Search results

I love the idea of having an NPC ask the characters their opinions on current events. Really breathes life into the events and the world as well as the characters. I'm totally going to steal that idea! Another technique I've found very helpful and not too draining of prep resources is the "Five...

This is a truly awesome idea; if I didn't struggle with massive babysitting issues every time I so much as go out for a movie, I'd be all over it. Best of luck with the raffle; I hope it raises a ton of money and that the winners--and everyone else on the cruise--have a great time!

A crypt or vault that has partially collapsed with age.

Welcome, and yes. (Time permitting on the latter.)

Dropping you a line now!

That's true out on the manor--but on the manor, there really isn't any commerce going on. A blacksmith and maybe one or two other businesses that support the manor, but in general the occupations on this list are all happening in towns and cities. (And, incidentally, all of these occupations are...

Very cool, thanks!

I would. The GM is what separates D&D from an extremely slow, extremely low-res version of WoW. You know that quote about D&D being 10 minutes of action packed into four hours? The GM is what makes that not true. These facts are well appreciated inside the walls at WotC.

I think it's quite doable. There's so much to keep yourself busy with, and you're going to meet zillions of people while there. You'll have a blast!

Congrats again, Russ!

I'm really glad to see this question posed by Mike and the R&D team, because I think for the last decade D&D development has largely moved forward under the unquestioned assumption that more definitive rules are always better. By and large, I think the game benefits from clarity, and definitive...

My very first piece of published writing was a letter to Dragon in the mid 80s, rebutting an editorial by Mr. Gygax. When I first settled into my cubicle at WotC 15 years later, one of the first things I did was track down a copy of the CD-ROM compilation of Dragon and look up that letter. I...

I've certainly used them more consistently in 3/4E, but I've always used minis to one extent or another. Even when a game is not as tactically rigid as 3/4E, I find them a great illustration technique. And they give the game session a focal point.

I'll second the Bernard Cornwell recommendation. It's hard to read any of his books without wanting to run a game in its setting. Amazon.com: The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1) (9780060887186): Bernard Cornwell: Books

Wow. Cool to see the letterhead identify as "The Chaosium." I had no idea the company ever went under that name. I recognize about two-thirds of the names on the list. Many are inductees into the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame, but it seems that web site has gone defunct so I can't find any...

I've had it happen once or twice, but it requires a couple of things. First, a powerful emotional investment in what's happening in the game. That means the PCs and key NPCs need to be well developed and the players must really, really care about them and the events in the game world. Second...

I voted 4 hours, cause that's what they usually run these days for me. But I remember fondly the days of six or eight hour sessions. I usually felt that I was really just getting into things by the 3-4 hour mark. Ah, well, someday the kids will be older and we'll all have more time again. . . .

I've used them, or things like them, in the past. They worked really well, and the players really seemed to like them. I'm sympathetic to the issue of vignettes giving players out-of-character knowledge, but I've found that the response from the players, and the drama they add to the game...

Sorry. By "getting all bent out of shape," I meant " expressing a knee-jerk hostility toward a product and the company that produces it based on nothing but a predisposition against the product format and an assumption about the motives of the publisher." Not "disliking." I don't like playing...

A table and an open-ended supply of cards are not the same thing, mechanically or in terms of game experience. A table is closed and fixed. It has X many possible results. Anyone who has read the table or played long enough is aware of all possible results. A set of cards is open. There is a...