Tag Archives: Magic Items

Curse With Purpose

Posted on June 22, 2012 by

I have been hesitant to give out Artifacts and Cursed Items to players in my Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition campaign. Artifacts have intimidated me to a certain degree since it is one more facet of the game the players and I would need … Continue reading →

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Scarcity! When The Loot’s All Gone But You Must Go On, It’s Scarcity.

Posted on October 13, 2011 by

The title is much more effective if you start singing Tragedy by Bee Gees. And you are quite welcome since the song will likely stay in your mind for the better portion of the day! The good folks that brew and … Continue reading →

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

Ego Check: Andy Aiken, Creator of Masterplan

Posted on October 12, 2011 by

When I returned to the saddle for my first DM session in over 15 years, I was more than a bit anxious about the endeavor. I have previously discussed preparing music for the campaign and buying terrain to add bells … Continue reading →

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

No Assembly Required – Aurora Izel

Posted on October 3, 2011 by

Last month, I introduced a new monthly column I am contributing to This Is My Game. The column, No Assembly Required, features a monster that can be inserted into a Dungeon & Dragons 4th Edition campaign. Each monster in the series … Continue reading →

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Dungeon Economics 101

Posted on September 12, 2011 by

Managing treasure parcels for the my players is always an interesting challenge for me while DMing. It takes zero preparation to dish out monetory rewards to the party, “The lair has been cleared of enemies. In the corner, you find … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice, Research | Tagged , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Ego Check: Mike Shea of Sly Flourish

Posted on June 22, 2011 by

Before starting The Id DM, I spent many months reading articles from other gaming websites, and one of my most frequent stops was to Sly Flourish. When I started this blog, I had very modest expectations for how it would … Continue reading →

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Completing Heroic Tier Without Destroying the World

Posted on June 14, 2011 by

My campaign finally reached its Heroic Tier finale last weekend. If you can indulge me, I’d like to discuss the progression to the final string of battles and the ultimate climax that now has the party moving on to Paragon … Continue reading →

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Fountain of Sorrow: Solo Contest Winner

Posted on May 10, 2011 by

Last month, David Flor over at A Walk In The Dark sent out notice that he was running a contest. The challenge was for DMs to create an encounter for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition with a Solo monster. David listed … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice, Encounters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Magic Item Dispersal: New Players, Old Problems

Posted on May 5, 2011 by

I ran into a situation recently where a player pointed out the discrepancy between the levels of magic items possessed by the characters that have played in the campaign from Level 1, and two characters that just joined the group … Continue reading →

Posted in DM Advice, PC Behavior, Research | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments