*
Setting the Stage 3: Damaging Terrain -- November
4, 2004
"This
article looks at terrain that inflicts damage on anyone
who crosses it, such as a rivulet of lava or a jagged,
spiked rock...."
*
Setting the Stage 2: Concealment -- October
21, 2004
"This
week, let's turn our attention to concealment, perhaps
the most vexing environmental effect that you can throw
at your players...."
*
Setting the Stage 1: Stunts, Maneuvers, and Terrain
-- October 21, 2004
"Welcome to 'Setting the Stage,' a series of articles
that helps you build interesting and fun encounters
for your campaign.
The first installment looks at the most basic types
of encounter dressing you can use: cover and blocking
terrain...."
*
An Occasion for Every Rule, and a Rule for Every Occasion
-- October 21, 2004
"At
both Viking-Con and Worldwide D&D Game Day, I was
asked something along the lines of, 'Don't you think
the increased number of rules in 3rd Edition is detrimental
to roleplaying?'...."
*
A Game of Cards -- July 22, 2004
"This
week I did something in my current campaign that I've
been meaning to try for years and years...."
*
An Interesting Bit of Complication -- June
10 , 2004
"The
opposite of "simplistic" is not always "complicated."
"Simple" is a word probably overused in game
design circles...."
*
Modifying Magic to Suit Your Needs -- May
13 , 2004
"When
I began my current campaign, I was planning things out
and was reminded of an aspect of the game that doesn't
fit my personal tastes well...."
*
Dealing with Large Parties 3: An Afterword -- March
11 , 2004
"There
are a couple weird issues to consider when you've got
a large group of players in your game..."
*
Dealing with Large Parties 2: Handling All Those Players
-- February 26, 2004
"In
Part 1 of this article, I looked at developing encounters
for large groups. This, however, is only half the challenge..."
*
Dealing with Large Parties 1: Challenging Encounters
-- January 15, 2004
"About
a year ago, I wrote a 'Dungeoncraft' article for Dragon
Magazine regarding handling large encounters...."
*
Reclaiming the DM's Throne 3: Logical Sense -- November
20, 2003
"My
players are (slowly, I think) getting used to me making
judgment calls on the fly -- you know, like what a DM
is supposed to do...."
*
Reclaiming the DM's Throne 2: How Does That Rule Work
Again? -- October 16, 2003
"Sitting
at the game table, I find myself asking my players for
rules clarifications more often than you might think...."
*
Reclaiming the DM's Throne 1: Description and How to
Use It -- October 9, 2003
"This
is the first part of a series of articles regarding
the conflict of who is in charge, the rules or the DM.
The last couple of years' game products would have us
believe it's the rules...."
*
Stereotype Use and Abuse -- August
7, 2003
"In
real life, I despise stereotypes. Labeling large groups
of people as all being the same is obnoxious and wrong
...."
*
Tome of Horrors vs. Fiend Folio --
May 8, 2003
"Last
year, Necromancer Games made an agreement with Wizards
of the Coast to publish a monster book updating a number
of old 1st and 2nd Edition monsters to 3rd Edition...."
*
Running a 3E Game Without Miniatures -- April
17, 2003
"I
won't lie to you. I love miniatures. I love painting
them and I love using them in games. However, I've certainly
gamed a lot more in my life without miniatures than
with them...."
*
Rules Are Rules (But Nothing More) -- February
27, 2003
"Not
long ago, I created a unique elemental being for a D&D
adventure. You know, kind of like a fiend lord or Imix
from Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil...."
*
More Music for Your Game -- December
19 , 2002
"Last
year, I posted a list of CDs I thought you might want
to consider using as background music for your game.
It's been a full year, and I've found a lot more music
you might like...."
*
Real Caves and Caverns -- September
13 , 2002
"Having
previously talked about real castles and dungeons, I
thought I'd turn my attention to another favorite gaming
locale: caves and caverns...."
*
Real Castles and Dungeons -- July
25, 2002
"I've
taken a few trips to the UK and (recently) Ireland,
and one common element to each trip was exploring real
castles. It's wonderful and fun, but from a D&D
perspective, a little disheartening...."
*
Design Secrets: High-Level Adventures -- June
8, 2002
"You
have to keep many things in mind when dealing with high-level
characters and the challenges they should face..."
*
Alternate Bards and Sorcerers -- March
1, 2002
"Book
of Eldritch Might II: Songs and Souls of Power
offers a variant bard and sorcerer class. Both these
alternatives are presented more for flavor than as replacements
for some perceived mechanical inadequacy in the standard
classes...."
*
Bugs! -- February 8, 2002
"No,
the topic here is not computer bugs, or game balance
issues, but insects in D&D. I've been doing a lot
of reading about insects lately..."
*
Monte's Top 10 Rules of DMing -- December
30, 2001
"10.
It's not cheating to use a prepared adventure...."
*
Monsters as Characters -- November
27, 2001
"Okay,
so everyone (pretty much) likes the idea of playing
monsters as characters now and then. Including me. But
figuring out their equivalent level is tough...."
*
Prestige Class Online Design Workshop, Part II --
October 18, 2001
"Two
weeks ago, I started discussing prestige class design
in the first online design worskhop. I based a lot of
what I wrote about on material generated by people on
my message boards who submitted their prestige classes
for critiquing...."
*
Prestige Class Online Design Workshop -- September
21, 2001
"A
few weeks ago, I asked people on my message boards to
submit some prestige classes so that we could 'workshop'
them and learn a few things about creating these classes...."
*
Recommended Reading and Reference -- September
8, 2001
"The
following list is part of a handout I used at the game
design workshop I ran at Gen Con 2001...."
*
Handling Poison -- August 10, 2001
"Here's
a variant for handling poison. This replaces the "Perils
of Using Poison" rules, if you choose to use it...."
*
A Soundtrack for Your Game -- July
27, 2001
"For
me, music is extremely important during a game. I almost
hate to game without it. It's like watching a movie
without the soundtrack -- because that's really what
music is, a soundtrack for your game...."
*
Opposed Rolls -- July 6, 2001
"Sometimes
opposed rolls show a more accurate reflection of a game
situation than a static DC set by the game master or
mandated by a core rulebook. Here are two example variants..."
*
Magic Items FAQ, Part 2 -- June 29,
2001
"I
had something else in mind for this week. However, it
seems that the
last FAQ did not adequately discuss every last issue
of magic item construction (go figure). So, I've created
a second part...."
*
Making
Magic Items FAQ -- June 8, 2001
"I
get a lot of questions about making magic items. What's
more, I see a lot of them online in various sources.
So, I figured I'd address some common problems and misconceptions
here...."
*
More
Accurate Challenge Ratings/Forgot He Was Invisible?
Not Any More! -- May 19, 2001
"This week I'll present two wildly different pieces
of advice for Dungeon Masters: a new way of determining
the Challenge Ratings of templated creatures, and an
off-beat method for handling invisible characters...."
*
Stretch
That Monster Dollar! -- April
28, 2001
"Want to get more for your monster
dollar? Here's how. The secret that game companies don't
want you to know!..."
