We’ve already discussed that when gaming parties go bad that you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villianry. There’s an analogy about one bad apple and a basket of fruit somewhere in there, but I think Star Wars covered it. This type of game destroying behavior isn’t just limited to the players. The dungeon master (DM) can be just as liable and the behavior just as destructive.
In some cases it can actually be worse. Since a DM holds all the cards, they can usually mitigate the circumstances when one PC goes rogue (pun!). In contrast, there’s very little the party can do about a bad DM. So here they are, the five biggest crimes a dungeon master can commit. As before, they’re presented in no particular order. Read the rest of this entry »
All this talk about D&D Next has me re-evaluating my time as a player. Getting ready for a new edition has me thinking about why I started playing, my earliest campaigns and characters and all of that. That trip down memory lane has brought me back to the Penny Arcade D&D podcasts, which follow the hilarious adventures of a group of Penny Arcade’s finest (and Will Wheaton) as they try and survive the world of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) 4e as controlled by Chris Perkins.
You would think that listening to people roll dice and play pretend would be boring, but it is the exact opposite. Listening to Gabe, Tycho and the others try to defeat vampires and solve puzzles got me thinking about the personae you often find around a gaming table. That mixture of personalities and quirks can make a game memorable or leave it in shambles.
We might all try our best to behave and slip into a sense of community while gaming, but inevitably we’re going to break a rule or two. Some of us are more adept at avoiding these pitfalls than others, and some gamers (you know who they are) are down right terrible. So here they are, in no particular order, the five worst offenses players can make during a game of D&D. Read the rest of this entry »
The short musical “Role Initiative,” originally made for the 2011 Windy City Shootout’s 72 hour film competition. What do you get when you combine Dungeons & Dragons with Once More with Feeling? You get this and it’s awesome and worth the watch.
Of Dice and Men (ODaM), the Dungeons & Dragons play created by Cameron McNary, had the premiere of its first full production (outside of PAX) this weekend at the IMPACT Theatre in Berkeley, California. Meanwhile, down in Georgia, a college production of the play is about to kick off at Oglethorpe University. Recently we spoke with Danielle Hitchcock – a senior at Oglethorpe who will be directing the play – about her expectations for the production, how she found out about the play and most importantly what super-power she wants.
As a member of Oglethorpe’s Alpha Psi Omega (APO) theatre fraternity, Hitchcock became aware of the play after a fellow member heard about the performance at Pax Prime last year. Several of the fraternity members are gamers, and while Hitchcock has only recently been exposed to tabletop gaming, she was excited by the message and prospects of the show. “I would say that the thing that really hooked me is just how real it is. The characters are all real people. They are so alive and the emotions are so tangible throughout because everything in this script is truthful. It’s really the truth of the relationships and emotions that got me.”
Hitchcock remarked that there wasn’t a singular “aha” moment where she knew she had to direct the play, but it was more the emotional connection she developed to the characters and story, despite not being a hardcore gamer. “Most of my friend group is composed of pretty hardcore gamers, so these are people that I know and care about…The characters in this play are the people I see everyday and the tight knit friendships that Cameron displays in ODaM are ones that I have.”
As Hitchcock also mentioned, it helps that the play “is absolutely hysterical, but that’s just gravy.” Read the rest of this entry »
For those of you keeping score at home, we’ve come to the end of the Monsters & Madness series. I’ve come to know how much I didn’t know at the beginning of this process but I think I’ve explored the world of the Cthulhu mythos pretty evenly now, which my Call of Cthulhu character will both appreciate and despise. Actually, taking my cue from that RPG, does knowing more about the mythos mean that I’m a little more insane now? Let’s hope not, all the people in my head do.
From the beginning I knew that there were already many Cthulhu games out there (including Call of Cthulhu, CthulhuTech, and Arkham Horror) so making another game with new rules was not going to interest anybody, let alone me. Instead, Monsters & Madness is more of a mash-up between Cthulhu and Dungeons & Dragons. With any luck, it combines the best qualities of each of these, being recognizably and thoroughly D&D with elements of the mythos woven throughout so that one never forgets that it is also something different.
Written by Castles and Cooks favorite playwright – Cameron McNary – Of Dice and Men is the story of a group of older gamers and investigates the passion behind why we play Dungeons and Dragons and who we choose to play with. Equal parts funny and touching it’ll make you want to give your friends a big hug and then go roam through the Tomb of Horrors with them.
We’ve been following Cameron and his play ever since the first PAX East where a stage reading absolutely brought the house down. Six months later at Pax Prime, the first ever production stole the show when over 550 people packed a theater at the Seattle gaming show. Frankly, we’re fanatical about it and anxiously await for a production to come to the east coast so we can bask in its glory (fingers crossed for PAX East 2012). If you’re a hardcore player, weekend dungeon delver or just someone that enjoys well written theatre, you’ll love this. Read the rest of this entry »
The world needs to stop making Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) video games. By “the world” of course I mean Wizards of the Coast (WotC). The easy reason would be to say because the majority of these games aren’t good (they aren’t). The real reason is because the nature of a video game is very antithetical to the underlying concepts of playing D&D. Allow me to explain.
When does this game end?How do we win? When I first tried to teach Dungeons and Dragons to a group of friends, I was met with these questions. To a group of people raised on video board games with discrete rule sets and win conditions, they probably seemed like reasonable inquiries. Hell, even Monopoly has an end-game if you can endure it long enough to get there.
However, I was stumped, and couldn’t offer any answers beyond, “um it doesn’t” and “well, you don’t ever really win”. In this respect, perhaps above all others, an RPG like D&D is a unique gaming experience. The journey matters so much more than the destination. Half the time, especially in long campaigns that extend over years (real life years, not in-game years) the exact endgame is never defined. You’re simply living out the adventuring lives of the characters. Read the rest of this entry »
In what looks to be a relatively quiet month before the full release of a new campaign setting, there are a few noteworthy novels and some new fortune cards to wet the appetite of gamers before the release of Neverwinter Nights in August. A closer look reveals a few enticing teasers for those who can’t wait another 30 days before getting a chance to return to the cold northern city in Faerun. Read the rest of this entry »
June’s releases are a little sparse as far as game supplements go. No fault to Wizards for that, as the last few months have seen a slew of supplements and game enhancements churned out, so perhaps giving them a month off is no big deal. The only major entry is a spin-off of the Monster Vault series that focuses on creatures that inhabit the Nentir Vale. Beyond that, the month looks to be dominated by a few new novels, and another entry into the world of board games for Wizards. Below are the most noteworthy releases for the month of June. Read the rest of this entry »
Wizards just announced a new in-store program called “Lair Assault”. As the official press release explains it; Lair Assault“pits tactically-minded players against a super challenge where the difference between victory and defeat is dependent upon your game knowledge, ability to adapt, and a little bit of luck. You’ll pit your wits against some of the most difficult encounters you’ve ever played. Each challenge is a mega-encounter that plays in just a few hours, but many will need to make more than one run at it in pursuit of victory. D&D Lair Assault challenges are available for a few months, and stores can schedule their sessions at any time during that period.”
One of the nice aspects of this program is the flexibility they are giving stores in running it. Encounters has to be run at specific dates and times which don’t really work out so well for us working folk; hopefully given the choice, more gaming stores will opt for some weekend programs giving gamers more choice. Read the rest of this entry »
