Play By The Rules: Veteran Warhorse

In an earlier post, Chase commented on the lamentable lack of options for mounted characters in 4E Dungeons & Dragons.  As the DM running the adventure that his mounted character was a part of, I heartily agreed.  Prior to the game, he petitioned me for a mount that reflected his character’s training and expertise; “Can’t I get something…

Adventurer’s Team-Building Retreat

I heard a story on public radio several years ago that NASCAR had surpassed hockey as the fourth most watched “sporting event” in American television viewership. The commentator theorized that this trend might stem from a shift in American values from team sports to individual sports. Now, leaving aside… that public radio news commentators might…

Stranger Than Fiction: George Washington

Stranger Than Fiction is an ongoing series looking at history, mythology, and folk tales.  These stories offer a wealth of inspiration for your games.  Just about any theme you can think of can be found by looking back at human history: battles, intrigue, treachery, and heroism.  It may seem strange that we group these sources…

New App: Dice Roller 0.1

Here’s the latest addition to the Intwischa App collection: the Dice Roller.  This one is still a work in progress, but I thought I’d make it public for testing purposes.  It currently supports five rolling variants: standard, FreeFATE, Fudge, Hits, and Shadowrun 4e.  I’ve got more features planned for later versions that will hopefully make…

Ritual-Driven Adventures: The Rites of the Druids

When Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition introduced the concept of ritual magic, I thought, “Cool!” When I actually played around with it, I thought, “Cool concept, but it needs some work.” What if… rituals were long, drawn-out feats of magic that could produce effects that rivaled magic items? rituals were so long, and required so…

When Bad Things Happen to Good GMs

As the saying goes, “…Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  Speaking as someone who has run a decent share of role-playing games, I must confess that the temptation to impose your will on a setting or story you have created (or are creating) is sometimes undeniable.  I’ve had several lovingly crafted plots foiled completely by the willful…