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In my case? No, it doesn't save prep time. A few years ago I was introduced to two very useful tools that significantly reduced my prep time: Mythic Game Master Emulator and Dyson's Dodecahedron. These two sources, coupled with the random encounter tables from the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide and...

I've used the song titles (Ghost) Riders in the Sky and Riders on the Storm to depict nightmare-riding devils and the paladins who chased them, respectively.

A little late to the party, but... No, I don't adjust monster hit points during combat (unless it is from damage taken or healed :p). I also don't use a screen, I roll my dice in the open, and my stat blocks are in plain view of my players. I don't worry about my players metagaming. I embrace...

I find it interesting that so many people prefer to have an even number of players at the table. In my experience, an even number of players is significantly more difficult to manage than an odd number due to ease in which the party can split into two equal groups. Without having a player to...

Background: The party recently assassinated a Hierarch of the Horned Society. This event lead to a power vacuum in the western Fellreev Forest that Iuz was ready to fill. In order to avoid fighting a two-fronted war, the party decided to travel to Eru-Tovar to enlist the support of the Khans of...

It would be! However, since the Monster Manual lacks this information, and you need to provide, rather than rolling your random encounters during the session you can roll them ahead of time. You can focus on these details during prep rather than trying to come up with them on the spot. I've been...

They're not. Those third-parties have agreements with Wizards. That's the point. Wizards has no problem with third-party publishers that work with them.

Just a quick perusal through the iPhone App Store shows dozens of third-party apps related to Magic: the Gathering. Many of those apps include not just the card text but the card art as well. Many of those apps are $0.99 or more. Given that Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons are owned...

The 3.5 Leadership feat does not allow the player to dictate the cohort. It specifically says so on page 106 of the Dungeon Master's Guide under attracting cohorts. The player can try to recruit a specific cohort but the DM determines the details.

Erik Mona is head publisher over at Paizo and Greg A. Vaughan has numerous writing credits for Wizards of the Coast and Paizo. I don't know much about the others.

Yes. The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer and Greywiki are probably your best resources. The Oerth Journal 26: Beyond the Flanaess details areas south and west of the Sea of Dust. It is fan material, but still worth examining.

Most of the battles I find engaging are historical in nature. One that I think would make for an interesting D&D scenario is King John's siege of Rochester Castle during the First Barons' War. (It was depicted in the movie Ironside (passably enjoyable, though historically inaccurate).)

3.5 codifies a hopeless character as one in which the sum of modifiers before adjustments is 0 or less, or if your highest score is 13 or less. IIRC, 4d6 drop the lowest should produce an average array of something like: 16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 09. Removing hopeless characters, as defined by 3.5...

Yes, 4d6 does often result in higher overall stats; but it doesn't necessarily increase the power level of the character. 4d6 has a tendency of achieving those higher overall stats by increasing the value of tertiary stats and/or increasing the proportion of odd stats; both inflate the...

Average (4d6 drop the lowest): 12.24 Distribution (4d6 drop the lowest): 3 - 0.08%, 4 - 0.31%, 5 - 0.77%, 6 - 1.62%, 7 - 2.93%, 8 - 4.78%, 9 - 7.02%, 10 - 9.41%, 11 - 11.42%, 12 - 12.89%, 13 - 13.27%, 14 - 12.35%, 15 - 10.11%, 16 - 7.25%, 17 - 4.17%, 18 - 1.62%.

It's hard to pick a #1 book that every gamer should read. And since many books I would recommend will be addressed by other posters (as is the case with TrippyHippy and the Lord of the Rings), I'll nominate something a little more obscure: The Historical Atlas of Knights & Castles: The Rise and...

On Facebook, Benoist Poire posted a long response to Wick's blog... with Wick replying. It is worth a read. You can read it here.

Here is the "official word" from Sean K Reynolds.

One of the best tools in my toolbox is Mythic: Game Master Emulator. The emulator is intended to be used for solo and GM-less gaming, however it can also be utilized by GMs to provide inspiration for, and context to, their encounters. I have run countless sessions using the random encounter...

Whereas I prefer not knowing who sent them and why until I roll the dice and find out; I want to be just as surprised as the players. I find that 1) I am much more creative in the moment than I am in planning; 2) I find that this method generates the inconsistencies that arise in real life -...