Search results

Another vote for the 1e DMG, it's got something for everyone. I would also second looking at some of the older modules like T1 Village of Hommlet and X1 Isle of Dread. Lots of great inspiration to be had there.

I do subscribe to DDI already, so I voted "lemon curry". However, as a DDI subscriber, I would be very happy if I could access a 1e Compendium, for example. I would be ecstatic if earlier edition .pdfs became available in the same way that Dragon and Dungeon are now.

Did anyone else notice that Chris was having the players use their Basic Attack when they could easily be using an power? That happened twice (once with Steel Diamond and again with the Goliath), so I don't know if it was a mistake or a conscious decision. Either way, that seems like a bigger...

Perhaps not to you, but my experience with other games, including other editions of D&D, is the only basis I have for comparison when it comes to judging roleplaying mechanics. To me, it's relevant because past editions are another reference point for how designers handled the issue of resource...

I don't see the Knock ritual as being any worse than wasting a daily spell slot on Knock as a spell in earlier editions. At least as a ritual it doesn't come at the cost of a combat or other utility spell. If you're going to have it as a backup for when the skill characters can't open a door...

Every game of D&D (any edition) I've ever played with beginning players who don't have a firm grasp on the rules yet has run this way. Combats in my current 4e game (with players who have all been playing for over a year) tend to run much more smoothly. FWIW, I agree with Chris's ruling, but...

Bullgrit, sorry you didn't like your first session much. If your group is planning on finishing out the adventure, do yourself a favor and take the advice upthread about printing out some power cards (assuming you haven't already). It may not change your opinion about the game, but it will...

I think that school of thought is just an overreaction to the term "plot". The presence of some kind of internally consistant narrative that ties all of the locations and creatures described in the adventure together doesn't automatically equate to a railroad, nor does it exclude the...

From other prison/RPG articles I've read, this seems to be the standard solution. Not really surprising, since this is also the solution TSR used in the Holmes set when they couldn't get polyhedral dice for a while.

You don't know there was no policy on RPGs. All you know is that RPG materials weren't banned. Apparently, the staff responsible for gang activity monitoring weren't aware of the game for those two years. They didn't become aware of it until the players started recruiting additional inmates...

I believe in most facilities, real money (coins) and dice are considered contraband due to prohibitions against gambling.

That's a good point. Also, I think most organized inmate groups get pre-approval by the prison staff. Usually that means careful supervision by a staff member. It sounds like this group was an ad hoc group, not something organized and OK'ed through the prison hierarchy with official supervision...

Remember he's not characterizing roleplaying games in the outside world, he's specifically characterizing roleplaying games in a prison setting. What makes you think that someone with decades of experience as a security expert in the prison system wouldn't have some empirical evidence concerning...

Yeah, I don't know that either, but given his extensive experience, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially since he isn't claiming to know that the game will lead to problems, only that it had the risk of leading to problems. Conservative assertions are always a good sign...

Prisoners play games in prison. As an expert on prison security, I'm sure Mr. Muraski is quite knowledgeable as to what impact those kinds of activities might have on security issues and prisoner behavior. His statements about D&D weren't intended as an analysis of the game in the general...

Really? They may not have much of an idea what D&D players outside of prison are like, but I imagine they have an all-too-clear idea of what D&D-playing criminals are like. I'll give you "promotes cooperation" and "working together to accomplish a common goal", which in prison, amongst...

At this point, I am only buying the DMGs and adventures. DDI is awesome-sauce.

Hmmm.... B&M stores have to pay for a store, property insurance, utilities, upkeep and an employee to stand behind the register to sell me an e-book. Amazon has to pay for... a website. Oh sure, Amazon has to pay for a lot of the same things as a B&M store on its shipping facilities, but the...

Apparently not. In the LotR I read, Sam hid while the orcs in the tower killed each other and then stepped out of the way while the last one fell through a hole and broke his neck.

There is no profit margin on items that don't get sold. So, again, if you want paper books to stick around, the thing to do is keep buying paper books. In fact, buying those paper books from retailers that sell e-readers will let them know that keeping paper books in their inventory is in their...