From the category archives:

Dungeons and Dragons

D&D Encounters – My Thoughts So Far

by Bob

So, for the past four weeks I’ve been running D&D Encounters at my FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store). For those of you who aren’t familiar, feel free to visit the D&D Encounters Website over at WotC.
In a nutshell, D&D Encounters is to D&D what Friday Night Magic is to Magic: The Gathering. It’s an organized [...]

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Building Player Anticipation

by Bob

One of the most important skills you can have as a DM is building anticipation in your players. When your players are excited about the game, they’re going to be more likely to really get into their roles. Not only will the “in character” aspect of your game improve, combat and technical sequences will go [...]

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Create Your Own Dungeons And Dragons Convention

by Bob

In 2007, we skipped Gen Con.
You see, my Dungeons and Dragons gaming group is an interesting mix of folks. We’ve got small business owners, health care professionals, a college professor, IT professionals, fast food workers, an electrician, housewives, and even someone in the printing business.
Oh, and then there’s me, but you all know what I [...]

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Vancian Magic and Dungeons and Dragons 4E

by Bob

After an interesting play session last Friday, something occurred to me:
Fourth edition truly puts the nail in the coffin of Vancian magic. The wizard I ran in that game felt much more like a traditional fantasy wizard. I felt very Gandalf, at least in terms of combat, and rituals had my back when it came [...]

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How Does Indianapolis Feel About Gen Con?

by Bob

You know, I lived in Indianapolis for a couple of years. I loved the city. There were plenty of resources for gamers, and the folks were, on average, just nice folks. My in-laws live in Indy, so when Gen Con moved to Indy I was stoked. It meant that, if we planned things right, I’d [...]

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Sunday Link Smashup for August 31, 2008

by Bob

photo credit: disavian | Got Links?

Just a few quick links for you all today. After last week, I figured I’d take it easy on you!
Coop at Pen and Paper Portal offers a balanced review of Dungeons and Dragons 4E. He was a bit harder than I thought necessary on the Dungeon Master’s Guide, with [...]

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What Makes A Spell Or Power Useful In An RPG?

by Bob

I’ve had an article on the site for more than a year called The Best Wizard Spells in Dungeons and Dragons. On Saturday, I found this comment on the article:
ANY spell is useful. You just have to use your imagination and get creative. Just because DMs only know to to do adventures that involve killing [...]

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3 Reasons Why I’m Not Running Pathfinder

by Bob

One of the things that naturally comes about in a discussion of switching from D&D to another game system is Pathfinder. Because the community has embraced Pathfinder as a way for fans of 3rd Edition to continue playing their game while getting new product, there is this illusion that the whole world is in “D&D [...]

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Sunday Link Smashup for August 24, 2008

by Bob

photo credit: disavian | Got Links?

Lots of amazing links for you today, in the wake of Gen Con. Let’s get started, shall we?
I want to take a moment to welcome Mike Mearls to the D&D blogosphere. Mike is one a handful of truly GREAT game designers, IMHO. Check out his inaugural post entitled In [...]

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What I Learned from Gen Con 2008 – Part 2

by Bob

Last time, I offered a few observations on Gen Con 2008. Today, I want to continue that theme, but focus in a bit on the RPG side of things. I want to tell you what Gen Con did for me, in terms of my approach to gaming.
Back in March, I wrote about The 4E Malaise, [...]

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