It simply removes the necessity for a grid, and makes maps and miniatures optional. We certainly used them in the game Rob ran for us at GenCon.
Pre-Release Review of 13th AGE (Part 1) by Pelgrane Press
Thanks for the review. A friend of mine pre-ordered this so we should check it out soon. Question though: with all the classes having unique talents and abilities is this game really as rules light and more free wheeling as it claims to be? And And the Monk is definitely worth checking out, as it reminds me of the old AD&D Monk without being a complete worthless mess at love levels. Of...
Review of Menzoberranzan: City of Intrigue by Wizards of the Coast
I would like to have had the crunch for 4E included, think I will pass. They're only doing no crunch because of 5E.
Pathfinder Review: Pathfinder Battles - Rise of the Runelords Miniatures
Great review. I collect miniatures but this is this first time I decided not to buy an entire set due to the high price. I guess I have finally been priced out of the market. I do intend, as you suggested, to strategically order some singles in the aftermarket.
Pathfinder Review: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition
Nice review. I've had this on Amazon pre-order for months now and look forward to receiving it. I was originally going to convert over to Pathfinder from 4E, but have since decided to stick with 4E until Next arrives. Anyhow, how difficult do you think it would be to run this with 4E? I'm fine with ad hoc DMing, but I realize some conversions need more than "eyeballing" it. Do you think I...
Review of the Unofficial Living Greyhawk Bandit Kingdoms Summary by Casey Brown
An excellent review, Neuroglyph! I personally enjoyed the footnotes, and I didn't mind the lack of illustrations, but to each their own. One minor point, the letter the author received wasn't a C&D per se, but was served under the DMCA - while the physical book was pulled from sale until the issue was resolved (which took only a few weeks), the Kindle edition never ceased to be available for...
