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Do Roll20, MapTools, or Hangouts also work as a campaign manager? Or will I want to stick with Obsidian Portal? Browsing the virtual table tools' websites it doesn't look like it from my first read, but I would defer to experience.

Anyone playing 5E on a virtual table? What do you recommend? Anything you've tried and not liked? Do any of the many options have anything that makes them particularly well suited to 5E?

5 out of 5 rating for Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen Great production quality. This thing seems like it will survive a lifetime of being packed in my "go-bag", unpacked, abused on the table, and packed up for next time. Love that it is landscape instead of portrait. Great art on the front...

Disappointed I'm disappointed. Disappointed I didn't preorder and save 30% at my FLGS, that is! Oh my gosh, this thing is beautiful. And the content looks great. I've played through the starter set a couple times now and really like the game so far. I like what the PHB adds. I was/am a huge...

After playing at least weekly since the release of 3.5, DMing a 4E game at home in a completely homemade campaign (about as completely as those things can be, anyway) since August of '08, fiddling with my own "rules light" 4E system almost constantly, and organizing and running a table at...

These pop up on Etsy all the time. My wife got me a sweet red and black one from Crystalsidyll's shop for my birthday. I'm not sure what it cost, but it was no more than $20, not including shipping. Mine is very similar to this design : Etsy Transaction - Dragonhide Dice Bag in red and black...

(This is me being 80% knee-jerk contrarian, 19% done with new 4E releases, and 1% exploiting an opportunity for Ren & Stimpy nostalgia. I'd usually be very interested in the Shadowfell and Monster Vault supplements and the dungeon tiles, but I seem to be suffering a serious case of the dreaded...

Regarding conditions, as DM I find I miss them (and the effects that end them—Affected Character's EOT, Save, EOT of Character That Applied, etc.) much less often when I can note them besides their name on the Combat Pad. That doesn't help the PCs much. For that I have become a huge, huge, huge...

I hadn't heard of Masterplan before. Looks neat. Oh, it's Windows-only. Shoot. I thought it was a web-based program at first. Doesn't work for my Mac-only world, but I'm glad I know it exists. Masterplan looks very cool. I'd be surprised that WotC doesn't have something like this if I wasn't...

I'll start: Nothing has made my life as a DM easier and our games better than Paizo's GameMastery Combat Pad. Yes, you can do (and hopefully are doing) all the same stuff on a sheet of paper. But this takes it to another level. Dry-erase makes it so nice to add and remove notes. Color-coded...

We're years into the 4th Edition and months into Essentials. You have the critical stuff: You have the skills. You have the books and/or electronic tools and the DM screen. You have dice for you and dice for players. You have plenty of pencils and paper, maps, and tokens and minis. You...

I was only talking in context of Essentials, viewing it as a "beginner/casual" 4E as opposed to core 4E's full richness. My argument is that if a goal of Essentials was to simplify the game, they didn't go far enough and should have done something with feats too.

The argument between feats or no feats is essentially the argument between AD&D and original/basic D&D. AD&D is all about using the rules to customize your character. With original/basic D&D, a fighter is a fighter is a fighter as far as the rules are concerned; the only customization is...

The D&D Encounters adventures have gotten pretty good at slow-rolling the players. There are generally 4-5 encounters with only short rests allowed. This slowly makes them use up their surges until they enter the last fight of the encounter with just a handful left across the party. It's...

Here's the thing about the delve format: focusing on tactical combat paints you into this corner. Tactical combat: what does this mean if you don't know the territory, the enemies' position, etc? Conditions: how do you push, pull, slide, restrain movement, unless you know where you are in...

Personally, I think it's a tool that can be used well (as it is in March of the Phantom Brigade, Red Hand of Doom, and The Slaying Stone). But it has been overused by over earnest or lazy editors to bad effect.

To see the delve format done right, DM the current season of Encounters. March of the Phantom Brigade is an outstanding adventure that has tweaked the format so it flows very nicely and you don't have the flipping back and forth problem of the older style. It presents a setting: the ruins (and...

This is a poll based on the Legends and Lore column of 29 March by Mike Mearls.

Yes, I have. I have a system I call DS4E which could stand for "the damn small version of the fourth edition of our favorite table-top rpg". It's evolved over the years and I mostly use it to free-form roleplay. Never tried a It's much simpler than what you propose. Characters are just the...

WotC is not in trouble. Magic: the Gathering has never been more popular in paper form. My understanding is that Magic Online has basically recovered from the v3 fiasco and is printing money. The console game is hugely popular. Also, Duel Masters is also very successul in Southeast Asian...