http://diceofdoom.com/blog The Dice of Doom is a blog about gaming, being a gamer and general interest content suitable for nerds. Tue, 01 May 2012 13:26:59 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 The Dice of Doom podcast is a lively discussion about role-playing games, focusing heavily on Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulhu and Warhammer along with many other gaming systems. We have been gaming for longer than we care to freely admit and we have a wide range of interests and experiences in gaming in general (everything from obscure games printed in the 1980's to the most recent tabletop wargames). We like to take a lighthearted approach to our discussions and mix them up with other nerdy news and content as well. RupertG yes RupertG rupertg@diceofdoom.com rupertg@diceofdoom.com (RupertG) © Dice of Doom Dice of Doom Podcast dnd, d&d, dungeons & dragons, rpg, roleplaying, gaming, roleplaying games http://diceofdoom.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Podcast-Logo-New-SQ-SM.png http://diceofdoom.com/blog Sydney, Australia http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/05/dice-of-doom-podcast-039-goblins-fabled-lands-mutants-masterminds/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/05/dice-of-doom-podcast-039-goblins-fabled-lands-mutants-masterminds/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 11:33:16 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3724 In this episode we discuss our upcoming RPG Goblins!, review Fabled Lands, look at Mutants & Masterminds, and ask "Can you use skills on PCs?". Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/05/dice-of-doom-podcast-039-goblins-fabled-lands-mutants-masterminds/feed/ 0 Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, DnD, roleplaying, fabled lands, mutants & masterminds, Goblins DoD Podcast 039: Fabled Lands, Mutants & Masterminds, Goblins!, Using Skills on PCs In this, admittedly belated, episode of the Dice of Doom podcast we discuss how you (yes you!) can be part of the play testing experience for our new RPG Goblins! We discuss the games that we will be playing this year (Fabled Lands, Mutants & Masterminds, Shadowrun, Mouse Guard, Ars Magica, The One Ring, Traveller, Deadlands). We also review Fabled Lands. For our discussion topic this episode we are asked the question by Michael S on our Facebook page "Should you be able to use your skills, like Diplomacy and Intimidate on other players?" We have to apologise to Michael S as we forgot to give him a shout out in the podcast. RupertG yes 44:27 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/03/dice-of-doom-podcast-038-12-games12-months-wrap-up-lady-blackbird-review-and-spicing-up-character-generation/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/03/dice-of-doom-podcast-038-12-games12-months-wrap-up-lady-blackbird-review-and-spicing-up-character-generation/#comments Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:53:30 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3696 In this episode we discuss our experiences of the 12 Games/12 Months Gaming Experiment, review Lady Blackbird and discuss ways to spice up character generation. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/03/dice-of-doom-podcast-038-12-games12-months-wrap-up-lady-blackbird-review-and-spicing-up-character-generation/feed/ 1 lady blackbird, dungeons & dragons, roleplaying, rpg, dnd, d&d, gaming, DoD Podcast 038: Gaming Experiment Wrap Up, Lady Blackbird Review, Spicing Up Character Generation In this, the final podcast recorded in 2011 (don't worry, we've started recording 2012 podcasts), we discuss the awesomeness of the 20th Anniversary Vampire: The Masquerade Ultimate Everything In It Leave Nothing Out 500 Bazillion Pages Edition (not its real name), we review Lady Blackbird and answer a question from Symatt on ways to spice up character creation. RupertG yes 46:14 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/03/another-awesome-occasion/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/03/another-awesome-occasion/#comments Sun, 04 Mar 2012 08:55:51 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3683 This weekend a wonderful event occurred. In front of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Ellisthion (also known as Duncan) finally got married to Michelle. We say finally as it has been quite the journey for the two of them involving government bureaucracies, international conspiracies, ninjas and pirates (actually, I'm lying about the last two...). Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/03/another-awesome-occasion/feed/ 3 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/02/dice-of-doom-podcast-037-lady-blackbird-religion-in-rpgs-and-dealing-with-a-large-gaming-group/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/02/dice-of-doom-podcast-037-lady-blackbird-religion-in-rpgs-and-dealing-with-a-large-gaming-group/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:12:02 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3642 In this episode of the DoDcast we discuss our early impressions of Lady Blackbird, discuss the role of religions in roleplaying games and discuss ways of dealing with a large gaming group. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/02/dice-of-doom-podcast-037-lady-blackbird-religion-in-rpgs-and-dealing-with-a-large-gaming-group/feed/ 10 lady blackbird, dungeons & dragons, roleplaying, rpg, dnd, d&d, gaming, DoD Podcast 037: Lady Blackbird, Religion in RPGs and Dealing with a Large Gaming Group In what we hope is a solid case of better late than never we present episode 037 of the DoDCast recorded in mid October of last year. This episode we discuss our initial impressions of Lady Blackbird (the Ennie Award winning free Indie RPG), discuss the effective use of religions in your roleplaying campaigns (via Symatt) and we look at ways to deal with an extremely large gaming group (via Jrronimo). RupertG yes 43:02 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/01/dungeons-dragons-5th-edition-announced-dnd5e/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/01/dungeons-dragons-5th-edition-announced-dnd5e/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:12:31 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3617 Today, with very little surprise, Wizards of the Coast announced that they were working on the 5th edition of the venerable game Dungeons & Dragons. Rumours of the announcement have been swirling through the Internet for a while now, particularly after it was revealed that veteran D&D game designer Monte Cook had rejoined the R&D Team. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2012/01/dungeons-dragons-5th-edition-announced-dnd5e/feed/ 3 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/12/dice-of-doom-podcast-036-eclipse-phase-screwing-characters-tragedy-ecology-and-dwarven-womens-grooming-habits/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/12/dice-of-doom-podcast-036-eclipse-phase-screwing-characters-tragedy-ecology-and-dwarven-womens-grooming-habits/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:18:52 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3601 Eclipse Phase review, deliberately screwing with your players for plot, tragedy as a campaign genre, is a realistic campaign ecology important, and the age old question - beards and female dwarfs. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/12/dice-of-doom-podcast-036-eclipse-phase-screwing-characters-tragedy-ecology-and-dwarven-womens-grooming-habits/feed/ 9 Dungeons & Dragons, DnD, Roleplaying, Roleplaying Games, Eclipse Phase, Gaming, Tragedy, Dwarfs DoD Podcast 036: Eclipse Phase, Screwing Characters, Tragedy, Ecology and Dwarven Women's Grooming Habits As means of a Holiday Gift we decided to get off our butts and pause writing Goblins! long enough to issue forth this final edition of the Dice of Doom podcast for the year. Topics: * Our final thoughts on the Sci-fi Post Apocalyptic Transhuman Horror game Eclipse Phase. * Deliberately screwing with your player's characters for the purposes of plot. Is it OK to? * Tragedy as a genre for a Campaign Setting (Oedipus the Roleplaying Game, anyone?) * Realistic Ecology in Roleplaying Campaign Settings. Is it important? (Thank you HairyDM for the topic). * Beards on Dwarven Women. Yes or no? (Thank you PizzaKarin for the topic). RupertG yes 44:03 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/11/minecraft-pocket-edition-for-ios-review/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/11/minecraft-pocket-edition-for-ios-review/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:01:24 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3592 The port of Minecraft to iOS has been a long and uncomfortable wait for many. Despite an original announcement stating that iOS was going to be first off the rank, Android pipped iDevices to the post when Minecraft Pocket Edition was announced for the Xperia Play. Thankfully, for those of you with an iOS enabled device, the wait is over and you can now enjoy the fruits of Mojang's labour in the form of a much cutdown version of everyone's favourite sandboxed game. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/11/minecraft-pocket-edition-for-ios-review/feed/ 4 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/10/dice-of-doom-podcast-035-eclipse-phase-first-impressions-when-good-rules-go-bad-and-polarising-games/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/10/dice-of-doom-podcast-035-eclipse-phase-first-impressions-when-good-rules-go-bad-and-polarising-games/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:23:54 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3576 In this gripping episode of the DoDcast we discuss our first impressions of Eclipse Phase, debate what to do when good rules go bad (or, in Paul's case, what the hell to do when you stuff up) and we look at polarising roleplaying games into left and right. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/10/dice-of-doom-podcast-035-eclipse-phase-first-impressions-when-good-rules-go-bad-and-polarising-games/feed/ 2 Dungeons & Dragons, DnD, Roleplaying, Roleplaying Games, Eclipse Phase, Gaming DoD Podcast 035: Eclipse Phase First Impressions, When Good Rules Go Bad and Polarising Games In this gripping episode of the DoDcast we discuss our first impressions of Eclipse Phase, debate what to do when good rules go bad (or, in Paul's case, what the hell to do when you stuff up) and we look at polarising roleplaying games into left and right. This last topic is a revisit of an idea that I originally posted a while back in an attempt to help us better understand our players and the games that we play. We also take the time to thank our loyal readers/listeners for their kind generosity in shopping at Amazon through our link. Thanks guys for allowing us to purchase Pathfinder, Traveller, Basic Roleplaying and Hackmaster. RupertG yes 43:38 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/10/post-by-band-of-misfits-discussing-how-to-switch-up-your-skill-checks-in-dnd/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/10/post-by-band-of-misfits-discussing-how-to-switch-up-your-skill-checks-in-dnd/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:13:26 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3563 Recently, in one of our podcasts, we discussed the idea of rolling your skill checks first in response to a challenge and THEN roleplaying the resulting success or failure. For example, you would roll your diplomacy check, and then you'd roleplay the resulting success or failure based on the result. The idea has been picked up and run with by the guys at Roving Band of Misfits who discuss it at length, along with some very useful rule interpretations for implementing it in your D&D 4e game. It is well worth the read. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/10/post-by-band-of-misfits-discussing-how-to-switch-up-your-skill-checks-in-dnd/feed/ 0 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/10/dice-of-doom-podcast-034-dragon-warriors-review-tpks-whos-to-blame-and-win-your-character-a-set-of-steak-knives/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/10/dice-of-doom-podcast-034-dragon-warriors-review-tpks-whos-to-blame-and-win-your-character-a-set-of-steak-knives/#comments Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:13:33 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3553 In this episode of the Dice of Doom podcast we review Dragon Warriors through hopefully not particularly rose coloured glasses. We discuss the question "Total Party Kills:Who's to blame?" and what's more, identify exactly who it is. We also, as part of Play a New RPG Month, are offering you the chance to win your Character a set of Steak Knives in game. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/10/dice-of-doom-podcast-034-dragon-warriors-review-tpks-whos-to-blame-and-win-your-character-a-set-of-steak-knives/feed/ 0 Dragon Warriors, Dungeons & Dragons, DnD, Roleplaying, Roleplaying Games, Play a New RPG, PANRPG DoD Podcast 034: Dragon Warriors Review, TPKs: Who's to Blame? and Win your Character a set of Steak Knives In this episode of the Dice of Doom podcast we review Dragon Warriors through hopefully not particularly rose coloured glasses. We discuss the question "Total Party Kills:Who's to blame?" and what's more, identify exactly who it is. We also, as part of Play a New RPG Month, are offering you the chance to win your Character a set of Steak Knives in game*. That's right, we will write the rules, compose a short note to your GM and email you a certificate of authenticity that we scribble up if you let us know what your group is playing for the month of October RupertG yes 49:06 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/the-big-bang-theory-mystic-warlords-of-kaa-available-on-facebook/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/the-big-bang-theory-mystic-warlords-of-kaa-available-on-facebook/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 03:48:31 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3539 First introduced in The Big Bang Theory episode "The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary" in season 3, the (until now) fictional collectible card game Mystic Warlords of Ka'a has intrigued nerds as to how the game might be played and whether or not Enchanted Bunny is really that useless. Well, now is your chance to find out. The game has been released as a Facebook game. So far, it seems pretty polished, with tutorials, single play, duels, collectible cards (which cost Facebook Coins) and the ability to challenge your friends. You can install the game to your profile by clicking this link. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/the-big-bang-theory-mystic-warlords-of-kaa-available-on-facebook/feed/ 1 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/play-a-new-rpg-month-update/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/play-a-new-rpg-month-update/#comments Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:01:24 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3528 It's less than a week till the official start of Play a New RPG Month so I thought I'd write an update on what has been going on in preparation for the month. It has been pretty humbling (and downright awesome) to see people that we don't know discussing PANRPG independently of our involvement. This means that the idea is spreading, and we couldn't be happier. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/play-a-new-rpg-month-update/feed/ 3 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/dice-of-doom-podcast-033-spirit-of-the-century-review-dragon-warriors-first-impressions-and-do-rules-support-descriptive-combat/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/dice-of-doom-podcast-033-spirit-of-the-century-review-dragon-warriors-first-impressions-and-do-rules-support-descriptive-combat/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:24:27 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3525 In this episode of the Dice of Doom podcast we review Spirit of the Century, talking about our experiences with stunts and aspects. We also discuss our first impressions of playing Dragon Warriors which is a flashback from our gaming past. As part of our discussion on Dragon Warriors we get sidetracked (egads! who would have seen that coming!) and we spend quite a bit of time discussing how rules describe combat, should they describe combat? and whether it's up to the players to look after that aspect of the game or not. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/dice-of-doom-podcast-033-spirit-of-the-century-review-dragon-warriors-first-impressions-and-do-rules-support-descriptive-combat/feed/ 8 Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, DnD, roleplaying, spirit of the century, sotc, games mastering, dragon warriors DoD Podcast 033: Spirit of the Century review, Dragon Warriors first impressions and relying on rules to describe combat In this episode of the Dice of Doom podcast we review Spirit of the Century, talking about our experiences with stunts and aspects. We also discuss our first impressions of playing Dragon Warriors which is a flashback from our gaming past. As part of our discussion on Dragon Warriors we get sidetracked (egads! who would have seen that coming!) and we spend quite a bit of time discussing how rules describe combat, should they describe combat? and whether it's up to the players to look after that aspect of the game or not. RupertG yes 50:10 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/guest-appearance-on-roving-band-of-misfits-level-up-podcast/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/guest-appearance-on-roving-band-of-misfits-level-up-podcast/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:59:08 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3520 I recently had the very good fortune to appear as a guest on the Roving Band of Misfits Level Up Podcast in a bonus episode to discuss the Play a New RPG project. A lot of fun was had by all. Click on through to the Roving Band of Misfits site to listen to the show. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/guest-appearance-on-roving-band-of-misfits-level-up-podcast/feed/ 0 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/dice-of-doom-podcast-032-riddles-and-puzzles-in-rpgs-favourite-components-of-rpgs-dice-and-randomness-in-games/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/dice-of-doom-podcast-032-riddles-and-puzzles-in-rpgs-favourite-components-of-rpgs-dice-and-randomness-in-games/#comments Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:10:27 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3503 In this episode we discuss using riddles and puzzles in your roleplaying games, our favourite components of RPGs, are dice important and is a linear or bell curve of randomness more 'heroic'? Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/dice-of-doom-podcast-032-riddles-and-puzzles-in-rpgs-favourite-components-of-rpgs-dice-and-randomness-in-games/feed/ 6 dnd, rpg, dungeons, dragons, D&D, roleplaying, games, gaming, Dungeons & Dragons DoD Podcast 031: Riddles and Puzzles in RPGs, Favourite Components of RPGs, Dice and Randomness in Games There is a lot going on in this podcast, so instead of writing my usual introductory blurb on this one, I thought I would do a list instead. * We issue commands to Play a New RPG for the month of October * We discuss using riddles and puzzles in your game and whether or not they are a useful tool in your GMing belt * We debate another question from reader Disemvowel where he asks us what our perfect system would be in terms of individual mechanics from various systems * We answer questions from Samaldanach about whether or not randomness is useful in a roleplaying game and a related question from Beefgriller about randomness and dice mechanics in roleplaying games There are references to an article we wrote a while back on polarising roleplaying game between left and right style systems (much as we do political ideologies) which you may find useful to read before listening (if you haven't read it already). RupertG yes 53:23 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/play-a-new-rpg-month/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/play-a-new-rpg-month/#comments Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:05:47 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3495 After finding out how enjoyable and fun it was to play so many different games, we decided we would start a new project. So today we are announcing Play a New RPG Month. OK, we've been talking about it on the podcast for ages, but this is the hard, do it now, get out there and make it happen, announcement. We want to encourage as many gaming groups as we can to break the routine and try out something new. If you are a group that already plays a lot of games, we'd still like you to join us. Let's make a big show of it and see what happens. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/09/play-a-new-rpg-month/feed/ 3 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/dice-of-doom-podcast-031-refocusing-a-game-that-has-lost-its-way-should-a-gm-controlling-hp-in-combat-and-the-role-of-the-gm/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/dice-of-doom-podcast-031-refocusing-a-game-that-has-lost-its-way-should-a-gm-controlling-hp-in-combat-and-the-role-of-the-gm/#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:39:42 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3486 In this episode we talk about ways to get a game back on track, we answer a question "Could a GM control the HPs of the players in a game to promote better roleplaying?", and we summarise our thoughts on the role of the GM. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/dice-of-doom-podcast-031-refocusing-a-game-that-has-lost-its-way-should-a-gm-controlling-hp-in-combat-and-the-role-of-the-gm/feed/ 3 dungeons and Dragons, D&D, DnD, roleplaying, spirit of the century, sotc, games mastering DoD Podcast 031: Refocusing a game, Controlling player HP in Combat and The Role of the GM In this episode of the podcast Dwayne regales us with stories of how a game he was running got off the rails (literally), and we talk about ways to get things back on track (bear with us, the intro takes a little while on this one...). We also answer a question posed to us by reader Disemvowel. He asks us "Could a GM control the HPs of the players in a game to promote better roleplaying." We also summarise our thoughts on the recent, and very controversial, guest posts on the role of the GM (at least until we get distracted by something else that is...). RupertG yes 49:16 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/symatt-draws-toki-and-oinkers-for-me/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/symatt-draws-toki-and-oinkers-for-me/#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:00:14 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3475 Symatt brings one of my favourite characters that I used to play in a D&D 3.5 campaign years ago to life. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/symatt-draws-toki-and-oinkers-for-me/feed/ 1 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/the-angry-dm-challenges-you-to-solve-a-puzzle/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/the-angry-dm-challenges-you-to-solve-a-puzzle/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:26:27 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3461 Our good friend and all round good guy The Angry DM is running a competition on his site in a most interesting fashion. To win the prize you need to solve a puzzle given in the form of a script from a gaming table. All the clues are present in the conversations of the players and GM. You need to piece together what the party should have done to solve the riddle. Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/the-angry-dm-challenges-you-to-solve-a-puzzle/feed/ 14 http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/symatt-draws-cthulhu-for-us-as-part-of-his-countersketch-project/ http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/symatt-draws-cthulhu-for-us-as-part-of-his-countersketch-project/#comments Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:46:51 +0000 RupertG http://diceofdoom.com/blog/?p=3456 Being quite the fans of the writings of HP Lovecraft around here, when regular reader and all round nice guy Symatt asked us to suggest a topic for one of his amazing CounterSketches there really was only one thing we could say. Cthulhu. It would just have to be Cthulhu... Continue reading →]]> http://diceofdoom.com/blog/2011/08/symatt-draws-cthulhu-for-us-as-part-of-his-countersketch-project/feed/ 6