Dungeons & Dragons News This Week in D&D by Mike Mearls -- "Feats. How do you feel about them? Mike takes a look at them for D&D Next in this week’s Legends & Lore." Against the Slave Lords Cover -- "We've added the cover art to the Against the Slave Lords product page, but also wanted to showcase a closer look at its gorgeous art." Dungeon Command Strategy by Peter Lee, Chris Dupuis -- "Now...
Balance is one of those loaded words you get when talking about game design. Most people think it’s good, some people think it’s bad, and nearly everyone has a different idea of what exactly it means. While everyone’s opinion of what game balance actually ‘is’ may vary, nearly everyone can agree that balanced games are good and unbalanced games aren’t good. So what makes a game unbalanced or...
Not every game needs to come in a coffin sized box filled with plastic and cardboard. Today I want to talk about Love Letter, a tiny game comprising of only sixteen cards and a bunch of cubes that despite its tiny size, offers some of the most entertaining gameplay around. Originally released by Japon Brand, it's been picked up by AEG and reskinned to be included in their Tempest line of games...
This will be the first in an occasional series of Gamehackery posts I'm calling "DMing and Television". After all, TV is one of the most prevalent means by which we access and absorb storytelling examples -- it only makes sense to try to derive some sort of DMing wisdom from the shows we watch. Three seasons in, and The Walking Dead has captured a lot of our attention. If you're not at...
Dungeons & Dragons News Mines of Madness, Part 3 by Greg Bilsland, Scott Kurtz, Kris Straub, Molly Lewis, and Stepto -- "In Part 3, the crew ventures further into the mines, braving moldy death and super-sticky secret doors." Walkthrough Map by Jason Thompson -- "Vegepygmies and robots. What more could you need to hear? Let’s go!" In great celebration of the S series of adventures, we'd like...
EN World News Steal This Rule: Fighting Colossal Creatures by Kamikaze Midget. An article about fighting... colossal... creatures. Try this. We have a review of Rocks Fall Games' re-release of the Pathfinder adventure, Dark Totem Pt 1: Chantry Keep. After a previous bad review, the company has re-released it, but better. Now it has a good review! Rel talks about the relationship between...
So, your dragon is 100+ feet long. Oh, you say you’re fighting the Midgard Serpent? The giant towers three stories above you? And YES, a MIMIC the size of a WHOLE CASTLE! What’s that you say? You can’t imagine how you slay that massive monster by stabbing its foot with your tiny little sword? Your willing suspension of disbelief is shattered by a toothpick-like spear jamming into something...
There’s that old adage that says “One never gets a second chance to make a first impression.” And for the most part, that adage is very true when meeting people for the first time. But the secret is that the old saying is also true when you are asking for any kind of review. So whether you’ve released a film, a novel, a painting, or a game product, you only have one chance to impress a...
I see various articles here and there about what people fear most and it seems many people report fearing “Public Speaking” more than they fear “Death”. I’m not sure how much credence to put into those studies but clearly this is something that causes people a great deal of anxiety. Millions of people have tried overcoming this fear by doing everything from signing up for Toastmasters...
Dungeons & Dragons News Spotlight Interview: IDW Cutter by Bart Carroll -- "Dungeons & Dragons: Cutter -- the newest comic book series from IDW Publishing and Wizards of the Coast -- debuts today! We sat down with the Salvatores to get an introduction to this new series." Cutter Comic, Part 1 by Jon Schindehette -- "Cutter, the comic, is coming to stores near you this month, and Jon has...
Dungeons & Dragons News Epic Campain: Against the Cult of Chaos by Aaron Williams -- "The party has pitted themselves Against the Cult of Chaos—as an ancient evil stirs, chipping away at its prison…. In this final episode of the season: "The final sacrifices and items of power have arrived, as the wolf-spider told us they would!" Defining Our Terms by James Wyatt -- "Types, levels...
This week we have 9 new PDFs, some brand new products and some older items; in fact, one of them hasn’t been seen print in over 30 years and never as a PDF. In addition, WotC rereleased 4 more PDF products and we have 8 more adventures for your table. The Spotlight PDF of the Week is a preview of a new game that is burying its Kickstarter goals. Duty Unto Death TableTop is a web series run...
You might remember that I’m running the Age of Worms adventure path for my tabletop group. One of the characters no longer a part of the adventure is a rogue/cleric who longed for the fame and fortune that was sure to come from thwarting Kyuss. I present to you Aden Moontears, onetime boatman in service to Prince Ellival Moonmeadow of Diamond Lake, now a cleric-in-residence in the Free City...
Most game designs will have ability scores in some form. They could be called: attributes, base skills, talents, or something even stranger. Some game designs don’t have any form of ability scores whatsoever. I commend whoever is writing such game designs. However, it is good to be warned that most players will expect ability scores to be in the game. Why this is so is a mystery. Many players...
I want to tell you today about one of the greatest games EVER made. It's one that, no matter where I am or when it is, I will happily play. It's also been around for decades and is a testament to how incredible design simply lasts. One of legendary designer Sid Sackson's vast array of games,it requires a bit of financial savvy, some level of ability to read your opponents and a little luck...
Last week, we talked about attention economy, about keeping your players engaged at the table, and with your game world. And I promised we would look at some ideas for creating interesting. evocative, interesting, and useful scenery for your players to interact with. So, here goes….. The Problem We've gotten out of the habit of listening to boxed text descriptions of rooms -- at least, we...