The key to virtual play is crafting a online Dungeon Master’s Toolkit that works for you. Just like my physical dungeon master’s toolbox, the online one makes my life easier. It cuts down on prep time, creates robust visuals for battle maps and illustrations, and keeps me focused. Adventure Prep Battle Map Creation Virtual Tabletop … Read more
My favorite character sheets are easily the AD&D Player Character Record Sheets, also known as the “goldenrod” character sheets because they were printed on heavy, goldenrod paper. This is purely a nostalgic pick; some of my first “real” characters for Dungeons & Dragons were written up using these sheets, which came pre-printed in sheets within a folio … Read more
Let’s see, in 20 years I’ll be 71 … so yeah, the answer will still be Dungeons & Dragons. Hopefully, it’ll be with the Blackrazor Guild, but if not, there’s always the grandchildren and their friends. More important, I think, is how we will play these games and what opportunities for community we’ll have in … Read more
My all-time favorite con module is “Barbarian Lives”, which was the featured module for the RPGA Dungeons & Dragons Open at GenCon in Milwaukee back in … 1998? 1999? A three-round event, the D&D 2nd Edition scenario rewarded role-playing, with people voting on who should advance to the next round. The story itself was a … Read more
Forge of Fury is my favorite published adventure, for sheer playability through two generations of gamers. The first time I encountered it, the Forge of Fury formed the foundation of our dwarven Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition campaign. We all played dwarves intent on reclaiming the forge for our clan, eventually re-establishing a hidden dwarven … Read more
Many years ago, the Blackrazor Guild was one of the most prominent (and notorious) adventuring guilds of the Free City of Obsidian Bay. The guild’s adventurers fought in wars against the orc despot Turrosh Mak, did their best to repel the invasion of Obsidian Bay by the Scarlet Brotherhood (they failed), and accidentally flooded the … Read more
My most memorable character demise was Zilanderan, at the hands of the resurgent Fire cultists of the Temple of Elemental Evil. He was a starting character in the Blackrazor’s Redshirts campaign, in which we all played first-level characters who belonged to the Blackrazor Guild (our fictional adventuring guild in the world of Greyhawk). We had … Read more
The answer to the question “Old Game You Still Play?” could go a couple of ways, but I’ll change it up to be “the oldest game you still play”. The answer had been GURPS Lite (1998) which powered our Generically Fast and Furious lunchtime game but that campaign wrapped in January 2023. D&D 5th Edition … Read more
Out of all the many PCs I’ve played, Merywn the Spellsword is my favorite character. He was my second character for the Blackrazors’ Return to Temple of Elemental Evil campaign (aka the Redshirts campaign, featuring no-name, low-level minions of the Blackrazor Guild getting in WAY over their heads. My first character, Zilanderin, died at the … Read more
From a marketing and design perspective, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. After 4e split the fan base, 5e reunited it by streamlining the game, resurrecting elements that people loved, and bounding the math so that bonus stacking (and the GM/player arms race it forced) was no longer a thing. It runs fast at low, mid, … Read more