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The city of the future makes me think of early 20th century planners like Le Corbusier and his ideas of shining towers in an idyllic park connected by glittering expressways. Of course, when implemented in the real world, this turned out to be grimy housing projects in desolate parking lots, the...

I bought the three Dungeon Tiles master sets and I have used them a bit (especially for generic wilderness encounters where I can just slap down 4 or 5 large forest tiles), but I generally find that it takes too much preparation time for not enough benefit. So I have mostly returned to my trusty...

I'm sketching out my campaign with a good ending point at the end of heroic tier, with some loose ends left hanging. So if my group wants to keep playing this campaign, we will, but if everyone wants to move on to something else it will still be a satisfying ending. I think of the natural world...

I can't say enough about how much I am looking forward to this book. I'm hoping for some great rare items and it sounds like they are moving towards more items that are interesting and flavorful rather than just granting combat bonuses. Cursed items in particular add a really interesting tension...

I wrote up (but haven't yet played) a level 13 version based in part on the one in Open Grave but with powers like Fireball, Invisibility, etc., that are more in line with the original version from I6 Ravenloft. I just used the recommended attack and damage numbers from the DMG updates. It's...

I don't think I would play it that way at my table, because it diminishes powers that trigger on a hit rather than an attack. Even in cases where the player knows they've been hit, I wouldn't tell them the damage and let them decide whether to be hit or not - with the possible exception of...

I think it's fine, unless the power specifically states otherwise. There's no actual pause between rounds even though we stop and let everyone else take their turns.

Does a creature threaten its own space, or only those adjacent to it? I.e., does a tiny creature provoke an OA by leaving an enemy's space? Perhaps this example is rarely relevant since it will either be using a shift to make that move, or it will provoke when it leaves a square adjacent to the...

That's a real good point, and I should state that this will be the first solo monsters I've used, so I don't really have a feel yet for just how bad-ass they are intended to be. Then again, it's a dragon - it should be pretty terrifying in combat. There seems to be close to consensus that the...

Quick question about the Young Green Dragon's Instinctive Flyby trait. This allows the dragon to use a free action to use Flyby Attack on the initiative count of 10 + its actual initiative. Flyby Attack is a Recharge 5/6 action. Does it have to have the action recharged in order to use it in...

Generally I only use the laptop for background music! We pretty much play from Heroes of the Fallen Lands right now, so I actually didn't have my PHB nearby. I might start though, because I am thinking I'd like to introduce rituals into the game for the PCs, as opposed to the occasional NPC...

Your post had me laughing, mostly because it's completely true but I never really thought about it like that. I probably should take advantage of bathroom breaks but I was already feeling awkward about stalling the game out while I searched the online compendium for rituals to see what might...

I agree, and I always want to reward players who are engaging with the narrative world and looking for solutions outside of just what's written on their character sheet. But I had to smile, because the conversation you posted would probably irritate me as a DM. I hate when players pick logical...

Thanks to everyone who commented. There are a lot of great ideas here! I think in retrospect the problem was that I didn't really anticipate them asking for something like this and I was caught off guard without a clear idea of what rituals might be available. In hindsight, I should have let...

How do you deal with players trying to obtain resources from NPCs that they shouldn't really have at their level? I've seen this come up many times before, but a good example came up in last night's game. The PCs were working with a group of scholars and researchers at a university library in...

I use the snack sized ziplock bags, divided by type (somewhat arbitrarily). Off the top of my head, I have categories like these: PC race humanoids Goblinoids, orcs, kobolds, and gnolls Other humanoids Large natural beasts Other natural beasts Magical beasts Undead Aberrations Immortals...

I try to keep in mind that minions don't necessarily have to be untrained incompetents. They could just be the unlucky ones who get an arrow in the throat when the PCs charge into the room. So high-level minions make sense to me.

There was a mirrored box in Zork III that you use to sneak past a bunch of statues that come to life if anything interrupts their gaze. That's what this reminded me of as soon as I read it.

I usually do encounters the same way, although I will throw in the occasional "random" encounter with no real plot relevance just because it gives me an opportunity to use an iconic monster or one with interesting powers, etc. Maybe that falls under your "they would be fun" category.

Let's see... I think the last few were: C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir I6 Ravenloft Master of Ravenloft AD&D Adventure Gamebook (basically a revved-up Choose Your Own Adventure adaptation of I6) 4e Manual of the Planes