Danny Bonaduce Says I Can’t Play D&D For a Week
Every so often, I’m forced to listen to terrestrial radio, and I remember why it’s worth spending a few dollars a month for satellite or, in most cases, just plugging in an MP3 player. Yesterday, with my Zune’s battery dead and XM radio currently out of commission, I was forced to turn on The Danny Bonaduce Show for my short commute. Needless to say, it was as it usually is: drek. As any trendy, internet savvy person would do, I tweeted about my situation, stating “Danny Bonaduce is my punishment for forgetting to charge my Zune.” A few hours later I noticed a reply, and saw that, to my surprise, the Bonaduce himself had sent me a message on Twitter. This was strange, since I didn’t actually direct the message to him, which means he actually searched himself out. Even stranger was his message for me.
Apparently, Danny Bonaduce doesn’t think I should play Dungeons & Dragons. This is information I needed to know. Learn more »
Help Planning a Gaming Room
Within the next few months, I’ll be moving out and into a new apartment. As I look around at different locations, trying to decide where I’ll put my computer, television, desk, and other essentials, one thing lingers in the back of my head: “Where will I play D&D?” The more I look, the more I’m convinced that I should really think about this sort of thing while looking for an apartment, and maybe even dedicate an area to playing tabletop games.
Obviously, this idea has brought me to Geek Chic, creators of RPG furniture for high class gamers. As seen in the picture above, they make large, sturdy tables for such gaming. However, at $1,500, this is a little out of our price range as of now. Even without that, I’ll need some sort of surface that won’t move, a nice white board, and a place to store minis/dice/books. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have some containers to hold these things, and to make sure nothing gets lost or misplaced. But there has to be more, right?
This made me wonder: do you have a dedicated D&D or RPG area? How is it set up? Do you have pictures?
Penny-Arcade Spreads Lolthmas Joy
For those of you who haven’t been following Penny-Arcade for the past few years, a strange transformation of the comic’s illustrator has taken place. While Jerry, the writer, has always been an admitted D&D fan, his partner in nonsense, Mike, has not. In fact, it wasn’t until the release of 4th Edition that he became hooked, and the website has slowly found itself moving away from video games and throwing in constant Dungeons & Dragons jokes.
Their new series, How the Illithid Stole Lolthmas, is a four partner that started on Monday and continued today. Page one is above, and I expect you all to follow the rest. Here’s a link, what do you think? I might need to buy this run as prints when its all said and done.
Review: The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos
Name: The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
System: 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons
Different people play Dungeons & Dragons for different reasons. Some enjoy spending time in cities, exploring different locations and getting involved in the politics of the world. Others prefer the outdoors, setting up camps in the wilderness and battling against nature. Many players would rather delve into a dungeon, finding keys for locked doors and disabling traps in hopes of finding a large chest at the end of the journey. There are also those, though, that want something more… abstract. For those, there are the planes. With the release of The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos, one of the more chaotic areas in D&D is detailed, and laid out for players and DMs to explore.
Beholder Dressing Looks Yummy, Impossible
Today, Wizards of the Coast sent over a recipe for Beholder Dressing. I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it anytime soon, what with my lack of fresh Beholder, but I figured this was cute enough to share either way. Does anyone have any good geeky RPG recipes? Do such things exist?
I Caved or: How I Learned to Stop Caring and Sign Up for D&Di
After a year of dragging my feet, using friend’s accounts, and messing with the trial information, I’ve finally caved in and paid money for D&D Insider. In fact, I went all in, spending $70+ on the one year account, instead of messing around with going month-to-month. Right now, I’m downloading all of the tools and preparing for my next campaign, exporting PDFs instead of scribbling notes in a binder. I’m making folders instead of, well, buying actual folders. No post-it notes, no highlighters, just lots of megabits and binary nonsense. Why? There are a three main reasons, and they’re reasons that just about anyone who plays 4th Edition should do the same. Learn more »
Google Wave + D&D = Do Want
I want a Google Wave invite. Badly. Why? I haven’t the slightest idea. I only half know what it does, and just want to be in so I can learn exactly how it can help what I do. As someone who sends dozens of emails a day I have to think it will help, but according to ArsTechnica, there are some other uses too. Apparently it can be used for Dungeons & Dragons, pushing my wants from “hey, I’d like to have this” to serious “do want” levels of excitement.
Learn more »
Take a Break from DMing; It’ll Make You a Better DM!
I used to be a full time DM. I started off as a player, but after my regular group broke up I didn’t want to stop, and started DMing some friends. I had a lot of fun, but as time went on I realized my stories weren’t as interesting as they were in the beginning, and while I was technically sound and knew the rules, something was… missing. After a few failed campaigns my girlfriend, who posts here as FemJesse, said she wanted to try her hand at faking 20’s as a DM. Eventually I caved, after much deliberation (and a party where I burnt my DM screen and threw my dice in the air), and said I would be fine passing the torch. I figured, if nothing else, it would give me the time to play I craved so much. She’s been doing a wonderful job, and given me some of the best D&D sessions I’ve played. However, after nearly a year of her campaigns I’ve realized what I was missing, and why my sessions began to suffer. Learn more »
D&D + Surface = Need New Pants
I’m not going to bother writing a rant about this; just watch the video. Some people, who I can only assume are from the future, have mushed Microsoft’s Surface together with Dungeons & Dragons. The results? Something better than Wizards of the Coast has been able to do in the past three years while trying to launch the online D&D Game Table. Wow. Just watch.
Before anyone leaps up and starts defending D&D as an experience that doesn’t need electronics, I point my finger at D&D Insider, the tools that let players create characters with a computer program. My groups have used nothing but in the past year, and I can’t recommend the program enough. On that same note, this is best used if not taken far too seriously, since toying with rules is part of what makes D&D so fun. My only issue is that I’m never going to be able to play like this, even if I did drop several thousand dollars on the Surface. It’s a work in progress, and will never get the licensing or rights to be released as it should. Please, Wizards of the Coast, hire these young scholars, let them build the tools you haven’t the ability to. I love you, 4th Edition D&D is all kinds of awesome, but please admit when you can’t do something, and take advantage of those who can.
Cool Awesome Half-Baked Ideas
The Beholder’s lair was shaped like a teardrop with the bottom flattened out, suited perfectly for the vertical movement of the floating eye-monster. Several bookshelves were placed against the walls, wabbling with every step, obviously not used to the pitter-patter of footsteps. The beast itself laid slain, killed by the three adventurers: Tyran, a Golliath Barbarian; Annika, a Genasi Swordmage, and Norrin Radd, a Dragonborn Warlock. They were attacked while passing, and decided that the effort of self-defense should be rewarded with pillaging the abberation’s chamber. Norrin took out the group’s prize possession: a bag that turned all it enveloped into gold, which the group used in every situation. Living creatures it would not slay, but items and magical objects would give their full worth in coin.
The bookshelves in the room in question were filled with different knick-nacks, such as tomes and other objects, but four stood out: brains in jars, letting off a glow. Right away, Tyran tossed one in the bag, and immediately grabbed another. Before he had a chance to place it in, the object twitched, and fired a blast at the Barbarian. It was a magical object, and now the three remaining brains were attempting to defend their well bring. Quickly, Tyran pushed the one in his hands in, and Annika did the same with another, causing gold to spill onto the floor. The one remaining made its intentional clear by firing more shots at the adventurers, floating up twenty feet, well out of reach. With a flash, it dominated the mind of the Genasi, and the two remaining friends seemed like they were out of options, and needed to strike their ally.
Learn more »
