4th edition "Black belt DM's Guide": best of the internet

[Quickleaf]

I was looking through all my notes on general DMing advice for 4th edition D&D, from tips gathered from The Alexandrian (node-based adventure design), Sly Flourish (transparent monster defense notecards), advice from Mike Mearla regarding skill challenges, and various ENWorld threads (projector set ups, alternate skill challenge rules, and more) to realizations I and fellow DMs in our group had.

Several topics seemed to be recurrent... we seem to be concurrently addressing the same concepts only to have the ideas fade in a bog graveyard after several months... and I thought it would be great to have some kind of encyclopedia of the best DM advice for
4th edition on the web.

I've dubbed my beginning list the "Black Belt DM's Guide", and I see it as a database (either a hyperlinked pdf file or a searchable xml site) of links with the occasional capstone article for each section. For the academically minded, something like a literature review of the best our online 4th Ed community has come up with.

Is this grandiose? Impossible to define? A solid useful idea? What are your thoughts on such an endeavor?

 

[moxcamel]

Sounds good to me.

A Wiki sounds like it would work real well for this.

 

[surfarcher]

It's a good idea. i'd certainly contribute if that was relatively easy to do - like wiki easy

 

[samursus]

I like this idea.

 

[OnlineDM]

I agree - this sounds like a great idea!

 

[Quickleaf]

Sounds good to me.

A Wiki sounds like it would work real well for this.

Hmm, that would be easy to set up, but I am hesitant to put a free for all out there. I was thinking of *tested* ideas making the cut, separating the "best" ideas from run of the mill messageboard ideas. Some kindnof peer review, no matter how subjective seems necessary to maintain a certain standard of utility beyond just one table.

The whole notion of selectivity seems counter to the wiki...

 

[surfarcher]

It doesn't have to be a "write all" wiki. you could make it writable by members only and vet applicants.

 

[moxcamel]

It doesn't have to be a "write all" wiki. you could make it writable by members only and vet applicants.

Exactly. The idea is that you have a content platform that's easy to update, whether it's just updatable by a few or by many.

 

[Quickleaf]

Hmm, I guess that's part of my question. What kind of "screening" process would you recommend? Really there would be some kind of consensus among ENWorlders about what goes into the wiki.

 

[Lalato]

Basically, what you're talking about is a curated collection of ideas. It's OK if you're the curator... it doesn't have to be curated by committee.

Initially, why not just invite some people whose ideas you admire. As the wiki gets off the ground, you may find other people that want to join in. It's OK if you, as the curator, accept or reject people.

If, however, you insist on it being done by committee, then just send it out to those that have already been invited. You probably don't need a formal vote. Something more along the lines of... "Does anyone object to having this additional person on board?"

Again, as curator, you can always go back and clean up items that were posted. You can also go back and remove people from the invited group that are no longer contributing or have posted something that doesn't fit in the collection.

Anyway, I like the idea. It would be great to have a resource like this. If you're looking for a pre-made wiki to work with, I've had good luck with http://www.wikispaces.com.

That said, it might be easier to start off with a blog. And once you have a decent set of posts, you can start thinking of how to organize it in a wiki.

Good luck!