Demons and devils occupy an odd position in the pantheons of most fantasy RPGs. For the most part, those terms are just two more names in a long list of monster classifications, not much different from fairies or talking animals. They’ve been stripped of their terrifying spiritual implications. That’s a shame, because their unholy aspects […]
Howling Tower: Plight of the Demon Read More »
Summer’s here, and you know what that means! Flee indoors and play games until the fiery sky-ball no longer burns our skin with its cruel flames. Seriously though, there’s enough great stuff in Kobold Quarterly #22 to keep you occupied all summer. Get it in print + PDF or PDF only and you’ll enjoy articles
Kobold Quarterly #22 Now Available Read More »
Take a look at the second part of a two-part article from Jerry that explores Diablo’s traps. This time Jerry tackles events that can work as larger traps. Traps as Events Does a trap have to be a single-fire, whizz-bang affair? Certainly not. Diablo 3 does a pretty good job of emphasizing constant peril and
From Diablo 3 to D&D: Traps with a Twist (Part 2) Read More »
Old-School Renaissance A movement is happening in the shadows of the big fantasy RPGs. It calls itself the old-school renaissance, or OSR for short. You might have seen its logo popping up around the web. Like most grassroots movements, there’s no specific date when this got started. It’s tough even to say whether what we’re
Howling Tower: Old-School Renaissance Read More »
This week, we have the first part of a two-part article from Jerry that explores Diablo’s traps, which might make a few GMs out there happy. Players should take heed, though: Sometimes your characters can take advantage of traps, too! Old Traps, New Ideas Traps are pretty common in a lot of D&D campaigns, especially
From Diablo 3 to D&D: Traps with a Twist (Part 1) Read More »
Welcome to the third installment in Jerry’s Diablo 3 to D&D series of blog posts. You can read about skill runes and treasure pygmies (the first two parts) before starting with socketed items. How It Works Aside from whatever magical properties armor and weapons has, most items function in only a few different ways. That’s
From Diablo 3 to D&D: Socketed Items Read More »
Welcome to the second installment in Jerry’s Diablo 3 to D&D series of blog posts. You can read about skill runes first, if you want, or dive right into this week’s topic: treasure pygmies. Ah, treasure pygmies. Here’s another bit of Diablo 3 that any fun-loving group of gamers should readily enjoy at their tables.
From Diablo 3 to D&D: Treasure Pygmies Read More »
Adventure hooks are those little clues that DMs drop here and there to attract characters to particular adventure areas, usually the ones the DM has invested considerable time and energy into detailing. They can take many forms (more on that below), but what’s important is that they tantalize the players enough to whet their appetites
Howling Tower: Baiting the Hook Read More »
Let me preface this series of articles by introducing myself. My name is Jerry LeNeave, and I’ve been addicted to games far longer than I care to mention. I run a blog over at The Dread Gazebo, help run the show over at Obsidian Portal, and also co-host the Haste podcast. I’ve been playing video
From Diablo 3 to D&D: Skill Runes Read More »
My first efforts as a DM were with published D&D adventures: D1–3, Descent Into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, and Vault of the Drow. We bombed through the series in two marathon sessions. Those adventures produced great moments and great memories. I still shudder, however, when I think about some of
Howling Tower: Off-the-Cuff Adventures Read More »
Meatspray. That is the nickname my fighter earned within the first hour of playtesting D&D Next. Granted, as a player I naturally lean toward exploiting the rules—ever play Street Fighter 2 and get pinned in the corner by Ken or Ryu and then subsequently kicked over and over again into oblivion? Yeah, I am that
Delving into the Caves of Chaos with a New Iteration of D&D Read More »
My experience with the D&D Next playtest process over the past few months has been nothing short of amazing. My players and I have really come out of our shells, so to speak. Characters are developing more than ever, emergent storytelling is at the forefront of our games, and—most importantly—referencing game materials and rules has
D&D Next: Shaping up to be a cookbook full of recipes for “Awesome” Read More »
Our Kobold-in-Chief Wolfgang recently had the chance to interview Mike Mearls, who is the Senior Manager for Dungeons & Dragons R&D at Wizards of the Coast. With the Open Playtest for D&D Next beginning today, we thought you might like to find out more about what’s going on with our beloved roleplaying game. Wolfgang: D&D
Interview: Mike Mearls Talks About D&D Next Read More »
When swords & sorcery heroes come up against cosmic horror, there is a chance that the characters themselves will catch a whiff of the universe beyond, whether or not they want to. Most horror games deal with that corrupting influence through some type of psychic decay or sanity countdown. Such mechanisms aren’t well suited to
Howling Tower: When Heroes Meet Horror Read More »
I just returned from the annual H. P. Lovecraft film festival in Portland, one of my favorite events of the year. As always, that event got me thinking (more than usual) about how the “Cthulhu mythos” can be incorporated into a fantasy RPG campaign. The elder gods run into trouble when they collide with heroic
Howling Tower: Cosmic Horror/Cosmic Hero Read More »
Dragons are the most iconic creatures in fantasy RPGs, for obvious reasons. They ought to be among the most impressive and frightening, too, but that isn’t always the case. It’s not because dragons don’t have the chops; on a stat-by-stat basis, your average dragon is terrifying. Yet player characters bring them down with shocking regularity.
Howling Tower: Dragons—A Soar Spot Read More »
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