Once upon a time, random encounters were standard fare in roleplaying games. Somewhere along the way, they fell out of fashion. Players, DMs, and game designers decided that random encounters embodied the worst of lazy DMing. They were indiscriminate party killers. Most of all, they were dumped because they were irrelevant to the ongoing story. …
Curse that Whispering Homunculus! Yesterday he took over Kobold World Headquarters and wreaked all sorts of havoc online. We finally got control back, only to find out today that while the Homunculus was in charge, he used the Kobold presses to publish his own book. Yes, you can now buy Your Whispering Homunculus in the …
Your Whispering Homunculus, Now In The Kobold Store Read More »
Journeys are part of the myths we try to capture in RPGs. From the Odyssey and Anabasis of the Greeks, to Huck and Jim’s trip down the Mississippi, to films such as The Hidden Fortress and Saving Private Ryan, journeys serve as both vehicles for adventure and as metaphors for the heroes’ movement toward self-discovery. …
Howling Tower: The Road from Dullsville to Thrilltown Read More »
It’s taken as gospel by many fantasy roleplayers that in the bad old days, all campaigns were about dungeons. Characters left the dungeon and returned to town only for healing and to replenish supplies. They might have a few random encounters between the town and the dungeon, but those were nothing more than distractions from …
By now, everyone has had time to settle into the idea that D&D is getting another revision. I’m using this week to look at some D&D history, what revisions mean, and their effects. Today’s episode concerns complexity and option fatigue. Every revision of D&D has made the game more complex somehow. Complexity comes in different …
No, not that type of discrimination. Fantasy roleplayers love their nonhuman races. What started in AD&D with elves, dwarves, halflings, half-elves, and half-orcs has mushroomed into dozens of player-character races in RPGs. Players seem to have an inexhaustible appetite for more races to dabble with. The choices have expanded from humans through the so-called demihumans …
Last week, we looked at three groups of spells that cause headaches for DMs. The first contains spells that let characters get from here to there without dealing with what’s in between. The second lets players see what’s over there, know what’s going on, or glimpse what lies ahead when that knowledge would otherwise be …
Magic is all about warping reality to do the wizard’s bidding. It doesn’t matter whether you’re Drawmij, Harry Dresden, or Isaac Bonewits. The wizard wants or needs the world to be different from how it is and has the supernatural juice to make it so. The power to shape reality is what makes magic-users in …
Some of you might be aware that roleplaying game industry veteran Steve Winter has started writing blogs about Dungeons & Dragons and other topics that interest him. His site, Howling Tower, already has some great posts that you should go read. As a special treat, we’re working with Steve to make some of his thoughts …
The young man appeared calm, his lank blond hair falling over his eyes as he gesticulated and spoke the words of power. His trembling hands gave him away, however. A ruddy light glowed within the circle of power, and then a bang reverberated around the room. The young jumped involuntarily, but his invocation never faltered. …
Do you want the ability to “juice the combat”? Do you want a mechanic to smooth over the rough spots, increase PC interaction with the game world, and avoid the occasional character death? Here you go! These five variants on the action point rules—fate points, hero points, kickers, player biscuits, and short takes—are ready for …
The hulking black creature, ever so vaguely humanoid in shape, rises from the tar pit. Its small eyes glow red, its body covered with all manner of items—tree limbs, leaves, carcasses of small animals, and even a few weapons. The incorrectly named tar fiend—for it is an elemental, not a fiend—lives in tar pits. It …
(This week’s column uses 3.5E rules. The next one, however, will be the first to use the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game rules.) Spell descriptions contain a great deal of standardized nomenclature that helps explain what each spell does. The questions presented here involve a few of them. Aiming a Spell Aiming a spell involves choose exactly …
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