What were we talking about again?
The other day I was walking through my local Walmart when I saw this: It's been a long time since we saw Dungeons & Dragons books inside a store like Walmart. Which reminds me of the old LJN Toys that came out in the early 80s. In 1983 LJN Toys, Ltd came out with series… Continue reading Dungeons, and Walmart, and LJN? part 1
Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the answer to that question as I created my Best Reads of the Week series on Dyvers and my Great Blog Roll Call series. The answer, I think, comes down to three things: consistency, creativity, and provocativeness. Consistency Consistency isn’t just publishing on a… Continue reading What Makes for a Good Blog to Read?
Yesterday I went into a local used book store, looking for a deal on some new table-top role-playing game books, when I was confronted with some of the most outrageous prices I've ever seen. For a USED copy of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes they wanted $49! For a beat up box of Tarroka cards they… Continue reading The Madness of Collector’s Prices
It is often said that the AD&D game is not a "winners-and-losers" game. This is true. The AD&D game is not a game in which one player wins at the expense of the others. But at the same time there is winning and losing, after a fashion, based on how well the group plays and… Continue reading The Importance of Experience
One last point from the article on Canon I discussed yesterday: The number of eyes on a stock beholder has been consistent throughout D&D’s history. No need to meddle with perfection, I say. On the other hand, if you’re familiar with old maps of Waterdeep, you might recall that one of its seedier avenues was… Continue reading Goodbye Slut Street, We Hardly Knew Ye
One of the things that I've struggled with for some time is this belief that I need to know everything about a setting to really "get" it. I've spent years reading into the lore of various settings in an attempt to understand where they're going and to make my own campaigns closer to the "true"… Continue reading The Freedom of DnD 5e Canon
A few years ago I published a similar image on my blog, Dyvers, but since that time two major events have happened. First, Dungeons & Dragons 5e was successfully launched. At the time of this writing D&D 5e appears to be the most commercially successful version of the game ever published - which is an… Continue reading Publication Dates of All D&D Editions
I mentioned last week that everyone should read Chapter 2: DM's Guide to the City Campaign because it provides a ton of advice for game masters of all stripes and today I wanted to focus on the six elements of a story that Douglas Niles identified. These elements are: VillainForeshadowingMysteryChallengeTimingReward Let's talk a little bit… Continue reading LRGCB: The Elements of a Story
In the World of Greyhawk boxed set the City of Dyvers has a population of 53,000 when you take in not only the city itself but its surrounding territory. By the time the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer is published the city has grown in population to 128,000 - more than doubling the original number! What drove… Continue reading What Drove the Dramatic Increase in Dyvers’ Population?
Sorry I wasn't able to publish the next part of the City of Greyhawk read through yesterday. My day job has been taking up a lot of my time this last week, and looks to be continuing to do so for the rest of this week as well. Hopefully it should get better this coming… Continue reading So much to do.
Shut up. I realized that I just posted yesterday that the City of Greyhawk stuff will all be on Mondays, but I just finished Chapter 2 of the first booklet: Gem of the Flanaess and everyone should read this chapter. DM's Guide to the City Campaign is a love letter to game masters everywhere as… Continue reading Everyone Should Read Chapter 2 of Gem of the Flanaess
I got a DM on twitter the other day that asked why I had stopped writing down my thoughts on the City of Greyhawk and I thought I would take a moment to explain. I had been working with an old copy I bought in a Used Book store a couple of years ago. It… Continue reading Why Did the City of Greyhawk Slow Down?
One of the defining moments in the Greyhawk lore occurs when Rary goes from being a trusted member of the Circle into a traitor. Rary was an interesting choice for this turn as prior to the event his character was described as: . . . quiet, dignified, and a skilled mediator and peacemaker . .… Continue reading Greyhawk: If We Can Keep Rary from Blowing it Up
Dyvers doesn't have a thieves guild like the city of Greyhawk, instead they have a gang known as the Alliance. According to Slavers, the Alliance was formed by several competing crime families so that they could take out their rivals together. This feels more like a mafia thing than a gang, and if that's how… Continue reading Dyvers: The Alliance is Everywhere
Dyvers has a seedy underbelly that comes from all those cultists of Elemental Evil who fled after the temple fell and I've always assumed that they brought some pretty crazy drugs with them when they fled. Things like "Wizard's Ear," "Elemental Twist," and "Zug Shrooms."
