Back in the old days of playing D&D 3.5 I was running a campaign with 8 players (yes, 8…). Amongst the usual set of crazy logistic issues that had to be faced (pallets of snacks for example…) we also had 8 different playing styles with 8 different motivations, backgrounds, educations, etc. I love my gaming group – and running a game for 8 people is a tough challenge I wouldn’t recommend just anyone trying out… A couple of members of the group are of the engineering background and this led to its own challenges as a GM (analysing buildings and traps for structural integrity for example). This would lead to amusing situations such as the players spending 30 minutes of game time trying to explain how a door couldn’t be opened by lifting the beam instead of just pulling it to the side with the attached ropes and getting on with the game.

Continue reading Do the laws of physics have a place in fantasy role-playing games?

It’s reasonably well known that Fighters and Monks are the weakest classes in 3.5 D&D. Whilst this can be partially be fixed by extending to non-Core books, this doesn’t actually solve the problem, and for some, that simply isn’t an option, either due to DM restrictions or just unavailability of the books. However, it actually is possible to make decent Fighters and Monks in Core 3.5: you just have to be a little clever about it.

This article will start with stuff common to both Fighters and Monks (there’s a lot), and then splits off into separate parts. Some of the ideas in this article may be interesting for other characters, like Barbarians and Paladins.

Continue reading Powergaming: Making a Powerful Fighter or Monk in Core 3.5 D&D

Wizards, apart from being arguably the most powerful character class in 3.5 D&D, have the neat ability to choose to specialize in a specific school of magic, just in case nigh-unlimited power wasn’t enough, in exchange for dumping the ability to use other schools. But what is the best school to specialize in? What schools do you dump? Is it really actually a good idea?

Continue reading Powergaming: Choosing a Wizard School Specialization

In this first proper article on Powergaming (read the intro here), we will look at a 3.5 Skill, Use Magic Device. This Skill is oft neglected by many players, both new and old alike, who do not understand the potential it has.

Continue reading Powergaming: Use Magic Device

Today we begin the first of a series of (hopefully weekly…) articles discussing various powergaming strategies in D&D, both 3.5 and 4E. But what do we really mean by powergaming? How can we discuss details without understanding it? Well, that’s where this article starts. What is it? Is it good or bad? How far do you go?

Continue reading D&D Powergaming: Introduction

As some of you may have noticed, Monster of the Week has lapsed. In order to keep things fresh and interesting, I have decided to discontinue it for the moment, and focus on providing a greater variety of articles.

Some articles to look forward to in the next week or two:

Continue reading Upcoming articles; Monster of the Week Index

Basilisks are, like many D&D creatures, a solid mythological creature. Check the Wikipedia entry, it’s quite good. What’s particularly interesting is, apparently, a Cockatrice is a variant of a Basilisk, with more bird than lizard. Anyway, the important thing is, in D&D, they’re all reptiles. They’ve got eight legs (one of a variety of mythological descriptions), and can kill with a gaze. Specifically, D&D Basilisks turn you to stone, a technique known to us gamers as petrification. Basically, think of a crocodile with 8 legs that can look at you and you die.

Continue reading Monster of the Week: Basilisks

Aboleths are large and intelligent marine creatures not to be confused with an Axolotl, another strange fishy creature also starting with ‘A’. However, rather than having legs, an Aboleth has psionic powers and another nasty stuff. They look something like this:

Continue reading Monster of the Week: Aboleth

Goblins are like the eternal minion. Fireball fodder. Unlike Zombies, they can think for themselves, so are perfect for enlisting in huge quantities for random armies. Ever since The Hobbit they’ve been associated with being standard foes, and are thus included as such in D&D. However, like any monster, there are a few things to consider: there is definitely a right way and… a way that is still right (hey, D&D is pretty free-form), but not necessasrily as good.

Continue reading Monster of the Week: Goblins

Wraiths are incorporeal undead, pretty standard in just about any fantasy setting. Their very nature makes them very difficult to injure at all. For a DM, they are a handy monster as both a random encounter, and forcing the players to problem-solve a tricky encounter.

Wraiths are restless undead which basically serve no purpose in a game except to kill or be killed. They don’t really have motivation beyond killing the living. That’s fine. They’re pretty well suited to the task.

Continue reading Monster of the Week: Wraiths