Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Or at least that’s what I hear from the theme song to “Cheers”… But it’s possible for today’s adventurer (in any incarnation of D&D) to get by with just enough tools to carve out their niche in the dark and looming wilderness. In the…
Tag Archives: Game Ready Content
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…
Rolling now. A 4 and a 1. Some adventurers are fierce take-no-mercy dungeon-delving veterans. They can look in the eye of a blue dragon without flinching, and can laugh off the profane threats of a vampire. These characters unthinkingly throw themselves into heroic actions, trusting both the need for justice in the world and their…
(Rolling now. A 4 and a 3.) Perched upon a stalactite, far out of reach of the bullseye lantern of his former adventuring company, the ghost of Enyo cackles soundlessly. “They laughed,” he chortles to a nearby bat who takes no notice of the specter, “they laughed when I called myself ‘assassin.’ They mocked me…
Arrows, O how I hate counting thee! Whether the game is B/X D&D, Shadowrun, or 4th Edition D&D, players have for years forgotten to keep good track of mundane consumables like food and arrows. Why? It just ain’t fun. More important numbers like hit points are fun to keep track of, because hey, if they’re…
I love coming up with an elaborate character backstory. I suck at remembering it in play. Thus, my character sheets end up a study in marginalia: scrawled near the top of the sheet is the reminder that this character is characterized by a wise laziness and always seeks the most effective path of least resistance….
Enyo Tanicus was a bard with one thing on his mind as he adventured: fame. His adventuring compatriots often looked on with annoyance as he secretively scrawled his twisted interpretation of the party’s exploits in his journal, which was titled (in childish script): “The Adventures of Enyo and his followers.” Enyo, caught up in writing…
Todays edition of Gamer Cheat Sheets deals with a non-conflict oriented staple of RPGs: locks and how to unlock them. As someone who has picked a lock or two in my life, I can honestly say that the satisfaction of “solving” a lock is incredible. The subtle pop of an unlocked lock feels like a…
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…
“Steal This Idea” is an ongoing series in which an element from the media is examined for use in games. These articles will provide a basic description of the scene in which the element occurs is necessary to introduce the idea for gaming, and hooks to use that idea in various kinds of RPGs. We…