The Die of Fate, or, Character and Campaign Defining Items

I wasn’t the best DM when I first started in the 4e world. Part of it was our setup, 5 friends in Syracuse, NY with a laptop hooked to someone’s big screen TV, me in Pittsburgh, PA in my computer room, Gametable or MapTools providing the game table and a Teamspeak server providing voice.  I […]

Opportunity Actions: DIY Templates

Has this ever happened to you? Your wizard is about to throw a fireball, and you want to mark the range, but all you have are 4 d6s. Now, this may be all well and good for determining range, who is targeted, whatever, but what if it’s an effect that you can sustain? What if […]

Opportunity Actions: Multi-Focus Campaigns

Ok, while my Tarrasque encounter is simmering down to a delicious little event, I’d like to talk about something I’ve long held a fascination for: the multi-focus campaign. If you listen to the latest Dungeon Master Guys podcast, Dave “The Game” does a pretty good segment that hits some of the basics of the multi-focus campaign. We’ve […]

Let Your Players Be the Masterminds

There is a list of epic scenes that I want make happen in any campaign. One of these is classic moment when the smug bad guy boss slowly realizes that you’ve let him defeat your trap because you’ve actually ensnared him in a bigger, tighter trap. This is a typical climax in any heist or […]