D&D

Blogworthy: Believing Virus Myths, NASA Worm, Stargate RPG, Kool Aid Man, Skyrim Mods, Mars Rover, Galactic World Building

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Why smart people believe coronavirus myths talks about a phenomenon I’ve seen too many times to count: Otherwise intelligent people retweeting or re-posting questionable content without thinking it through. Case in point: people stating as fact that individuals are getting reinfected with COVID-19. There are certainly cases where people who have had the disease test … Read more

Game Day – Learning Roll20

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A screenshot of the Roll20 virtual desktop featuring several character icons and a turn tracker.

My lunchtime Dragon Heist campaign is powered by Roll20, not because we’re playing remotely, but because we need a virtual tabletop to maintain state between sessions. With only an hour to play each week, we didn’t want to spend time setting up and tearing down the battle map. I purchased the Dragon Heist module for the system, giving me ready access … Read more

Blogworthy: D&D, Greyhawk, Free Maps, Pandemic, Vader vs. Kenobi

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It’s Gonna Be Easier Than Ever To Play Dungeons & Dragons: IGN looks at the new Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Starter Set, which includes a 64-page rulebook for creating characters from levels 1-5 (bard, cleric fighter, rogue, wizard) and a new introductory adventure, “Dragon of Icespire Peak”. From what they describe, I think this has the potential … Read more

Game Day: Blackmoor

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A close up view of blue/black dice and a tiefling warlock. In the background is an old-school style character sheet.

After the end of our long-running Obsidian Frontier campaign, we decided to venture to a little-explored region of Greyhawk: the Archbarony of Blackmoor. Inspired by Dave Arneson‘s legendary campaign setting of the same name (one of Dungeons & Dragons first-ever settings), Blackmoor promises a mix of ancient magic, weird technology, and the strangeness of the Egg of … Read more

Game Day: Delving into Waterdeep

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A close up of several Waterdeep-centric role-playing game books.

My Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign kicks off in October. Anyone who’s played Dungeons & Dragons for any length of time has likely heard of Waterdeep, the famous “City of Splendors” in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. The nearby megadungeon of Undermountain is equally legendary. Even the Blackrazor Guild (my Sunday group and diehard Greyhawkers), know of Waterdeep and it’s dungeon, which served … Read more

Game Day: Lunchtime Gaming Revisited

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A cloaked figure holds a gauntlet before his face, while a rogues gallery of heroes looks on from behind.

The Gamer Working Group, my lunchtime gaming crew, is restarting this month with Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (Amazon), Wizards of the Coast’s new urban adventure set in the City of Splendors. It’s my first full-time campaign set in the Forgotten Realms, WotC’s signature campaign setting. Historically my group played in the World of Greyhawk, which has … Read more

Game Day: Autumn 2018 Shopping List

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A cloaked figure holds a gauntlet before his face, while a rogues gallery of heroes looks on from behind.

There’s a lot of cool role-playing game material coming out this autumn. I find myself flitting from product to product, excited at the prospect of picking a new game, then realizing that my budget can only support so many purchases. Thus the shopping list. It’s largely aspirational — again, the budget can only support so … Read more

#RPGaDay2018 – Share something you learned about playing your character

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A close up view of the spines of numerous role-playing game books.

As I’ve gotten older, I think the characters I’ve enjoyed the most are the ones who’ve grown organically during the game, becoming something I didn’t quite expect when I sat down at the table. Briggs Foehammer: I expected my character for our Heart of Darkness online campaign to be a paragon of the new dwarven … Read more

#RPGaDay2018 – Share a friendship you’ve had because of RPGs

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A close up view of the spines of numerous role-playing game books.

My gaming group, the Blackrazor Guild. Over the last 22 years we’ve fought demons, slain dragons, burned down a city (not on purpose), and accidentally let demons invade our hometown (also not on purpose). We’ve also gotten married and had kids. A few of us have gotten divorced and married again. We’ve dealt with health … Read more

#RPGaDay2018 – Your gaming ambitions for the next year

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A close up view of the spines of numerous role-playing game books.

My overarching ambition is to continue making time for games. It’s difficult, with the day job, marriage, one kid in high school, the other in middle school, the day job, and all of the activities that go along with them. We’ve got Boy Scouts, marching band, softball, baseball, Seeing Eye Puppy Raising … it’s a … Read more