Review: The Mark of Nerath by Bill Slavicsek

When it was revealed that with the advent of 4th Edition that the newest edition of Dungeons and Dragons would be abandoning the setting of Greyhawk for its stock setting there was some outcry amongst fans.  Not much, given that Wizards’ utilization of Greyhawk was, to put it mildly, sort of half-assed anyway it didn’t [...]

VTT is Coming!

D&D Virtual Table: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26286405/The_Dungeons__Dragons_Virtual_Table— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) November 18, 2010 Also…Twitter Blackbird Pie is pretty neat!

Some thoughts D&D Essentials

I’m really excited about this product. That being said I am, to a certain extent, troubled by it.  For the skinny I highly recommend you check out the previews that have been running over in Bill Slavicsek’s Ampersand column (handily linked here for your convenience): Fighter Preview 1 Fighter Preview 2 Rogue Preview Wizard Preview [...]

On Roleplaying

It’s time to Ramble On. -Led Zeppelin As I sat in a comfy chair last night, wearing my free Dragon Age t-shirt acquired at PAX ’07, and playing through the opening scenes of Mass Effect 2 (my Mass Effect t-shit was, unfortunately, in the laundry) I cringed as a notice popped up about earning +4 [...]

Worlds of D&D over at Wertzone

I wanted to take a moment to point any D&D fans, new and old, over to the Wertzone where Adam Whitehead has been slowly eking out historical overviews of the various D&D campaign settings that have existed through the ages.  So if players just getting into D&D with 4e want to see some of what [...]

Review: Plague of Spells by Bruce R. Cordell

Plague of Spells: Abolethic Sovereignty Book 1 Bruce R. Cordell Wizards of the Coast, 2009 Plague of Spells is not a work without flaws and, for me at least, oscillated between frustrating and genuinely enthralling. The novel opens with the monk Raidon Kane as he returns home to his adopted daughter. The reader gets a [...]

4e Review: The DMG

I’m going to try and be breif here.  For a comprehensive review of all the books, the DMG included, check out Martin Ralya’s review over at Gnome Stew, and for a decent overiew of the DMG I recommend Chatty’s review over at Chatty the DM.  I’m going to cover a lot of the same ground [...]

Monster Manual (4e Review): “I’m a MONster! Raaawwr!”

The 4th Edition Monster Manual rocks!  I’ve seen some complaints from other reviewers but I’m saying right now that I love it.  Like the PHB the Monster Manual cuts out the chaff, leaving a non-nonsense affair full of crunchy monster goodness.  If you were to take the AD&D Monstrous Manual strip away the lengthy fluff [...]

4e Review: PHB, Part II: The Good, The Bad, and the slightly more Bad

Opening note:  “bad” is a relative term here and likely inappropriate.  “Less good” or “not quite as awesome” might be better. The Good: UPDATE:  Forgot about the no penalties thing!  All defenses are modified by 1 of 2 possible stats.  You choose which at character creation.  Have a lumbering fighter with low dex?  No problem, [...]

4e Review: The Player’s Handbook, Part I: Overview

With 4th Edition upon us I’ll be taking a close look at the Player’s Handbook with slightly less intense looks at the Dungeon Master’s Guide and the Monster Manual.  My review will be broken into two parts (as if the title wasn’t an indicator) a fairly laborious Overview of the PHB and some of the [...]