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For me, balance in a game ensures that there are no (or few) truly suboptimal choices. In a balanced game, I will contribute and feel useful playing any reasonable type of adventuring character. I will not be penalized (with a less effective character) based on that decision. For games that...

An out-of-the-blue "What's your Will defense?" usually does the trick. . . .

Yeah, this is a good one. If nothing else, train yourself to always call out two names for init. Bad: "Bob, it's your turn." Good: "Bob, your turn, then Ralph."

Hello, all, thanks for the responses and the interest in the newsletter! Sorry if I wasn't clear in the announcement: This is an official (WotC) newsletter. As such, it's only about 4E. That said, if you're interested in keeping up with what's going on with D&D, including a lot of cool stuff...

Have one of the players, rather than the GM, manage initiative. Marginal effect on the player's time; significant effect on the GM's ability to focus on running his baddies. Insist that all players precalculate their attack and damage bonuses. Even for a non-slowcoach, it takes five seconds or...

Hello, UK gamers-- We're starting up a new* email newsletter for D&D, specifically for the UK. If you're at all interested in D&D (and who on ENWorld isn't?), I highly recommend signing up. We have a lot of cool promotions in the pipeline for this year, and the newsletter is the best way to...

You're absolutely right; my apologies. Let me reapproach from a clearer perspective. I've been involved in some conversations recently, here on ENWorld, in which it seemed some people were promoting and defending the "platonic ideal" of the sandbox. It also seems, here in this very thread...

Neither part of this is completely true. In the first part, you conflate two separate strategies: Driving growth of the D&D player network (and core rolebook sales) through the OGL; and avoiding marketplace fragmentation through a strategy of limiting releases and not supporting a plethora of...

Is this a real problem, or a straw man? A few posts ago, I mentioned that I think "railroading" is a bogeyman. The last time I saw a GM try to run to a script was about the same time I played under a Monty Haul DM. Sure, it happened--when were 13 and none of us had played for more than 4...

In the division between "sandbox" and "story," most people seem to think the classic dungeon crawl experience is pure "sandbox." The funny thing is, even the typical old-school dungeon is designed to outline a sort of story arc: The characters find an entrance and go in. They explore a bunch...

Ariosto, I like all your ten-dollar words, but I think in the end you're the one creating straw men. Janx's point (as I read it) is that "sandbox" gaming, as a concept, is an illusion. The GM is always making subjective calls, and is therefore, to one extent or another, always shaping the...

In my experience another key point is to force the defenders to choose which creatures to lock down. If there's one really obvious choice about which creature needs to be locked down, you can bet your defender will be all over it, and that creature will have nothing to do in the fight except...

I counted 60 or so dead dragons. . . .

Hi, all-- Some bad news: Due to illness, Jeremy Crawford will not be making it over for the event at Patriot Games. We'll be supplying some extra bits and bobs for the event in an effort to make it up to everyone who was looking forward to meeting Jeremy. Sorry it worked out this way, and...

This is my experience in RPGs as well--especially campaign arcs. The first act puts all the pieces into play, and that can take as much time as the rest of the arc put together. That said, I don't think that negates the value of the three-act structure, or makes it necessarily railroady. It...

Hi, again, all-- OK, here's the scoop: Demand for this book has exceeded supply. The book channel in particular has had unforeseen levels of demand. Amazon.uk may well be out of the PHB2 (we don't have point of sale data on it yet, so I can't confirm that); if that's the case, it will likely be...

Hi, Russ-- I'm not aware of any problems with Amazon.uk on the supply end, but I'll have a look into this tomorrow morning just to be sure.

I'm playing in a SoW campaign right now (at least, I think I am--it's definitely post-RHoD, though the GM has been keeping his sources close to his chest and is probably mixing in a lot of original and third-party stuff). So I have something to look forward to!

I use the three-act structure to design my adventures and campaign arcs all the time; I frankly don't know how I'd GM without it. That said, I think the OP outline is too detailed; attempting to stick to that tight an outline won't give you the flexibility to work in the unexpected--especially...

Henry, I understand your anger, especially in light of the deep personal investment you've made in this excellent community. If it makes you feel any better, I don't foresee it affecting me in the manner you describe. Call me a sucker, but I'm not the type to assume the worst in someone just...