In case you didn't know, Goodman Games will discontinue selling their line of 3.5 D&D products TODAY! Most are available in PDF format for only $2, with a couple of the big boxed sets priced at $5. Included in the sale is the megadungeon Castle Whiterock.
I purchased the PDF of Castle Whiterock from DriveThruRPG. It is delivered as four zipped files. The files include the box and index, adventure books, extras and poster maps. The PDFs are bookmarked and either have no background or include a no-background version for easy printing.
Castle Whiterock is a megadungeon in the classic sense. It contains 15 odd levels of dungeon crawling spread over almost 600 pages of content. The dungeon is spread out over four books that are colored red, blue, green and black (a sort of easter egg for the old BECMI players I assume). I was impressed by the amount of detail the authors included. You get information on everything from how the residents of a particular level respond to the adventurers' incursions to using particular sections of the dungeon as separate adventures.
In addition to the dungeon itself, a gazetteer is included that describes the Kingdom of Morrain and the town of Cillamar that players can use as a base while exploring the dungeons of the Castle. On top of this you get a comprehensive index and glossary, a poster map of Cillamar, player handouts and probably some other stuff I have left out.
I was truly astounded by the amount of content included in Castle Whiterock. And while I have only briefly read through the descriptions of the various levels, the quality of the content also appears to be high. I could not be more pleased with my purchase. Check it out today before it's gone!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
In Defense of Big Print
One of the criticisms that I read concerning the books coming out for 4th Edition D&D is that the print is 'too big' and that there is 'too much whitespace'. I can agree with those critcicisms if you just consider them from the standpoint of word count for your money. However, I belong to a very specific minority that highly benefits from the design of the new books - the extremely nearsighted.
My vision is very poor. Without glasses or contacts I am effectively blind. So I am actually very pleased that the new 4th Edition books have larger print and plenty of whitespace. It makes them much easier to read for me. I doubt that consideration for the myopic was behind this particular design decision, but I will still happily reap the benefits.
My vision is very poor. Without glasses or contacts I am effectively blind. So I am actually very pleased that the new 4th Edition books have larger print and plenty of whitespace. It makes them much easier to read for me. I doubt that consideration for the myopic was behind this particular design decision, but I will still happily reap the benefits.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Manual of the Planes: The Evolution of Rules Complexity
I often hear the cry from D&D grognards that the new versions of the game are 'too complex' or have 'too many rules'. The game has certainly grown more detailed and complex in many ways, but I noticed something curious while I was leafing through the new 4th Edition Manual of the Planes. Take the following rules snippet on moving in the Astral Sea:
"It gains the ability to fly at one half its normal speed if not under the effect of the gravity. It can hover, but it is a clumsy flier."
That's pretty much it. When characters are on the astral plane, they gain the ability to fly at half their normal movement rate (unless they can already fly). Pretty simple and to the point.
Here is the equivalent rule snip from the 1st Edition Manual of the Planes on moving in the Astral Plane:
"Mental movement is achieved by willing oneself in a direction. The maximum speed possible by this method is 10 yards per minute (30 feet per melee round) per intelligence point...Encumbrance slows down the astral traveler by 10' per round for every 10 lbs (100 gp) carried. Intelligence determines additional carrying capacity (use the Strength table on page 9 of the Player's Handbook). Magical items (but not normal items under an enchantment spell) have no encumbrance."*
*NOTE: I left out the information about physical movement versus mental movement, etc. I think that even the excerpt above more than proves my point.
Good grief. How clunky is that?! It seems that not all rules have gotten more complex over time...
Monday, December 22, 2008
What's In A Name?
As a Dungeon Master, I am always on the lookout for names. If I need to name an NPC or the tavern that the PCs just stumbled into, I need a cool name. I also hate to resort to cheesy or trite names and so it becomes a real chore to come up with fresh, campaign appropriate names. One resource that I just stumbled on is Gary Gygax's Extaordinary Book of Names. It has thousands and thousands of names, all divided up into regions. It also has chapters on place names and creating fantasy names. DriveThruRPG has the PDF on sale for $10 HERE. I also assume you can get the hard copy directly from the Troll Lords for $10 as part of their 12 Days of Christmas Holidy Sale.*
*As a side note, it looks like the Troll Lords have lots of goodies on sale for the Castles & Crusades and Gary Gygax fans. Make sure to check the sale out.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
WotC Hates Internet Explorer
When I try to view the latest Dungeoncraft article on the Wizards of the Coast website with Internet Explorer, I get a big HTTP 500 error. When I try with Google Chrome, it works fine. It seems that the web designers at WotC hate IE...
Monday, December 15, 2008
Five RPG Gifts Under $20
Role-players can be hard to shop for, but I took a shot at coming up with five quality products that should fit almost any taste. Hopefully at least one of these should satisfy the gamer on you list.
For the GM in Your Life - Gamemastery: Combat Pad
The Combat Pad from Paizo Publishing will make life easier for the Game Master in your life, no matter what system he chooses to play. The combination of erasable surface and colorful magnets makes the chore of running combat easier and that much more fun. I own one and it is a really neat product.
For the 3E Fan Who Loves eBooks - Castle Whiterock and Gazetteer of the Known Realms
The Dungeon Crawl Classics line from Goodman Games combines old-school feel with Third Edition D&D rules compatiblity. Castle Whiterock is a huge mega-dungeon and the Gazetteer of the Known Realms is a complete campaign setting with adventures. You can get both in tree-friendly eBook format from DriveThruRPG for only $10 (original price $99!) until December 31st when they have to cease sales. That's literally hundreds of pages of game material for less than the price of a movie ticket.
For the Fourth Edition Fanatic -Dire Tombs
It's pretty darn hard hard to run combat in Fourth Edition D&D without miniatures and some sort of combat grid. Dungeon Tiles from Wizards of the Coast are an inexpensive and colorful solution. One fairly generic (and still available) set is DT6: Dire Tombs. It's got everything needed to build an interesting little dungeon environment.
For the New-School Gamer - Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set
If you want to pick up something for that really smart nephew, you could do much worse than the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set. It has everything he'll need to get started, including rules, Dungeon Tiles, tokens (to use in place of miniatures) and dice. If you want to know more, check out my review of it HERE.
For the REALLY Old-School Gamer - Swords & Wizardry
If you know someone whose idea of D&D involves three little brown books in a box, pick up Swords & Wizardry. Matthew Finch's take on the original edition rules is well-written and (in my opinion) much more coherent than the rules it is based upon. The book looks nice too and you can get it from Lulu in softback for around ten bucks.
For the GM in Your Life - Gamemastery: Combat Pad
The Combat Pad from Paizo Publishing will make life easier for the Game Master in your life, no matter what system he chooses to play. The combination of erasable surface and colorful magnets makes the chore of running combat easier and that much more fun. I own one and it is a really neat product.
For the 3E Fan Who Loves eBooks - Castle Whiterock and Gazetteer of the Known Realms
The Dungeon Crawl Classics line from Goodman Games combines old-school feel with Third Edition D&D rules compatiblity. Castle Whiterock is a huge mega-dungeon and the Gazetteer of the Known Realms is a complete campaign setting with adventures. You can get both in tree-friendly eBook format from DriveThruRPG for only $10 (original price $99!) until December 31st when they have to cease sales. That's literally hundreds of pages of game material for less than the price of a movie ticket.
For the Fourth Edition Fanatic -Dire Tombs
It's pretty darn hard hard to run combat in Fourth Edition D&D without miniatures and some sort of combat grid. Dungeon Tiles from Wizards of the Coast are an inexpensive and colorful solution. One fairly generic (and still available) set is DT6: Dire Tombs. It's got everything needed to build an interesting little dungeon environment.
For the New-School Gamer - Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set
If you want to pick up something for that really smart nephew, you could do much worse than the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set. It has everything he'll need to get started, including rules, Dungeon Tiles, tokens (to use in place of miniatures) and dice. If you want to know more, check out my review of it HERE.
For the REALLY Old-School Gamer - Swords & Wizardry
If you know someone whose idea of D&D involves three little brown books in a box, pick up Swords & Wizardry. Matthew Finch's take on the original edition rules is well-written and (in my opinion) much more coherent than the rules it is based upon. The book looks nice too and you can get it from Lulu in softback for around ten bucks.
The Road - Not a Great Campaign Setting
I have been reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road and while it's an ok post-apocalyptic story (but not nearly as good as I expected based on all of the critcal praise that I have read) my geek side has really kicked in while reading it. I just don't feel like it would make that interesting a world to run a game in.
It's sad really that my enjoyment of a book can be so greatly affected by my perception of it's suitability as a campaign setting...
It's sad really that my enjoyment of a book can be so greatly affected by my perception of it's suitability as a campaign setting...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Top RPGs of Fall 2008
RPG Bloggers Application
I put in my application to be part of the RPG Bloggers Network. Hopefully it will get approved soon so Dungeon Mastering 101 can be exposed to more eyes. I have my fingers crossed...
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
First Impressions of Martial Power
I just picked up Martial Power
- It more than doubles the number of powers available to martial characters in the Player's Handbook. More options is a good thing.
- NO new equipment or skills. This is either a bug or a feature, depending on your point of view. For me it's a feature.
- There is no forced symmetry. Unlike the Player's Handbook, some classes get more powers at some levels than others. Some classes get new at-wills at certain levels and others do not, etc. At first blush, I like this. I do wonder if this represents a change in philosopy for the design team.
I will try and post a honest to goodness review in a week or so after I have had time to digest the book a little more thoroughly.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Getting Started with 4th Edition
This post is primarily a review of the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set and so it is probably most useful for those of you that are brand new to D&D. But even if you have dabbled in one or more of D&D’s previous editions, I hope you will find at least some useful information here.
There are several products aimed more or less at the new 4th Edition D&D gamer. They include:
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set
Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies
H1: Keep on the Shadowfell
Recommending the Starter Set is a no-brainer for anyone new to 4th Edition D&D, and I am going to focus on it in this post. However, the other two items above can provide a decent introduction to the game and I will try and cover both in future posts.
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set
The Starter Set is specifically designed as an introduction to 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons for new players. It contains everything you need to learn the basic rules of the game and play a session or two with pregenerated characters. By the time you have played a few sessions, you will probably be ready to pick up the Player’s Handbook and create your own characters.
What’s in the Box?
- 16-page Quick-Start Rules book
- 64-page Dungeon Master’s book
- 3 sheets of Dungeon Tiles
- 1 sheet of character and monster tokens
- A set of six polyhedral dice
The Box Itself
Let me rant for a minute about boxes. I really like good game boxes because you can chuck all kinds of goodies in them like dice, miniatures, pencils, etc. The boxes for both versions of the 3rd Edition D&D Basic Game were a little big, but sturdy. The box for the Starter Set sucks. It’s not really a box at all. You just get a thin, outer ‘shell’ with a cardboard liner to give it some stiffness. It is not useful at all for future storage of the Dungeon Tiles, tokens or dice that you get in the set. I give it a D-.
Quick-Start Rules Book
This is a very quick and dirty introduction to the rules. The booklet does a pretty decent job of covering the game’s major concepts in a short span of six pages. The focus is on the game’s tactical elements – movement and combat. The rest of the book's 16 pages are taken up by five sample characters; a Dwarf Fighter, a Halfling Rogue, an Eladrin Wizard, a Human Cleric and a Dragonborn Paladin. Each includes enough information to advance the character up to 3rd level. Unfortunately, there is basically no advice on actually playing a character; just the nuts and bolts of how to move and fight.
I would have also prefered that each character had been provided on separate sheets to hand out to players or even if WoTC had provided PDF versions of the character sheets on their website. As it stands now, you will have to head to the photocopier/scanner or rip up the book. I give it a C+.
Dungeon Master’s Book
As the name implies, this book is designed to be read by the Dungeon Master (DM). In D&D, the DM bears a heavy burden. It is his responsibility to know the rules, create the campaign world (including adventures) and run adventures in that world. He is also ultimately responsible for a large part of what makes the game ‘fun’. The DM's book puts it this way:
At the DM, you ...
and so it is probably most useful for those of you that are brand new to D&D. But even if you have dabbled in one or more of D&D’s previous editions, I hope you will find at least some useful information here.There are several products aimed more or less at the new 4th Edition D&D gamer. They include:
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set
Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies
H1: Keep on the Shadowfell
Recommending the Starter Set is a no-brainer for anyone new to 4th Edition D&D, and I am going to focus on it in this post. However, the other two items above can provide a decent introduction to the game and I will try and cover both in future posts.
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set
The Starter Set is specifically designed as an introduction to 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons for new players. It contains everything you need to learn the basic rules of the game and play a session or two with pregenerated characters. By the time you have played a few sessions, you will probably be ready to pick up the Player’s Handbook and create your own characters.
What’s in the Box?
- 16-page Quick-Start Rules book
- 64-page Dungeon Master’s book
- 3 sheets of Dungeon Tiles
- 1 sheet of character and monster tokens
- A set of six polyhedral dice
The Box Itself
Let me rant for a minute about boxes. I really like good game boxes because you can chuck all kinds of goodies in them like dice, miniatures, pencils, etc. The boxes for both versions of the 3rd Edition D&D Basic Game were a little big, but sturdy. The box for the Starter Set sucks. It’s not really a box at all. You just get a thin, outer ‘shell’ with a cardboard liner to give it some stiffness. It is not useful at all for future storage of the Dungeon Tiles, tokens or dice that you get in the set. I give it a D-.
Quick-Start Rules Book
This is a very quick and dirty introduction to the rules. The booklet does a pretty decent job of covering the game’s major concepts in a short span of six pages. The focus is on the game’s tactical elements – movement and combat. The rest of the book's 16 pages are taken up by five sample characters; a Dwarf Fighter, a Halfling Rogue, an Eladrin Wizard, a Human Cleric and a Dragonborn Paladin. Each includes enough information to advance the character up to 3rd level. Unfortunately, there is basically no advice on actually playing a character; just the nuts and bolts of how to move and fight.
I would have also prefered that each character had been provided on separate sheets to hand out to players or even if WoTC had provided PDF versions of the character sheets on their website. As it stands now, you will have to head to the photocopier/scanner or rip up the book. I give it a C+.
Dungeon Master’s Book
As the name implies, this book is designed to be read by the Dungeon Master (DM). In D&D, the DM bears a heavy burden. It is his responsibility to know the rules, create the campaign world (including adventures) and run adventures in that world. He is also ultimately responsible for a large part of what makes the game ‘fun’. The DM's book puts it this way:
At the DM, you ...
- Narrate the story of the player characters
- Play the monsters
- Design the dungeons
- Reward the treasure
- Referee the game rules
- Build the world
The book provides a suprisingly good introduction for the prospective DM. Good advice is given on everything from playing monsters fairly to vividly describing combat. Also included is plenty of crunchy stuff including most of the same combat and encounter rules from the Quick-Start book. You also get a (very) short three encounter adventure and rules for building encounters, running skill challenges, traps and hazards, and creating dungeons. The book is rounded out with a surprisingly robust monster section. If you count all of the individual types (five varieties of goblins for example) you get more than 50 different monsters from levels 1-4.
The Dungeon Master's book is the strongest element of the Starter Set. The only problem that I could find with it is that it leaves out rules for some of the monster abilities like insubstantiability for the Phantom Warrior and disease for the Dire Rat. It also makes a cardinal sin for me by not including an index. Any book of this length (especially one designed for a beginner) should include an index. I give it an A-.
Dungeon Tiles
The Starter includes three sheets of WotC’s nicely produced Dungeon Tiles. All three are from previously released sets. Two sheets are from DT7: Fane of the Forgotten Gods
Token Sheet
The token sheet is of the same thickness and material as the Dungeon Tiles. The art is nice and taken straight from the DM’s book. The monster tokens are all double-sided with a different monster on each side. I thought it was a nice touch that you get eight tokens each for common monsters like orcs and skeletons. The five player character tokens have a green normal side and a red ‘bloodied’ side. These are really nice and make for a great portable alternative to miniatures. I give it an A.
Review Score:
Box D-
Quick-Start Rules: C+
Dungeon Master's Book: A-
Dungeon Tiles: B+
Token Sheet: A
Total Score: B
Conclusion
The Starter Set is a decent enough introduction to 4th Edition D&D, but less successful as an introduction to roleplaying in general. I also think it is more valuable to prospective DMs than it is for prospective players. With the Starter Set and a Player's Handbook you could actually get started running a campaign with no Monster Manual or Dungeon Master's Guide. If you are interested at all in 4th Edition D&D, pick it up and see for yourself.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Interviewing Players
STEP 3: THE PLAYER INTERVIEW
You will notice that I said it is important to find the RIGHT group of players for your campaign. It is tempting, especially if you can only find a few people, to accept any and everybody, but that can be a mistake. I would suggest that you conduct at least a short, informal interview with any
potential players.
There are a variety of questions you can ask, but make sure that any potential player understands the basics, including what campaign setting you will be using, what rulebooks you will allow, and when and where you are going to meet. It does a disservice to the player and to you for instance, if he only wants to play in an Eberron campaign and you are going to run your homebrew world. Here is an example of the kind of information that you might give potential players:
Campaign Setting: The Claw Valley (my campaign world)
Rules Used: Version 3.5 D&D
Books Used: First three core rulebooks only
Campaign Style: Generic fantasy with an emphasis on the action
Time & Place: To be announced (I would like to try and meet at least three times a month)
I hate to have to say this, but you should also make sure that any potential player is someone that you actually want to associate with. There is a wonderful diversity among roleplayers, but there are also some genuinely antisocial types that you might not want to spend time with on a Friday night. If someone appears to be disturbed or just creeps you out, don't be afraid to gently let them know that all your player spots are full.
You will notice that I said it is important to find the RIGHT group of players for your campaign. It is tempting, especially if you can only find a few people, to accept any and everybody, but that can be a mistake. I would suggest that you conduct at least a short, informal interview with any
potential players.
There are a variety of questions you can ask, but make sure that any potential player understands the basics, including what campaign setting you will be using, what rulebooks you will allow, and when and where you are going to meet. It does a disservice to the player and to you for instance, if he only wants to play in an Eberron campaign and you are going to run your homebrew world. Here is an example of the kind of information that you might give potential players:
Campaign Setting: The Claw Valley (my campaign world)
Rules Used: Version 3.5 D&D
Books Used: First three core rulebooks only
Campaign Style: Generic fantasy with an emphasis on the action
Time & Place: To be announced (I would like to try and meet at least three times a month)
I hate to have to say this, but you should also make sure that any potential player is someone that you actually want to associate with. There is a wonderful diversity among roleplayers, but there are also some genuinely antisocial types that you might not want to spend time with on a Friday night. If someone appears to be disturbed or just creeps you out, don't be afraid to gently let them know that all your player spots are full.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Gathering Your Players
STEP 3: FIND SOME PLAYERS
This post might seem a little premature since we haven’t discussed actually creating your campaign world yet, but finding the RIGHT group of players can be one key to your campaign’s success. If you don’t already have a group, you will need to find one. Also, your players’ personalities and preferences, and the type of characters they create, can offer you invaluable insight into what kind of adventures to craft for them.
There are several approaches that you can take to locate suitable victims (err players I mean) for your campaign. One approach is very simple. March down to your local game store and put up a flyer. This is the approach that I am trying for my latest campaign. Here is the text from the flyer that I put up at my local game store in good old Markham, ON.
WANTED
BRAVE ADVENTURERS
I am looking for a group of players to start a regular DUNGEONS & DRAGONS campaign. I will be using version 3.5 of the rules (which is the latest edition).
If you are interested in playing, please come to an informational session here at HEROES WORLD on Friday, September 23rd at 6:00 PM. At that time, we will go over campaign specifics and discuss the time that is best for everyone to meet and play.
Please feel free to email me at anthony_roberson@hotmail.com if you would like more information. I look forward to meeting you!
Anthony Roberson
If this doesn’t work or if you don’t have a local game store, you might try putting up flyers (with the proper permission) at your local college or university. If you don’t have one of those then you might try your local community center. Another option to try, especially if you live in a small or isolated area, is the Internet.
There are several popular websites that have forums where you can post Player Wanted ads. The biggest D&D focused web site right now is probably ENWorld. Another popular roleplaying web site that you might try is RPGnet. I’m sure there are others as well. Make sure to follow each site’s rules for posting and put your ad in the proper forum.
After you have located a group of prospective players, it’s time to see if they are right for your campaign and if your campaign is right for them. You will want to conduct some kind of informal interview with them. We’ll discuss that in my next post.
This post might seem a little premature since we haven’t discussed actually creating your campaign world yet, but finding the RIGHT group of players can be one key to your campaign’s success. If you don’t already have a group, you will need to find one. Also, your players’ personalities and preferences, and the type of characters they create, can offer you invaluable insight into what kind of adventures to craft for them.
There are several approaches that you can take to locate suitable victims (err players I mean) for your campaign. One approach is very simple. March down to your local game store and put up a flyer. This is the approach that I am trying for my latest campaign. Here is the text from the flyer that I put up at my local game store in good old Markham, ON.
WANTED
BRAVE ADVENTURERS
I am looking for a group of players to start a regular DUNGEONS & DRAGONS campaign. I will be using version 3.5 of the rules (which is the latest edition).
If you are interested in playing, please come to an informational session here at HEROES WORLD on Friday, September 23rd at 6:00 PM. At that time, we will go over campaign specifics and discuss the time that is best for everyone to meet and play.
Please feel free to email me at anthony_roberson@hotmail.com if you would like more information. I look forward to meeting you!
Anthony Roberson
If this doesn’t work or if you don’t have a local game store, you might try putting up flyers (with the proper permission) at your local college or university. If you don’t have one of those then you might try your local community center. Another option to try, especially if you live in a small or isolated area, is the Internet.
There are several popular websites that have forums where you can post Player Wanted ads. The biggest D&D focused web site right now is probably ENWorld. Another popular roleplaying web site that you might try is RPGnet. I’m sure there are others as well. Make sure to follow each site’s rules for posting and put your ad in the proper forum.
After you have located a group of prospective players, it’s time to see if they are right for your campaign and if your campaign is right for them. You will want to conduct some kind of informal interview with them. We’ll discuss that in my next post.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Setting Up Your Campaign
Now that you have presumably purchased your rulebooks and started learning the rules, it's time to start thinking about what kind of campaign you are going to run. If you are a novice DM, I would recommend that you start off with a fairly generic fantasy world, something close to D&D's so-called 'implied' setting.
To be perfectly honest, a campaign setting is not a must, especially if you only plan to run a few one-shots or use published modules, but it is a heck of a lot more fun and satisfying if you have one and since this blog is about learning to be a good Dungeonmaster, building a campaign is a big part of the experience.
STEP 2: BUILD A CAMPAIGN WORLD - PUBLISHED OR HOMEBREW?
You have two basic choices when it comes to building your campaign world, use a published setting or create your own. There are pros and cons to both options and I will try to summarize them for you.
There are lots of good official published campaign settings that you can purchase. The oldest and still classic one is the World of Greyhawk, that was originally designed by Gary Gygax. Greyhawk has not been terribly well supported by Wizards of the Coast as of late, but Dungeon magazine did publish a beautiful four-part map for the setting that I have on my wall. Another classic option is Ed Greenwood's the Forgotten Realms. The Realms are available as a core book with a large number of supplements. The hot current setting from Wizards is called Eberron and I probably wouldn't recommend it to a novice DM. It has a distinct 'steampunk' feel and might not appeal to you or to a number of your players. If you are interested in it, at least read through the core book before making the investment.
Besides official settings, there are also a number of unofficial settings, via the d2o system license that are also worth a look. Sword & Sorcery offers the epic Wilderlands of High Fantasy box set, which is a real blast from the past. Kenzer and Company offers the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting (which is a licensed setting and technically more 'official' than the others) as a core book with supplements. There are plenty of others as well, but this should give you at least a taste of what is available.
The main advantage of a published setting is obvious - you don't have to make stuff up. Reducing preparation time is a big advantage for busy adults like me and probably you too. There is also the advantage that if your players are familiar with the setting, you don't have to explain as much about the world to them.
The main disadvantage of a published setting is the expense. The core book is going to cost at retail anywhere from $30-40 and if the setting has many supplements, the cost can easily rise into the hundreds. Supplements are another disadvantage. If a setting is still being published, you can find yourself in the 'book of the month' trap where you continually have to purchase the latest releases to keep up to date on the campaign world. Your players can also buy the books of course and this can spoil some or all of the campaign's secrets.
If you decide to create your own homebrew world, my hat is off to you. This is the mark of a dedicated Dungeonmaster. Creating a detailed campaign world is one of the most rewarding things that roleplaying games have to offer. Of course the task can also take years of real time and most worlds are never really finished. In upcoming posts, I will try to guide you through the process of creating your own world in a series of hopefully logical steps. Stay tuned.
To be perfectly honest, a campaign setting is not a must, especially if you only plan to run a few one-shots or use published modules, but it is a heck of a lot more fun and satisfying if you have one and since this blog is about learning to be a good Dungeonmaster, building a campaign is a big part of the experience.
STEP 2: BUILD A CAMPAIGN WORLD - PUBLISHED OR HOMEBREW?
You have two basic choices when it comes to building your campaign world, use a published setting or create your own. There are pros and cons to both options and I will try to summarize them for you.
There are lots of good official published campaign settings that you can purchase. The oldest and still classic one is the World of Greyhawk, that was originally designed by Gary Gygax. Greyhawk has not been terribly well supported by Wizards of the Coast as of late, but Dungeon magazine did publish a beautiful four-part map for the setting that I have on my wall. Another classic option is Ed Greenwood's the Forgotten Realms. The Realms are available as a core book with a large number of supplements. The hot current setting from Wizards is called Eberron and I probably wouldn't recommend it to a novice DM. It has a distinct 'steampunk' feel and might not appeal to you or to a number of your players. If you are interested in it, at least read through the core book before making the investment.
Besides official settings, there are also a number of unofficial settings, via the d2o system license that are also worth a look. Sword & Sorcery offers the epic Wilderlands of High Fantasy box set, which is a real blast from the past. Kenzer and Company offers the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting (which is a licensed setting and technically more 'official' than the others) as a core book with supplements. There are plenty of others as well, but this should give you at least a taste of what is available.
The main advantage of a published setting is obvious - you don't have to make stuff up. Reducing preparation time is a big advantage for busy adults like me and probably you too. There is also the advantage that if your players are familiar with the setting, you don't have to explain as much about the world to them.
The main disadvantage of a published setting is the expense. The core book is going to cost at retail anywhere from $30-40 and if the setting has many supplements, the cost can easily rise into the hundreds. Supplements are another disadvantage. If a setting is still being published, you can find yourself in the 'book of the month' trap where you continually have to purchase the latest releases to keep up to date on the campaign world. Your players can also buy the books of course and this can spoil some or all of the campaign's secrets.
If you decide to create your own homebrew world, my hat is off to you. This is the mark of a dedicated Dungeonmaster. Creating a detailed campaign world is one of the most rewarding things that roleplaying games have to offer. Of course the task can also take years of real time and most worlds are never really finished. In upcoming posts, I will try to guide you through the process of creating your own world in a series of hopefully logical steps. Stay tuned.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
More Rulebook Options
I wanted to mention a few more options for those of you that might be seeking a lower cost of entry into version 3.5 of the D&D rules. Mongoose Publishing offers the Mongoose Pocket Player's Handbook and the Mongoose Pocket GM's Handbook, which contain most of the essential rules that you will need as a DM. Both books are softcover and retail for $20.00. I own the Mongoose Pocket Player's Handbook and it is a useful backup reference. It is also light and compact, but it does lack the durability and completeness of the full v.3.5 Player's Handbook. I would still recommend, especially to a new DM, that you buy the 'official' books, but I wanted to make you aware of the alternatives.
This brings up the subject of the Open Gaming License (OGL), the d20 System License and the System Resource Document (SRD). To make a long story short, when Wizards of the Coast published the 3rd Edition of the rules in 2000, they decided to 'open' the system up and allow anyone to publish content for the game, as long as they agreed to certain stipulations. These stipulations are contained in the Open Gaming License and the d20 System License. The content that could be used is contained in the System Resourse Document and it is this document that was used to provide the content for the two Pocket Player's Handbooks. The Resource Document does not contain ALL of the content that can be found in the official books (and that is an important distinction), but you could actually run games using only the SRD.
You can actually browse the SRD for free in a nice hyperlinked format online at the Hypertext d20 SRD. This is a neat site and contains not only the core SRD rules (from the three core rulebooks), but also open content from other rulebooks. There is also another online version of the SRD available at www.systemreferencedocuments.org. You can also download the SRD for free HERE as a series of files in RTF format from the Wizards of the Coast website for reading offline.
This brings up the subject of the Open Gaming License (OGL), the d20 System License and the System Resource Document (SRD). To make a long story short, when Wizards of the Coast published the 3rd Edition of the rules in 2000, they decided to 'open' the system up and allow anyone to publish content for the game, as long as they agreed to certain stipulations. These stipulations are contained in the Open Gaming License and the d20 System License. The content that could be used is contained in the System Resourse Document and it is this document that was used to provide the content for the two Pocket Player's Handbooks. The Resource Document does not contain ALL of the content that can be found in the official books (and that is an important distinction), but you could actually run games using only the SRD.
You can actually browse the SRD for free in a nice hyperlinked format online at the Hypertext d20 SRD. This is a neat site and contains not only the core SRD rules (from the three core rulebooks), but also open content from other rulebooks. There is also another online version of the SRD available at www.systemreferencedocuments.org. You can also download the SRD for free HERE as a series of files in RTF format from the Wizards of the Coast website for reading offline.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
First Post - What This Blog is All About
So, you want to become a Dungeonmaster? If so, I hope that this blog will be useful to you. In upcoming posts, I intend to give you at least some of what you need to become a great DM. Your feedback is important and so please feel free to become a member of this blog and leave your comments. They are appreciated!
STEP 1: LEARN THE RULES
I am going to be using version 3.5 of the Dungeons & Dragons rules in my examples because it is the most current edition of the game. If you are using another edition of the rules, be aware of this, but most of the information that I cover should still be useful to you. If you are unfamiliar with v.3.5, you might want to check out the Wizards of the Coast website to learn more.
The minimum books that I would recommend that you own as a DM are the first three core rulebooks. They are the Player's Handbook, the Monster Manual and the Dungeon Master's Guide. I just ordered the Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook Gift Set from Buy.com myself for a great price. You can also find them at your FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store), Amazon.com or bookstores like Barnes & Noble or Chapters (for my Canadian friends).
NOTE: Some of these links go to Buy.com where I have set up an affiliate account. Not a big deal, but I just didn't want anyone to think I was being sneaky!
You don’t have to learn ALL the rules at once to be a DM, but you should at least be familiar with the most important ones, including the rules for Character Creation, Combat and Magic. If you are a complete beginner, you might want to check out the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game and the Dungeons & Dragons for Dummies book. They offer the new gamer more of an easy introduction than the core rulebooks.
Another recommendation that I would make for you when you are just learning the rules is to (except for the Basic game and the Dummies book) buy ONLY the core rulebooks. There are literally dozens of official D&D books out there (and even more unofficial books thanks to the d20 and OGL licenses) and you get intimidated very quickly if you try to digest too much too quickly. In fact, I would recommend that you run at least one ENTIRE CAMPAIGN using only the three core rulebooks above before you even look at another rulebook. You (and your players) will thank me for it later
One last thing that I would recommend to you while you are learning the rules is to either play in another DM’s campaign or at least roll up a few characters yourself. Either method will give you a leg up on learning the rules in preparation for running your own game.
STEP 1: LEARN THE RULES
I am going to be using version 3.5 of the Dungeons & Dragons rules in my examples because it is the most current edition of the game. If you are using another edition of the rules, be aware of this, but most of the information that I cover should still be useful to you. If you are unfamiliar with v.3.5, you might want to check out the Wizards of the Coast website to learn more.
The minimum books that I would recommend that you own as a DM are the first three core rulebooks. They are the Player's Handbook, the Monster Manual and the Dungeon Master's Guide. I just ordered the Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook Gift Set from Buy.com myself for a great price. You can also find them at your FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store), Amazon.com or bookstores like Barnes & Noble or Chapters (for my Canadian friends).
NOTE: Some of these links go to Buy.com where I have set up an affiliate account. Not a big deal, but I just didn't want anyone to think I was being sneaky!
You don’t have to learn ALL the rules at once to be a DM, but you should at least be familiar with the most important ones, including the rules for Character Creation, Combat and Magic. If you are a complete beginner, you might want to check out the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game and the Dungeons & Dragons for Dummies book. They offer the new gamer more of an easy introduction than the core rulebooks.
Another recommendation that I would make for you when you are just learning the rules is to (except for the Basic game and the Dummies book) buy ONLY the core rulebooks. There are literally dozens of official D&D books out there (and even more unofficial books thanks to the d20 and OGL licenses) and you get intimidated very quickly if you try to digest too much too quickly. In fact, I would recommend that you run at least one ENTIRE CAMPAIGN using only the three core rulebooks above before you even look at another rulebook. You (and your players) will thank me for it later
One last thing that I would recommend to you while you are learning the rules is to either play in another DM’s campaign or at least roll up a few characters yourself. Either method will give you a leg up on learning the rules in preparation for running your own game.
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