In November I had the chance to do something I’ve never done before: play Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. Technically that’s not true – I’ve played D&D 4E plenty of times as a Dungeon Master, including my gaming group’s playtest campaign. But I’ve never sat at the table as a D&D 4E player. The last … Read more
“Six men came to kill me one time. And the best of ’em carried this. It’s a Callahan full-bore auto-lock. Customized trigger, double cartridge thorough gauge. It is my very favorite gun.” — Janye, Firefly That quote is the reason why Borderlands rocks. Sure, it’s a competent shooter with some basic role-playing aspects thrown in, … Read more
Munchkin Cthulhu is the umpteenth expansion in Steve Jackson Games venerable card game line dedicated to killing monsters, stealing treasure, and stabbing your buddy in the back. This time around though, the game is infused with horrors from beyond time and space drawn from the imagination of H.P. Lovecraft … and a new game-ending mechanic … Read more
My long, dark tea time of the gaming soul came in 1995. I was one year out of college and having no luck finding a regular Dungeons & Dragons game. I was working at a daily newspaper in Stroudsburg, within walking distance of a comic book store on Main Street. And it was there that … Read more
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition gets its second full campaign setting with the release of the Eberron Campaign Guide, a setting that combines pulp, noir and everyday magic and offers a sharp break from standard D&D fare. It’s a setting in which civilization advances not through technological breakthroughs, but arcane ones, giving rise to trains, … Read more
In the waning days of World War II, the Nazis awoke the world-strangling Midgard serpent, nearly triggering the Norse end of days known as Ragnarok. Their plan was foiled by the Americans, who flew an atomic- bomb-laden aircraft into the Serpent’s miles-wide eye, slaying it in blinding flash of nuclear fire.
Betrayal at the House on the Hill is a collaborative board game in which players explore an ancient house on a lonely hill, seeking to unlock its secrets … and its horrors.
It’s a dynamic game whose map is randomly generated each game using a series of tiles representing the basement, first floor and second floor of the house, with a new tile drawn every time a player enters a new room. Players take on the role of one of several adventurers tasked with exploring this haunted house. Each adventurer is represented by a stat card representing key abilities such as speed, strength and will. Different adventurers have different strengths — the preacher is strong in will but weak in physical abilities, while the boy explorer has a high speed, but low willpower.
When my group playtested D&D 4th Edition, I immediately thought that that the new rules could work well in Eberron, particular in its pulp-ish, high-adventure incarnation. The lost continent, the dinosaur-riding halflings, the magical technology — it all seemed like it would mesh well with 4E’s default power setting, but unfortunately, Wizards decided to destroy, … Read more
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is seeing a nice publicity bump from its second round of major book releases as PHB 2, Arcane Power, Monster Manual 2, Eberron Campaign Setting and DMG 2 all hit the stands over the next few months. Right now the focus is on the just-released Monster Manual 2, which a … Read more
Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures is that rarest of WotC digital products: one that actually delivers. Wizards of the Coast’s litany of digital failure is long. D&D Master Tools. D&D eTools. D&D Insider. Gleemax. All overhyped, and under delivered. Yet here’s Tiny Adventures for Facebook, a simple but surprisingly addictive little app that no one … Read more