Recent content by talien

The hike to Baldy would surely have broken me. No way I could make it, altitude sickness prevents anyone less than a 10 day hike from trying to scale it, and I suffered for 2 days just doing the 7-day hike. The "n" links are there and will become functional as the articles publish, sorry about...

For the real life hike, it's required. Essentially, he trains us on the trail to make sure we know how to read maps, hang bear bags, set up tents, and cook. In theory the Scouts know how to do it, but in the field the stress is immense and people forget stuff. Three days is the right amount of...

Our hike at the BSA Philmont Scout Ranch was a seven day 30-mile trek designed to test our eleven-person crew (consisting of three adults and their boys, plus an additional four scouts and a Ranch-assigned ranger who leaves after Day 3). Starting from Camping Headquarters on Day 1, we would...

Fair. I think you probably don't want TOO many recurring villains. Sometimes bad guys do escape though and it's perfectly reasonable for them to show up again; I had this happen a few times in a different campaign.

You make a really good point, which is that a continuing villain is a luxury of consistency, and that usually means on DM throughout. Which not everyone has; it also implies a consistent campaign where the players play regularly. The odds of remembering someone (or even caring) go down...

Yeah this is a tough one, because the expectations of "success" are built in at low levels (you fight stuff and hopefully win), and there isn't necessarily an expectation for that to change at higher levels, even though in theory the stakes are higher. This is one of those: does power creep...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. It's hard. As Dungeon Masters, we meticulously craft encounters, balancing challenge ratings, hit points, and legendary actions, to make an encounter challenging. But sometimes, that intent is for the party to face an insurmountable obstacle, a force meant to...

These are scans of old magazines, so it's possible that's a crease in the cover.

I ran an entire D&D 3.5E campaign that was King in Yellow (good gods, TWO DECADES AGO): Arcanis: Gonnes, Sons, and Treasure Runs (COMPLETED) I really had to scramble to find KIY content, and cobbled it together from Call of Cthulhu, Freeport, and Arcanis materials. Of course, I had KIY be...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. What Do You Mean You've Never Heard of Me? As Dungeon Masters, we invest heavily in our bad guys. We craft intricate backstories, devise cunning schemes, and anticipate the look on players' faces when a past foe steps back into the spotlight with a flourish. It...