Wisdom of the Masters: Decking your Campaign
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Three on 19th December 2018. Ryu: Wow Lennon, that’s…a lot of cards Lennon: Yeah, Ostron said we were talking about using decks in D&D campaigns so I’m checking my creature count in my Green/White aggro deck. Ryu: Okay, so I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to explain to you why pre-made decks are boring and drafts are the way to go, so why do you have Magic cards out at all? Ostron: Lennon did you…oh…right. Here Ryu, this is what we’re *actually* talking about today. *papers shuffling* Ryu: Ohhh. Decks in games right. Okay, once again you’re missing the target here, Lennon, but full points for effort as you’d say back home. Lennon: Really? I thought with Ravnica and all that… Ostron: Yeah, we’re talking about more traditional nontraditional decks. The item Deck of Many things is something almost all regular D&D players are familiar with, and it’s been around…
A Short Rest: Archives of Candlekeep: 4th Edition, the Rebellious Child
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-One on 5th December 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honor of Art and Arcana, the book released October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. In June 2008, Wizards of the Coast released the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. When 4th edition is brought up among D&D fans, what typically happens is many of them will engage in a fierce denouncement or defense of the system, while those unfamiliar with or unaware of the edition sit to the side in bafflement, wondering…
Archives of Candlekeep: Edition 3.5: The Golden Child
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty on 28th November 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honor of Art and Arcana, the book released October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. As established in our last article, while everyone liked 3.0 as an edition and were in love with the d20 system, there were glaring issues almost everyone identified with the 3.0 gameplay rules. Problems with Rangers, Bards, Sorcerers, and Druids were well-known, and the 3.0 psionics rules had already established “psionics are broken” as a virtual law in D&D…
Archives of Candlekeep: 3rd Edition: The Friendly, Embarrassing Child
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Nine on 14th November 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honor of Art and Arcana, the book released October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. When D&D came under the control of Wizards of the Coast, they pulled support for the “Basic” line of D&D products. This left a lot of players frustrated. Advanced D&D 2nd edition’s rules gave a lot more options but also greatly increased the complexity of play. While many of 2nd edition’s fans were comfortable with the system, the wide…
A Short Rest: Archives of Candlekeep: 2nd Edition; the temperate, responsible
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Eight on 7th November 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honour of Art and Arcana, the book released October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. By the late 1980s, D&D had become even larger but had also attracted some negative attention. News sources and rumor had associated two teen suicides with playing D&D, and one of the mothers had started a group that actively campaigned and warned against the game, citing the references to demons, magic, assassinations, playing as monsters, and sexual elements…
Archives of Candlekeep: The Fraternal Twins: AD&D and the Basic Set…
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Five on 13th October 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honor of the upcoming Art and Arcana book, releasing October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. By 1977, four years after the original release of D&D, the game had obviously grown. All of the expansions were printed and published, Dragon magazine was a thing, and a few other publications from D&D’s wargaming roots had 3rd party stuff that proved really popular. Everyone agreed that the rules needed to be pulled together and streamlined; at…
Archives of Candlekeep: In The Beginning…
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Four on 10th October 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honor of the upcoming Art and Arcana book, releasing October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. Late in the year 1970, Gary Gygax and Jeff Perran completed their work on a new project — a set of tabletop wargaming rules for medieval miniatures that they named “Chainmail”. Then, as an afterthought, Gygax created a 14-page fantasy-focused supplement that dealt with “Heroes, Wizards, dragons, elves and various other fantastic creatures and people”, and it’s from…
Archives of Candlekeep: Odd Dragon Out
This article was first broadcast in Episode Thirty-Five on 8th August 2018. Ryu: Now? Now? Can we do it now? Lennon: Yes, fine, go ahead Ryu: Yaaaay! THUNK Ostron: What is that? Ryu: That’s my notes on all the other dragons Lennon: *sigh* okay, we can cover SOME of them. Pick the ones most people will recognize, at least. Ryu: Fine… People familiar with D&D will immediately recognize the more famous types of dragons. Most players know what colors most chromatic dragons come in and where they live, and they can usually name the major metallic dragons as well, though they might be less sure of the details like their habits and where the lairs are likely to be. But D&D has had some dragons that wander well off the beaten path. Most of these haven’t shown up in 5th edition yet, but they could be coming. But of course we’ll start with an exception: the Dragon Turtle. People…
Archives of Candlekeep: Behold the Beholders
This article was first broadcast in Episode Thirty-Three on 25th July 2018. Mikey: So this is backstage, huh? Ryu: You’ve never been here before? Mikey: They don’t let me leave the cave that often… thumbing through papers What’s this? Lennon: Those are some notes that Ostron was having difficulty compiling. Mikey: What happened to the research beholders? Ryu: Well, this is ON beholders, specifically their history, so when he tried to get their help they all just passed in their own life stories and said that’s all he needed to know. Mikey: Ah, yeah…that makes sense. I mean, it doesn’t but it does when we’re talking about beholders. Ryu: Let’s see what he has so far… While dragons are part of the core of D&D, if D&D is said to have a mascot, it is probably the Beholder. One of the first creatures that is wholly a creation of D&D, rather than being a creature borrowed from mythology, nature, or…
Archives of Candlekeep: Never Enough, the Story of the Hit Point
This article was first broadcast in Episode Twenty-Nine on 20th June 2018. Lennon: Holy mother of Avandra, that stings… Are you nearly done Ostron: Oh will you quit whining?! And hold still otherwise I can’t stitch it properly Lennon: I nearly lost an arm to that allegedly juvenile dragon Ryu: It was so pretty though. The way its scales glistened in the moonlight… Lennon: I’ve lost a *lot* of blood Ostron: Blood, yes. I’d be more concerned with losing Hit Points. Lennon: Yeah, though I don’t have a lot of those left either. But what does it mean to have a lot of hit points? Last time we talked about how Armor Class really only represents a miss chance, though that chance can take different forms. Hit points represent a character’s ability to survive, say, being stabbed by a sword, so if Person A dies when stabbed through the heart by a sword, does Person B with…