Games

Wizards launches D&D 4E Test Drive

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Thinking of trying out Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, but don’t want to layout money for books? Then check out Wizards of the Coast’s new D&D Test Drive, a free set of downloads that includes: Quicstart Rules H1 Keep on the Shadowfell Pregenerated characters The free version of the D&D Character Builder (for character levels … Read more

Is this the Golden Age of Scifi RPGs?

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A strange thing is happening in RPGs: science fiction is popular again. While there have always been science fiction RPGs, they’ve always been a distant second (or more often, a distant third) to fantasy and even horror RPGs. Right now though we have three major scifi RPGs in print: Star Wars: Saga Edition, Warhammer 40k, … Read more

Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures introduces social hack’n’slash

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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

Game Day: Return of the Revenge of White Plume Mountain

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In 12 years of adventuring in Greyhawk, our group built up a number of legends, told, but never experienced. The recovery of the soul-devouring sword Blackrazor is one of them. Brant Bladescream, warrior, adventurer and conman, recovered Blackrazor from the volcanic dungeon known as White Plume Mountain and used its notoriety to found the Blackrazor Guild. … Read more

Searching for Pathfinder RPG Fan Sites

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I’ve decided to make the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game subject of one of my upcoming “Summon WebScryer” columns for Knights of the Dinner Table. The successor to D&D 3.5 (in spirit, if not in name) is going to be released this summer, so it seems like a good time to write about it. I’m looking for anything that has to do with the RPG; playtests of the beta, campaign web sites, you name it. If you know of one, please post it to the comments or email me at nuketown@gmail.com.

The Secret of Game Night for Kids

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My six-year-old daughter is a gamer. She’s had a Nintendo DS in her hands since she was three, and she’s been playing the Xbox 360 with me almost as long. She loves video games, and would play them every night (and every day) if she could, but we knew early on we’d need to set limits.

Since Stargirl was about four and a half, we’ve had Game Night twice a week. Game Night is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and lasts for one hour. She can play any game she wants — on the Xbox 360, on the DS, on my Mac, or even a good ol’board game (which she has occasionally chosen) — but she’s only got an hour.

Over the summer, we added a new wrinkle to Game Night: we take away minutes for bad behavior. Whining? Refusing to clean up your room? Yelling at your brother? Not putting your dirty laundry in the hamper? All these will cost her minutes on Game Night. She can earn these minutes back through good behavior.

Game Night’s worked out well. For one thing, it’s established clear limits on her gaming. She gets to play for two hours a week. She might get bonus game time on a Saturday night if the family decides to play the Wii, but that’s it. Game Night’s also gotten rid of the “when can I play my game?” whining that we had when she was four, and Game Night hadn’t been established yet. And it’s also helped with discipline.

Beware the Megadungeon

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Megadungeons, epic character deathtraps that have made or broken a thousand RPG campaigns, are staging a comeback. While it’s been upwards of 25-30 years since we first crawled into Castle Greyhawk and Undermountain, the Oughts saw the release of Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, World’s Largest Dungeon, Castle Whiterock, Maure Castle and now … Read more