Take The Bet In practice, there’s a finite number of encounters used to start typical new campaigns. There’s no shortage of low level/ challenge monsters, but many are just used in mobs at higher levels or as secondary encounters. The […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Bring the Boom Spells like fireball and burning hands make the distinction that only bits of paper and kindling you’re not holding burst into flames from the spell’s effect and that anything you’re holding is immune to the ravages of […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Ultimate Destruction I’ve divorced rounds from being a set time in my game. There’s the loose acknowledgement that “1 minute” spells last 10 rounds, but roughly expire after the fight. But six-second rounds just feel awkward. It’s such a short […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Over 9000 Experience Never ran a game where you had to spend a few rounds focusing and gaining energy before you reached your next level. A few groups believe in training before gaining levels. You have to practice your skills […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Level 15 Fashionista I’m honestly just amused by swapping a real worlddecade with a fantasy date, which would be a couple decades ago by the current “Dale Reckoning” of Faerûn. Although, it also works as a slightly anachronistic real world joke: […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
At World’s End When you use miniatures there’s a cap to the size of encounters: the size of the table. You can fudge things a little, moving a character off the battle map and into a formless void of abstract […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Tomb of Rage Comics I ran through the Tomb of Horrors using the Tales from the Yawning Portal reprint and my players had a lot of fun. But there was this one moment where they had just entered the tomb and were […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Hold Your Liquor I don’t think I need to explain the “hold my beer” meme. Or meme-ette, as it really involved a picture and Impact fonted text far less often than other traditional memes. If memes can even be called […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Remnants I was a Boy Scout and I always took pleasure in leaving the campsite better than when I found it. I could say I was being responsible, but really it’s me being smug and wanting to feel superiour. I […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Titled Nobility There’s a lot of goofy names in Dungeons & Dragons ranging from Tasslehoff Burrfoot to Bob the Fighter and from Drizzt Do’Urden to Pikel Bouldershoulder. To say nothing of “Melf”. Nothing makes a campaign ridiculous like a silly […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Breakfast is for the Birds Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And yet, every adventurer skips it in Dungeons & Dragons. Rations are sold and counted per day not per meal, so you open up the pack […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Extra Iron in the System As a Dungeon Master I tend to describe hit point loss as injuries rather than near misses or parries. In a recent D&D session, a mook NPC got dropped by an arrow. Full health to […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
