At some point, you've probably seen the cliched "brooding loner" character: hooded, sitting by themselves, maybe toying with a weapon. They're a strong independent adventurer with a dark past and a tortured psyche. When you look at them, you get a sullen glare in response. This character ends up not working, even when you try … Continue reading The secret to a fun roleplaying character
A year ago, I ran a module in which the adventurers needed to get into a city unseen. They received a message to meet at a particular location outside the city; when they arrived, no contact or obvious hideout awaited them. The adventure text told the DM to have the players make a Perception roll: … Continue reading Avoiding boring failures
On quiet nights here at home, my daughter (just shy of 11 years old) occasionally asks if we can play D&D together. Tonight, I told her that we'd try something a little different. Rather than try to slog through a nerfed version of the Lost Mine of Phandelver, we'd do things the way I did when … Continue reading Microlite20 and solo play: winging it
I just received my shipment of Scenes of Chance from Twizz Entertainment via Kickstarter. https://twitter.com/technoskald/status/528321964394299392 This system-neutral supplement basically consists of a deck of cards, where each card is about twice the size of a traditional playing card. Each card has several icons printed on it. I choose a card with an appropriate scene (say, … Continue reading Review: Scenes of Chance
Wizards of the Coast released the Table of Contents for the Dungeon Master's Guide as part of their participation in the Extra Life fundraiser this weekend. I've been anticipating this preview for some time, probably like most everyone else playing D&D 5e. Looking at the contents Even from just this table of contents, we can … Continue reading Dungeon Master’s Guide Table of Contents Preview
A recent question on /r/rpg caught my eye and I thought I'd write a bit more on my thoughts about it. Here's the core: I love the game but everyone (including myself) seems disappointed when combat happens. I try to narrate it a bunch and make it exciting with surprises and stuff but it still … Continue reading Gamers who don’t enjoy combat
Compare: You can tell that the goblin is lying. versus The goblin glances from side to side, looking for any excuse to cover his lies. You can tell that the temple has not been visited in some time. versus A thick layer of dust indicates that the ancient temple has not seen any visitors for years. You can … Continue reading You can tell that…
Technoskald's Forge 