Recent content by pogre

I always appreciate reading and hearing about how other DM's prep for their games. I believe for veteran DMs, this is much more valuable than the 100s of how to DM videos and their ilk on youtube and other places. My methods are different, but I can always grab an idea or two from others.

I defer to others to work out the math - I teach social studies ;). However, as a DM who has run several campaigns from 1-20 I have learned to be more careful with magic items that grant an AC bonus.

Back in the early nineties I bought a bunch of DA modules from Kaybee Toys for $1 each on clearance. A few years later I sold them on ebay in the shrink. To my amazement, one of the buyers of a bundle of DA1 to DA4 was Dave Arneson himself. He lived down in Florida (not sure if he was a snowbird...

I do something similar to iserith. However, I do not make the players tell me where they are searching - I just let all of the searchers roll a perception check and I roll a die to determine which PC is searching the area with the secret door. Then I tell them - you searched for twenty minutes...

It is annoying in rpg books - rules and adventures. I find it borderline infuriating in skirmish miniatures games! Separate the stories and fluff from the rules please. Do not bury mechanics in long-winded examples.

The new Traveller adventure campaign looks cool. However, I only play Traveller once a week for around two hours. I have so much adventuring material it would be around five years or so before I could run it! Every time I am tempted by a new supplement or new rpg game I have the same problem -...

I really enjoy DMing more. The only reason I used to play was to get a perspective from the other side of the screen to improve my DMing. When you first posted this thread, I would have agreed that I was a bad player. However, I have worked hard at being a better player and I am a decent...

An old gaming trope I use on occasion in delving adventures is to have a little competition. Usually it is another group of adventurers, but it can be almost any sentient creatures. Racing for a McGuffin or a hidden location can add a fun additional element.

We created PCs for our current campaign as a group and everybody enjoyed the "minigame" of character creation. I don't know if there is another RPG that creates such an atmosphere of laughing and cheers during character creation!

I try to keep most of my miniatures buying to fantasy 28-30mm figures. I do have a sprinkling of historicals and a bit of sci-fi. I also sculpt some. My youngest son has become a pretty decent sculptor - most of his PCs are represented by miniatures he has sculpted from scratch. Miniatures and...

I played a little of the original Traveller back in the day. They had a huge presence here, as GDW was just down the road. I kind of regret not sticking with the game, because I had numerous chances to play games with Loren, Marc, Frank, and others, but I was more interested in D&D as a kid. The...

See! That's what I keep telling my wife. As the kids move out we don't need guest bedrooms - we need game storage space. Why have an empty nest when you can have a terrain warehouse?!

The traditions I most value in D&D are: 1. Zero to Hero. 2. Dungeons. 3. A kitchen sink of weird monsters. I play lots of other TTRPGs, so I have different expectations and preferences for those. The value for me is D&D does dungeon delving and leveling of PCs really well. It's great it has...

How did this work out?

Here was my version. It has bits from a few sets you cannot purchase any longer, but overall the sets would be far more expensive. Having said that, if I were starting over I would use a 3d printer. You could crank something out for a fraction of the price. I am all about luxury D&D items...