Gaming Tonic
Explorer
With the holidays just around the corner it appears that goodwill and peace on earth are in the air. Well that is why I suggest you spend some time in the Feywild and hang out in Baba Yaga's hut this year. What to expect in the Book of Vile Darkness and evil characters also help set the balance right. I will cut it short, heading to Wizards of the Coast in a couple hours and keep reading to find out more about that. - Behind Every Good DM, Part 2 by Chris Perkins in The Dungeon Master Experience is the second piece at a look at his home game set in the world of Iomandra and his players thoughts on the campaign. You can see what his players think about the game and these are some high profile gamers so check it out.
[*]Miranda Horner gives you Treasure just in time for Christmas. With the release of Heroes of the Feywild we are given three fey-themed items to play with, a lute, a vial, and the hilarious to imagine gold horn caps with mesh. This is a great take on treasure that isn't vorpal swords and magic armor.
[*]The Supporting Cast by Stephen Radney-McFarland takes an in-depth look at one of the often overlooked parts of the setting, the people who populate it. I believe that memorable and remarkable NPC's are what really sell the game and the setting. This is an excellent read.
[*]Taking on a sensitive subject in Touch of Evil, Chris Perkins examines evil in D&D. The Book of Vile Darkness is looming and this sort of book has stirred up gamers in the past so it is good to get some of his thoughts on something that can be so controversial.
[*]The Art Gallery for Dragon 405 has arrived. Add these to the portraits that you use in the DDI Character Builder or use them to represent NPC's in your game. If you are like me and have trouble drawing stick figures than you will really appreciate this.
[*]Map and Art Galleries from Dungeon 196 are here as well. I always think that the pictures from Dungeon are great to use in your game to save time on lengthy descriptions. If you don't run the adventure you can still use these to enhance your games.
[*]Keep up with Krozat the Mighty in Epic Campaign #18 by Aaron Williams. If you grew up reading Dragonmirth then you will love this comic that just keeps getting better.
[*]December:In the Works by Bart Carroll gives you the scoop on what is in Santa's bag and going on at the workshop. Get a further look at the Book of Vile Darkness, E-Books that you can expect, Lair Assault, Heroes of Elemental Chaos, and more.
[*]Robert J. Scwhalb and Matt Sernett team up to bring you Making Races Count, Part 2, Utility Powers for Drow, Eladrin, and Elves in Dragon 405. Utility powers are one of my favorite things in 4E and this article gives you many racial utilities to choose from.
[*]It's your turn so Monte Cook examines What Can You Do? in Legends and Lore. The turn has changed to allow players to do more on their turn but has it changed enough or too much? Tell Monte what you think after you finish reading. Click here for the EN World thread talking about this.
[*]Round up your paragon characters and enter Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut, an adventure for characters 13-15 level by Craig Campbell for Dungeon 196. This adventure has a whole lot for your players all under one roof. I couldn't resist saying that, forgive me. Check out what all of you at EN World are saying about this huge adventure here.
[*]It appears that Jared von Hindman has caught the Fey fever in D&D Outsider:Heroes of the Fey Gone Wild. We are treated to even more great material in support of Heroes of the Feywild. This article has a lot of great talking points so don't miss it.
[*]Multi-classing and keeping PC power in check our the topics for Rich Baker in Rule of Three this week. I am happy to see the power creep scale being addressed, and have long thought that multi-classing could use more support.
[*]Confused about how to build a magical hut then read Design & Development: Designing the Dancing Hut by Craig Campbell. Take a look back at the history of this classic dwelling and insight into the massive adventure in Dungeon 196.
