For decades, Dungeons & Dragons players have cobbled together custom soundtracks for their games from diverse sources, including various movie soundtracks (Conan the Barbarian, Lord of the Rings), game music tracks (Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights) and even specialized albums (Midnight Syndicate, Toxic Bag Productions). But now they have an official soundtrack, one sanctioned by the … Read more
Normally this time of year sees me putting together my GenCon Shopping List, but unfortunately I’m not going to GenCon this year. For the first time since 1999, I’m staying home, largely because a) I want to spend time with my baby daughter and b) I need to give my finances a break. But not … Read more
I watched High Fidelity the other night with my wife. It’s a movie in which the main character, played by John Cusak, is a music geek in love with vinyl. The movie’s peppered with his top five lists (both of music and break-ups) and it got me thinking about my own top five lists with … Read more
I went to GenCon with a list, and came back with about half of my desires fulfilled. The stuff I bought is excellent, but its tainted by the disappointment of three important no-shows at the con. The best games I picked up at GenCon were Alderac Entertainment Group’s Spycraft and Wizards of the Coast’s Call … Read more
3rd Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide introduces five new non-player character classes (NPCS) to the game which provide Dungeon Masters with some non-adventuring options for the common (and uncommon) folk of their campaign. This article, inspired by a debate on the Greytalk listserv about the merits of having dedicated NPC classes, looks at how I use them to enhance combat, role-playing and meta gaming in my campaign
The Manual of the Planes is a cosmological toolbox detailing the heavens, hells and strange places in between for Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition role-playing game. Written by Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, and David Noonan , the book is heir to two planar traditions: the minimalist 1st edition Manual of … Read more
Psionic abilities in previous editions of Dungeons and Dragons were awkward add-ons that only the most zealous individuals were willing to use. D&D3rd Edition’s Psionics Handbook changes all that, folding psionics almost seamlessly into the core D&D rules. The Psionics Handbook was one of the first supplemental rule books released after the three “core” D&D … Read more