Delving into the West Marches RPG Campaign Style
About a year ago there was a notable resurgence of an old RPG campaign style dubbed West Marches within the tabletop roleplaying game community, especially in the Dungeons & Dragons circles. This happened to be the first time I had heard about this method of play and decided to take a stab at it. In this article, and others to come, I will be opening up about my experience of building a play area within a sprawling campaign, my reactions to the dozens of sessions, and what I did to make this campaign style something more in-line with my taste as a Game Master.
Can One Spell Change the Way D&D is Played?
Small things or changes can greatly effect the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons gaming experience. Like how easy it is to figure out what the magic items in the dragon’s hoard do. In earlier editions of D&D the identify spell existed, but it wasn’t as potent when it came to examining magic items.
Stream of Many Eyes, a Rubber Chicken, and You — Memorable Campaigns for D&D
A cult strives to bring their dragon goddess into the world to wreak havoc. Demons from the Abyss invade the Underdark. Evil elementals build a powerbase in an ancient temple. A vampire holds sway over a cursed land. Giants compete to establish a new cosmic order. An archlich inflicts a terrible curse upon the world. Great campaigns all around. Fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players around the world have saved the multiverse from these threats countless times. And the upcoming Stream of Many Eyes will reveal the next campaign for adventurers to tackle. But it’s the How and not the What that makes these memorable campaigns.
Create Plot Hooks and Adventures in Your D&D Campaign Through Crime and Punishment
We like to do Game Master Tips via videos over on the Nerdarchy YouTube Channel. You can check out a playlist here with well over 200 videos on Game Master tips. As a matter of fact when we first met Satine Phoenix who took over GM Tips on Geek and Sundry from Matt Mercer she told us something that completely blew us away.
Dungeon Master the Art of Running a Great D&D Game
I thought what I would do for this guide is share with you the lessons I’ve learned when it comes to being a D&D Dungeon Master. I’ll get to work on some other blogs like this very soon. One of which will be on the Prisoner Dilemma. I’m still in the midst of making a video on my YouTube channel for getting started with roleplaying, which should hopefully be out soon. Anyway, on to the show!
All The Comforts of Home! Tips and Tricks for D&D Halfling Creature Comforts
The halfling race in Dungeons & Dragons is most often defined by an appreciation for home and a need for the sanctuary of creature comforts. To many other races, even elves, this often lends to halflings being looked upon as soft, needy, or unfit for the world at large. Halflings of course, will tell you this is quite correct and also completely wrong. For this diminutive race home goes well beyond their well appointed under-hill dwellings. A halfling’s home will always be in their heart and no matter where they go the will have a part of it with them. Moreover, these small gregarious folk have the gift of creating a community wherever they may be and, more importantly, with anyone they grow close to. In this regard, an adventuring party can become a surrogate family to a halfling travelling far from home.
Engaging Players around the RPG Table is a Group Effort
For a Game Master running a session for a group of players, whether it’s fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, Kids on Bikes, Weave or any of the wonderful roleplaying games out there (and there’s a lot, for any taste!) the key to success around the table is engagement. We hear that word a lot in the RPG space, and engaging players is a frequent topic for GMs seeking advice and tips. What exactly does it mean, and how do you do it?
By My Beard! Tricks and Items for D&D Dwarves Beards
Say the word “dwarf” to a fantasy fan and the first thing that likely comes to mind is their opulent beards. Throughout the majority of fantasy literature and roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, dwarves are immediately identified with the follicle splendor of their facial hair. What follows is a brief collection of ideas for ways in which dwarves might use or augment their beards. While background information and D&D mechanics have been provided this is more to provide easy inclusion in a game. Feel free to alter the game mechanics to suit your style of play.
Playing D&D Games without All the Party Roles is Out of Control
Jumping back into playing D&D without filling out all the party roles we’re taking a look at the controller this time, typically a role filled only by wizard in D&D games. Up until the launch of 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons it was either wizard or druid exerting control on the battlefield, and later came the sorcerer. You could always get some control from your cleric too, but that means they won’t be laying down the healing during your D&D games from them.
Running the Double Cross on Your D&D Adventuring Party
It can be a lot of fun for the Dungeon Master and a player in a D&D adventuring party to run a long con on the rest of the players, whether this is something planned out from the very beginning of a campaign or something that evolves out of the ongoing story line.
Infusing Myth and Folklore into D&D Trolls
Trolls as depicted in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons products bear little more than a superficial resemblance to the creature of myth and lore they are based on. Like many creatures from our past they have been compartmentalized and streamlined for the sake of mechanics until they are truly a different creature. While it is in no way meant to be an exhaustive or completely academic article, this exercise attempts to bring back some of the ancient context from whence the troll came.
Doling Out Descriptive Details as a Dungeon Master
Salutations, nerds! I’ve recently been running into a recurring problem, both personally at the roleplaying game table and hearing about it through stories other people have told, regarding scenery detail and how the Dungeon Master breaks it down. So today we’re going to take a moment to talk about descriptive details. These crucial skills are viable for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons or any RPG.
D&D Association: Pillars of the DM Craft, Part 3
Here we are, the last article in the Pillars of the DM Craft series, where we’ll talk about association: the activities in the game world that deal with cycling back into action when the party of characters is finding their way and seeking a new goal. In many ways, association is the most nebulous of the three pillars. As I mentioned in the introductory article, it’s a catch-all for the actions of the characters that don’t directly fall into the categories of action or adventure.
Party Roles: Playing D&D Games without a Tank
“D&D Tank – is it even a really thing in the game?”
This is a comment we received on our No Tank, No Problem – Running D&D Games without Filling Party Roles video. This is our first video in the Running D&D Games without Filling Party Roles series. The truth of the matter is I’ve been playing D&D games since first edition Dungeons & Dragons we looked for someone to fill the cleric, warrior, magic-user, and thief roles to fill out the D&D adventuring party even back then.
D&D Adventure: Pillars of the DM Craft, Part 2
So far, we’ve covered the role of action throughout Dungeons & Dragons’ storied history. We’ve seen how it shifted from a heavy emphasis on combat and puzzle solving to one that balances many different kinds of conflict reflecting the enigmatic and intricate ways we as humans come across conflict in our own lives. In this article, we’ll take a look at adventure, the second pillar in my analysis of the Dungeon Master craft.
