Last time we looked at the actual size of the Baklunish and Suel empires (see Where were the Suel and Baklunish Empires Located? for more); and this time I would like to look at the migration routes of the two empires as they moved east. Using the empire maps I created last time and the… Continue reading The Migration Routes of the Suel and Baklunish Empires
Category: Dungeons & Dragons
The Granddaddy of all Role-Playing Games. I’m a fan.
d100 City Names
One of the things that I often struggle with when I'm in the middle of a game is coming up with a community name for the various towns, districts, and cities that my players encounter. To help alleviate that issue I created this d100 City Names table that you're welcome to download from the link… Continue reading d100 City Names
An Alternative Method for Skill Checks in DnD 5e
When I first started playing Dungeons & Dragons it was with the 3.5 Revision (D&D 3.5). The game is wonderfully simple in some aspects and woefully complicated in others. One of those overly complicated aspects of the game comes from the skill system used (and which has lingered on ever since in various forms). Let's… Continue reading An Alternative Method for Skill Checks in DnD 5e
Out with the Old, In with the New
One of the things that I love about learning new games are the questions that I find myself asking as a result. For example: one of the major questions I keep asking is why did Dungeons & Dragons change so much from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition (AD&D 2e) to Dungeons & Dragons Third… Continue reading Out with the Old, In with the New
Exploring the Southern Gothic
Bare with me for a moment as I'm working through an idea when it comes to storytelling in my games and the sort of themes that I'm wanting to explore. Which brings me to the title of this post: what do we mean when we talk about the Southern Gothic? At its core we're discussing… Continue reading Exploring the Southern Gothic
Combat in ADND 2e, Part 4: Initiative
So I really like the way that D&D 2e asks for us to determine initiative. Each side (the DM and the players) roll a single d10. The lowest result goes first and that side acts before the other. Now this result can be modified by various situational modifiers (for example being "Slowed" will add 2… Continue reading Combat in ADND 2e, Part 4: Initiative
Combat in ADnD 2e, Part 3
The combat sequence of Dungeons and Dragons 2e is quite a bit different from that of 3e. In 2e the sequence goes as follows: 1. The DM decides what actions the monsters or NPCs will take, including casting spells (if any).2. The players indicate what their characters will do, including casting spells (if any).3. Initiative… Continue reading Combat in ADnD 2e, Part 3
Greyhawk & Order
Pitch In a time of escalating tensions throughout the world one group of men and women stand between the law and chaos; they are the Greyhawk Police Department (GDP) and these are their stories. Each episode would follow a group of detectives for the GDP as they attempt to solve the crimes that haunt the… Continue reading Greyhawk & Order
Let’s Go Exploring – If We Can Ever Find Somewhere Unexplored
Recently I started running a game of D&D set in the Forgotten Realms; and as I was describing where the players were in the world it occurred to me at how civilized the Realms (and my beloved Greyhawk for that matter) really are. The world still has wild spaces but there are clearly defined boarders… Continue reading Let’s Go Exploring – If We Can Ever Find Somewhere Unexplored
The Combat Round in ADnD 2e
I know that I've mentioned several times that there are drastic changes between AD&D 2e and D&D 3e but no where is this more apparent than when we're talking about combat. So please forgive me if this sounds a bit over the top: but the AD&D 2e combat round is 1 minute long. Let that… Continue reading The Combat Round in ADnD 2e
THAC0, or How I Learned to Love Descending AC
When it came to the Combat chapter of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Second Edition (AD&D 2e) I found myself struggling to understand the way that THAC0 (To Hit Armor Class 0) worked. In large part this is because D&D 3e, and the subsequent editions, all worked in a significantly different manner. In D&D 3e the… Continue reading THAC0, or How I Learned to Love Descending AC
The Night Below
The Night Below Alternate Cover by Charles Akins
Learning AD&D 2e: Chapter 9, Combat, More than Meets the Eye (pgs 118 – 141)
Image by Moebius, Title Unknown All that we have explored this far in the Learning Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition (AD&D 2e) project has been a preamble for this chapter as it represents one of the most common occurrences within the game: the combat encounter. Before we get into the meat of this chapter… Continue reading Learning AD&D 2e: Chapter 9, Combat, More than Meets the Eye (pgs 118 – 141)
The Gygax ‘75 Challenge: How to Build the Gygax 75 Dungeon
How do you build a dungeon? For Gary Gygax this represented a fundamental question of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in 1975. In the course of play the players might spend their time exploring the world map, or visiting the town where they’ve established a base, but it was in the dungeon where the real adventure… Continue reading The Gygax ‘75 Challenge: How to Build the Gygax 75 Dungeon
The Gygax ’75 Challenge: Introduction
Last night I was doing some research for a project I’m working on when I rediscovered an article Gary Gygax wrote for the fanzine EUROPA: HOW TO SET UP YOUR DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CAMPAIGN – AND BE STUCK REFEREEING IT SEVEN DAYS PER WEEK UNTIL THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING! The article illustrates a… Continue reading The Gygax ’75 Challenge: Introduction
