Meeting R.A. Salvatore

October 28th, 2011

More than fifteen years ago, I took my younger brother with me up to the local mall to our first book signing ever: R.A. Salvatore was going to be at our local Waldenbooks in Lincoln, RI!

That mall and bookstore were actually the places where I discovered my earliest fantasy fiction and gaming favorites: the D&D Red Box, the Dragonlance Chronicles and Icewind Dale trilogies, Homeland (its thoughtful journal-style presentation blew me away), and D&D 2nd edition.

I read them all, cover to cover, every word, with such joy and enthusiasm.  I literally couldn’t put any of them down!

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Rest a Moment

October 25th, 2011

The short rest is 5 long minutes.  It’s short enough where it’s convenient to recoup from and for most fights, but it’s long enough where it’s sometimes silly and allows the story’s timeline to be filled with all sorts of new DM-conjured ramifications.  More horrible yet wonderful battles and trials for your heroes!

And, yes, the short rest also clearly suffers from Sounds Too Gamey Syndrome (and yes, I’m trademarking this!), one of my 4e pet peeves.  As much as I try whether  I play or DM to reword the short rest in-game into something more elegant, most players are fine saying painfully horrid things like, “Wait, we should take a short rest,” repeatedly, while inside an evil-flavored meat grinder of a dungeon.

For those of you who still wince or feel awkward saying or hearing “Short Rest” in and out of character, try this alternate or additional rule… wait for it…

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Posted in Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies, Storytelling & Roleplaying | 2 Comments »

Featured Poll: How Many Minutes for D&D Combat? +2 Tips

October 21st, 2011

So how about it?  Zero to 60, you tell me: how many minutes should the standard D&D combat last? 

It’s no secret Faster Combat is a big deal to me and much of the D&D community, so go ahead and share what you think the target number should be in the current Leonine Roar featured poll. 

Vote right here or on the home page in the sidebar, sort of like Choose Your Own Adventure.  Without the whole book thing!  (And yes, those books are as awesome as Lego or Transformers, I agree.)

 

 

[poll id = “6”]

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Posted in Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies | 9 Comments »

Make It Cinematic: More Exciting Magic Item Identification

October 18th, 2011

Recently, Dungeon’s Master talked about how we can and should Make Magical Item Identification Harder.   

After all, a simple purchase or short rest and bang! – you know what your magic items do.  It doesn’t get any easier, and it hasn’t been that easy in D&D as long as I can remember.  But it is now!

Still, I’m not sure it’s difficulty that’s most worrisome when it comes to magic item discovery, identification and the specific wonder and mystery involved. 

Don’t make magic item identification harder.  Make magic item identification more exciting!  

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Posted in Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies, Storytelling & Roleplaying | 5 Comments »

Not Every Encounter Should Drive the Plot Forward

October 14th, 2011

Every encounter should advance the plot.

You see this tip a lot in blogs, or on Twitter, and guess what?  It’s wrong.

Think of your favorite stories, in any medium.  Think of your favorite miniseries or novel series.  Aren’t there always stories within stories?  Perhaps even some loose ends you’re dying to learn about?  Asides, flashbacks, a break from the “main plot” – they’re everywhere, and they enrich the characters and make the world more believable and rich.

A brief “special guest star” or “side trek” is OKAY.  Really!  More than one, even!

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Treasure Cheat Sheet: More Magical Rewards

October 11th, 2011

Ever notice there’s never quite enough magic items for everyone in your party as you slay the monsters, rescue the downtrodden, and save the world? 

Sure there’s plenty of coin and gems, but doesn’t it seem there’s always somebody who doesn’t get a new magical weapon or implement, suit of armor, or amulet or necklace – when they really earned or need one?  Why is this?

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Posted in Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies | 4 Comments »

Project News: Introducing… Faster Combat!

October 7th, 2011

What is the most exciting yet most time-consuming part of your games?  That’s right, the exhilarating and pitched combat that we all love in our favorite tabletop RPG. 

Combat can drag, for many reasons.  But what if you had a wealth of game knowledge and design tricks to launch and conclude combat quickly – without sacrificing the excitement?  Is there a way to achieve such combat enlightenment? 

There is now!  This past summer Johnn Four (a force in the RPG industry for a dozen years with immensely helpful sites like Roleplaying Tips and its famous newsletter) and I talked about collaborating to create a new and powerful instructional guide and resource to help all D&D and Pathfinder GMs who wanted to take their combats to the next level – and do it fast! 

And so, Johnn and I teamed up to create and bring you Faster Combat! 

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Posted in Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies, News, Previews & Reviews, Storytelling & Roleplaying | 1 Comment »

Magnificent Indeed: A Review of Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium

October 4th, 2011

alt text“Making Magic Items Magical” again is one of the promises the highly anticipated tome, Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium, makes in its earliest pages. 

Bold promise, isn’t it?  With 4e magic items often missing that special something in their descriptions and presentation since the Player’s Handbook, is such a lofty goal even achievable?  

Did MME get there?  Did it make our beloved magic items – including many Dungeon & Dragons classics – wondrous and inspiring once more? 

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Posted in News, Previews & Reviews | 5 Comments »

12 Ways to Describe Minions: First, Stop Calling Them Minions!

September 30th, 2011

alt textDo your battles with minions ever sound or feel a bit too gamey? 

Do you cringe when your DM describes an exciting combat scene and its terrifying monsters, only to punctuate it with a gamey punch the face, finishing setting the scene with “And, oh, these are all minions.”

And back to board game-like non-immersive reality we go! 

No thanks.  Here’s a Leonine 12 primer on better ways to introduce our beloved minions without ever saying the word “minion” – yet still give our brave, treasure-seeking party enough context clues to suggest the all-important minion trademark: the Number One. 

Use these examples by creature type or theme for inspiration when describing your own minion monsters.

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Posted in Creative Writing, Design, Mechanics & Efficiencies, Storytelling & Roleplaying | 2 Comments »

D&D Video Gems: Get The Adventure Coach!

September 27th, 2011

Looking for help as an adventurer?  Need some laughs?  Then you need the Dungeon Bastard! 

That’s right, you want Bill Cavalier, also known as The Adventure Coach.  Bill has created hilarious videos covering some of the quirkiest aspects of D&D throughout all its editions.

Here’s a peek at what The Adventure Coach can do for you and your game:

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Posted in Media & Technology | 1 Comment »

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