Monthly Archives: April 2011

Ego Check: Jeff Gupton of Blackbyrne Publishing

Posted on April 27, 2011 by

The following article is the first of two new features I will be adding to the blog this week. In what I hope is the first in a series of interviews with various players, gamemasters and other members of the roleplaying-game community, … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice, Ego Check | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Brainstorming Solo Monsters: Bayonetta

Posted on April 20, 2011 by

“I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is more dead angels!” Solo monsters and the way they play in D&D 4e have been on my mind lately. First, I ran a small set of encounters that culminated in the party … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Stages of Group Development

Posted on April 18, 2011 by

The topic of group development and dynamics has been at the forefront of my mind during the past week for two reasons. First, the group I DM has undergone some challenges this year. Two players had to drop out entirely because of … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, DM Advice, PC Behavior | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Before The Id DM – Reader Contribution at NewbieDM

Posted on April 14, 2011 by

Before opening this site, I had been lurking around on a variety of blogs and Twitter benefiting from the knowledge, advice and discussion from the online D&D community. Several months ago, I approached NewbieDM with an idea for a post … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The “Nightmare” Scenario

Posted on April 11, 2011 by

While working on this Friday’s upcoming campaign session, I had some communications back and forth with Brannon Hutchins about a campaign David Flor played in recently. By the way, follow the links above and check out both of their sites, which always have excellent … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Vampire Lifestyle

Posted on April 8, 2011 by

I observed the recent “controversy” online about the release of the new Heroes of Shadow book. Players and DMs were discussing how the design choices in the book affected the ongoing debate regarding 4th Edition and Essentials. While I recognize the opinions on both sides, the … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Dungeon Master Definition (Part II): Ambushes & Destiny

Posted on April 6, 2011 by

In Part I earlier in the week I discussed recent communications with other gamers on Twitter, which led me to question the role of a Dungeon Master. I wanted to use an encounter I created last year as an illustration of some … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice, Encounters, PC Behavior | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Dungeon Master Definition (Part I) – Chefs & Menus

Posted on April 4, 2011 by

Last week, I posted a quick tip on Twitter (which is a device I blatantly stole from SlyFlourish) on running encounters: I thought it was a fairly harmless suggestion. The intention was to encourage DMs to be aware of the objects … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice, PC Behavior | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments