Wisdom of the Masters: Population: Evil
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Seven on 31st October 2018. Killer DM: Ahh good, that was an annoying long wait. Ostron: Have to wait a while for Ryu to fail her saves? Killer DM: And there I was thinking you didn’t have a sense of humor… Oh, you’re serious? You think she still tries to make the saves? You dear thing. Lennon: Um…right, so when we left off last week, you mentioned you had more to say about evil campaigns? Killer DM: Oh my yes. So last time we talked about the pre-campaign discussion where you make sure your players aren’t going to cop out on you and decide they don’t actually want to be evil, and what the campaign looks like when it’s in flight. But what about the setup? Despite the fact that you *can* be evil, D&D’s basic rules and creatures aren’t designed that way, so you have to do a little…
Wisdom of the Masters: Campaigning for Evil
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Six on 24th October 2018. Lennon: Really? Again? Ostron: We’re talking about running evil campaigns, who’s at the top of *YOUR* subject matter expert list for that? Lennon: Whatever, they’re your kidneys Killer DM: It’s so nice that you all invite me around for the holidays. It almost makes me forget that you didn’t do that last Halloween. Lennon: In our defense, we hadn’t actually started broadcasting yet. Killer DM: I just hear excuses but I suppose I might let it pass if we’re talking about something fun. Ostron: Running an evil campaign Killer DM: Oh Ostron! I knew there was hope for you. Now, let’s talk about unfair encounters and completely invisible traps. Lennon: No, no, not quite. We’re not talking about running a campaign and being evil to the players, we’re talking about the players being evil and going through a campaign like that. Killer DM: Hmmm. Obviously not quite as fun…
Heroes Rise, forty-sixth entry: The Butt Contains Caveats
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the forty-sixth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday, October 20th 2018, and released Wednesday, October 24th 2018 over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
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…
Heroes Rise, forty-fifth entry: Twitch and Twitchability
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the forty-fifth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday October 13th, and released Wednesday October 17th over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
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…
Heroes Rise, forty-fourth entry: Extra Lives and Levels
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the forty-fourth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday October 6th 2018, and released Wednesday October 10th 2018 over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Heroes Rise, forty-third entry: Roll20 Rolls a 1
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the forty-third entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday September 29th 2018, and released Wednesday October 3rd 2018 over at heroesrisepodcast.com
A Short Rest: Adventurer’s Journal: Multiclassing
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Three on 3rd October 2018. Mikey: I’m just saying it gives me more versatility Ostron: Have you ever heard “Jack of all trades, master of none”? Ryu: Ostron, you know what happens if you bother Mikey. Suddenly we all sound like chipmunks. Well…except RaeRae for some reason. Ostron: I’m not bothering him. We’re discussing the merits of his dual role as part time host and audio alchemist compared to you and I who are primarily just hosting. Ryu: Oh. The multiclassing debate. Ostron: I…okay that actually is a good point; I didn’t think of it that way. Multiclassing is a mechanic in D&D that can generate almost as much sidelong glances from players and cautious looks from DMs as declaring you’re playing an evil character, or a Kender. For those who stopped reading the Player’s Handbook after the Equipment chapter, multiclassing allows you to take a level in a…
Heroes Rise, forty-second entry: Turn it Eberroff and on again
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the forty-second entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday September 22nd 2018, and released Wednesday September 26th 2018 over at heroesrisepodcast.com