How to Run Red Hand of Doom Part 2: Through Vraath Keep

Last time, I introduced us to one of the greatest adventures of all time: Red Hand of Doom, a 3e D&D campaign module. Today, I'll take us through the first half of Part 1 of the adventure. These are some jam-packed Parts, and it's worth giving each some room to breathe. I'm going section-by-section; as … Continue reading How to Run Red Hand of Doom Part 2: Through Vraath Keep →

Five Tips to Set the Stage for Theater of the Mind Combat

A true confession: I've only played with miniatures a few times in my life. Most of the time, my buddies and I do D&D over google hangouts, using no visuals (other than occasional screen-sharing). While playing my budget version of D&D, I've picked up a couple tricks for making theater of the mind combat smooth and fun.

Dragon Mag’s Instant Adventures

The April 1981 issue of Dragon Magazine included an article with a tantalizing premise: INSTANT ADVENTURES. "Here are the ideas!" the magazine promises; " - just add imagination!" The premise of the article was to provide a handy list of adventure ideas, described only in the broadest terms, along with a classification system for how … Continue reading Dragon Mag’s Instant Adventures →

How to Run Red Hand of Doom: Part 1

It's an absolute classic. Maybe it doesn't have the brand power of "Tomb of Horrors" or "Temple of Elemental Evil," but it's a constant presence on top Dungeons & Dragons adventure module lists. That's right: it's RED HAND OF DOOM. Red Hand of Doom (RHOD, from here on out) was published in 2006 for third … Continue reading How to Run Red Hand of Doom: Part 1 →

BREAKING: Biological Essentialism is Not Good

This, I think, is where the future of RPG character design has to go: fixing the fundamental assumptions about biologically essential traits carried by different races. I'm not going to praise WOTC until I see what actually changes, but I'm glad their eyes are drawn to the roots of race in game design. Tying objective game mechanics to something as subjective and political as race is, ultimately, a cop-out. Good games eliminate that junk.

D&D Adventure Review – Wreck Ashore

I’ve written before about how much I rely on tweaking pre-written adventure modules. It’s a great way to save time on adventure prep - start with the bones, and then add your own flesh. And muscles, and a stomach, and other organs. If you’ve listened to (or read) the Chronicles, you might notice the way … Continue reading D&D Adventure Review – Wreck Ashore →

D&D Adventure Review: The Burning Plague by Miguel Duran

In running my campaign, I rely a lot on tweaking pre-written adventure modules to fit my needs. Lazy? Perhaps. Effective? Hell yes. The very first adventure in this campaign (see Episode 1: Miner Difficulties) was largely based on The Burning Plague, an adventure published alongside third edition D&D...