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…
Monthly Archives: June 2011
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…
“Now that I have finally been made an officer, I fully anticipated that I would join them. I envisioned taking my place in a glorious struggle that would right wrongs and protect the weak. I pictured banners flying and sun glinting off armor and battle cries echoing from stony ramparts. Instead, I have been given…
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…
In reference to one of Charlie’s recent posts, Lindevi over at Triple Crit mentioned that not many folks would be up for getting their character pregnant in a game. The fact that I’ve never seen a PC get knocked up certainly lends credence to that. This got me thinking though. It’s a given that the…
My most important role in my first D&D adventure was not as a spellcaster or a fighter or a ranger or a druid. Instead it was as that most honorable and hallowed calling: the party Map Monkey. There were four of us in that campaign, delving deeper and deeper into a deadly trap-laden dungeon. Each fork of a tunnel, each…
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…
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…
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…
Team Intwischa is currently playtesting Zeppelin Armada, an upcoming game from Evil Hat Productions. When the playtest files were sent to me, I dutifully printed the cards on sticky name tag labels, then set about finding an old deck of cards. Only to find out my wife “cleaned” the games closet. So, here I was…