Become a Great Game Master with Epic Battlemaps
I can’t even guess how many times I relied almost exclusively on a great map to help run a fun tabletop roleplaying game session. Vibrant maps catch your eye, inspire your imagination and evoke a sense of realism and being there. Details provide touchstones for description and dynamic scenarios, scenery hints at fantastic locales and the space on a map simply provides context for the adventure space. So a book of ready to play, immersive and indispensable fold-out maps that fit in your backpack and make a Game Master’s life easier makes the best kind of resources for your RPG collection.
Navigating Natural Hazards from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Since the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons I’ve been captivated by the Dungeon Master’s Tools in chapter 4 of the book. Taking time to let new content and concepts roll around in my mind and really consider the value for all 5E D&D players gave me a deep appreciation for the material. Like the other sections — Session Zero, Sidekicks, Parleying With Monsters, Supernatural Regions, Magical Phenomena and Puzzles — this last bit of content to cover isn’t very long but Natural Hazards comes packed with great ideas and inspiration. So let’s get into it.
Enjoy 5E D&D Quality of Life with Optional Class Features from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted ponder the implications of a quantum leap forward in character options for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons ushered in through Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Chapter 1 of the latest official sourcebook for 5E D&D introduces optional class features for all 12 character classes from the Player’s Handbook. (Artificer appears in the book as well making a debut outside Eberron: Rising From the Last War as a 13th class option.)
Magical Phenomena Materialize from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players received an adrenaline shot with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything injecting a huge number of new subclasses and character options. Like its predecessor Xanathar’s Guide to Everything the latest sourcebook includes a wealth of material for Dungeon Masters too. The back half of the book segues into a resources blending concrete rules with guidance for incorporating fun and engaging content into 5E D&D games. Layering adventures and encounters with these elements brings new dynamics to campaigns and this time around I’m taking a closer look at Magical Phenomena. So let’s get into it.
Supernatural Regions Bubble Forth from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Dungeon Master’s Tools found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything certainly delivers a wonderful variety of resources to help Dungeon Masters and players alike build fantastic fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. All the new subclasses and character options get creative juices flowing no doubt about it but the real juice is the juicy tools in chapter 4 of the new 5E D&D book. Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything brands one of my absolute favorite components of a memorable moment inspiring circumstances with the term Supernatural Regions. So let’s get into it.
Find Adventure Over, Under or Across WizKids 4D Settings: Stone Bridge
When I look for affordable scenery and setting terrain for my tabletop roleplaying games the 4D line by WizKids is really taking off. There are so many great pieces and sets now available and even more on the horizon. The 4D line recently released the Settings: Stone Bridge.
Discover the City of Lost Omens with Exciting New WizKids Miniatures
When you look at prepainted miniatures for tabletop gaming WizKids continues to stay at the top of the game. Whether you are playing Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder or any number of other fantasy roleplaying games, miniatures from WizKids are great and the new City of Lost Omens set is no exception. I always look forward to the next set of miniatures from WizKids as each one gives me new options for threats to challenge characters and adventuring parties. In addition to the blind purchase in recent years WizKids began doing the nonblind purchase associated with each set. I am a huge nerd and collector when it comes to miniatures in particular. The minis included with City of Lost Omens inspired tons of ideas to bring to the gaming table already.
Designing Frontier Settings Like Icewind Dale for 5E D&D
Hey Folks! By now you’re likely aware Wizards of the Coast’s next big offering for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Set in the titular Icewind Dale this new campaign adventure has been described by Chris Perkins as a horror story and various interviews and discussions of reveal it plays on themes of isolation, paranoia and an unforgiving environment. Inspirations for the book include movies such as Alien, The Thing and even Jaws. I don’t know about you all, but I’m on board. But I don’t play in the Forgotten Realms. Why am I so thrilled for this new book? The answer is simple. I have been working on my own cold weather setting for a while now and this promises to be an amazing tool box for my own personal campaign much in the same way that Tomb of Annihilation proved invaluable in my current nautical, island hopping campaign. I’m sure there will be a good amount of source material surrounding the adventures much like previous 5E D&D books. It has already been revealed there will be a whole lot of new monsters leaning toward cold climates.
Dungeon Tiles Perfected by WizKids WarLock Tiles
Back in December I was at PAX Unplugged and I got to have a conversation with the lovely people over at WizKids. They had a lot of projects on the horizon and I have even shared a bunch of them with all you wonderful people. Just released, hot off the presses if you will, are the amazing WarLock Tiles. These fully painted, durable and double sided tiles are perfect for setting up your dungeon scene or creepy castle hallways. The only limitation is your imagination.
Locathah and Tortle Explore Fish Out of Water Adventure for 5E D&D
Over on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discussed the best classes to play for locathah and tortle characters in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Both of these aquatic adjacent races were introduced to 5E D&D through DMs Guild products where all the monies Wizards of the Coast receives from sales of the PDFs are donated to Extra Life. Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised more than $30 million for sick and injured kids. Maybe it’s the single class party composition series we’ve been doing or the Hell & High Water expansion for 1985 Games’ Dungeon Craft product line, but adventuring parties sharing a common element have been on my mind lately.
A Legion of Monsters and Heroes with Pathfinder Battles: Ruins of Lastwall Miniatures
It is time to look at some more miniatures. This time we are going to look at Pathfinder Battles: Ruins of Lastwall miniatures from WizKids. One of the things I really enjoy about the Pathfinder minis is these sets occasionally come with set dressings or terrain pieces. By slowly adding new items to my collection I get inspired by the items that have come out of the boxes. Some things I might not choose to purchase if I just saw them on the table, but if I get them by chance, I already have them so might as well use them.
Build Your World on the Table with Dungeons & Lasers
Hello gamer friends out there. There are lots of ways to use terrain in your tabletop roleplaying games and there are loads of options when you are looking at modular dungeon tiles. I am here today to talk to you about one of those options — Dungeons & Lasers now on Kickstarter.
Strongholds and Followers from MCDM
Many of us look back at the old editions of Dungeons & Dragons with rose-colored glasses. Reminiscing about THAC0 and the uniqueness of the old races and classes. One thing I always liked though that slowly died out was strongholds as a level reward. This mostly died off after second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. There was the Strongholds and Builders Guide in 3.5, but I found it more of a Dungeon Master supplement and players never gave it a glance. This goes back to something removed from D&D — politics. Old settings like Birthright, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and Ravenloft all had factions that lead to a lot of political intrigue and plots. Due to this it was not uncommon for people to be awarded baronies in these games and used as quest points themselves. As the editions changed, we would see the leadership feat come and go, and followers and cohorts fall to the wayside. Now from the brilliant mind of Matt Colville and the creative staff from MCDM they have returned these things to the light with the 5E D&D supplement Strongholds & Followers. For those of you unfamiliar with Matt Colville you can check out his Running the Game series over here. Let’s take a look at the book.
D&D Dungeon Design: How big is too big?
It’s right in the name of the game Dungeons & Dragons. For decades we’ve all sat there with our graph paper or loose leaf and sketched out maps for terrifying dungeons. Some dungeons now even have a place in the game history like Tomb of Horrors. Over time dungeons have even evolved to a thing called the megadungeon, much like Rappan Athuk from Frog God Games or Undermountain as featured in the upcoming Dungeon of the Mad Mage. These super dungeons are huge and go on for days, with shortcuts through out just to get back to the surface occasionally. These aren’t designed for your typical “Go in, kill the goblins, loot and run out” adventures. The big question for dungeon design now is, how big is too big? You don’t want the party to say they’re done part way through, and you don’t want to be designing it and toss the map aside in exhaustion. Let’s look at some things that should help you mentally with dungeon design and how it relates to your story.
D&D Planar Adventures Are For Everyone — Start Your Planar Campaigns Today!
I love planar adventures in Dungeons & Dragons. And I’m not alone, based on the huge number of people out there with affection for the Planescape campaign setting first introduced in second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Typically, travel and adventure in planes of existence beyond the prime material plane of D&D is the purview of higher-level adventurers. Getting to these planes is often a challenge by itself, and surviving the dangerous environments found there can be very difficult. The laws of physics and magic are often different, and simply being there at all can be a hazard to a character’s life. But you can forget all that, and take adventures across the multiverse of dimensions and create planar campaigns right from the get-go if you want.
