D20 Source

Friday Link Adventure - Nov 28

posted Friday, November 28th 2008 by Jonathan Drain

Here’s what’s hot this week in the the D&D “blogosphere”.

News

• RPG Pundit: D&D Fails in Germany? The publisher of 4th edition’s German translation cancels the core books; doomsayers out in full force
• Critical Hits: And also also, the un-end of the D&D Miniatures Game. After cancelling the D&D Miniatures Game, Wizards of the Coast is to hand it over to a volunteer group to support existing players
• Living Dice: Gen Con Purchase Offer Rejected
• Living Dice: GenCon Update: Make-A-Wish Foundation debt may resolve this week. This comes after Gencon declared bankruptcy not so long ago, owing debts including $150,000 to the Make-A-Wish foundation.

Reviews

• Critical Hits: Review: Draconomicon
• WotC: Spotlight Interview: Draconomicon

Fourth Edition Coolness

• Sign of the Druid: 4E Warcraft Races #1
• Newbie DM: Minions… Broken? Is one-quarter XP too much?
• The Core Mechanic: Ereshkigal’s Hatchet, a 4E weapon and adventure hook

Dungeon Mastering

A hot topic this week is non-traditional roleplaying - letting your players take narrative control, or abandoning combat rules entirely.

• Gnome Stew on: Player Narrative
• RPGCentric: Do we really need rules to roleplay?
• DND Corner: Becoming a Diceless DM

Three DMs this week are trialling an online D&D Java app called Gametable:

• By Decree of the Czar: Gametable Tutorial: How to Host a Game
• Greywulf: Trying Out Gametable
• Chatty DM: Chatty’s D&D Online Game: Trial game report

Morality is also a topic this week:

• Netherworld Stories: Beyond Alignment: Adding Moral Complexity to Your Game
• 6d6 Fireball: Evil in D&D

And as ever, discussion of age-old Dungeon Master problems:

• Dungeon Mastering: How to get rid of DM guilt once and for all
• Chatty DM: Chatty’s Question: Rekindling the Flame DM burnout
• Greyhawk Grognard: Water, water, everywhere, on handling water in dungeons

Game Design

• Paizo: RPG Superstar™ 2009 Scours the Globe to Find New Design Talent. The contest is open to anyone who hasn’t had a cover credit on an RPG book. Round one is to create a third edition compatible magic item.
• Living Dice: Game Design and Self-Publishing– Resources for Aspiring Game Designers
• Living Dice: Interview: Byron Collins of Collins Epic Wargames, Publisher of Frontline General
• Mearls examines the 1E Monk

Playing the Game

• Roleplaying Tips: Issue 425
• 6d6 Fireball: 5 Roleplaying Tips
• The Life and Times of a Phillipine Gamer: The ’80s taught me how to play

And the Rest

• Chatty DM: Bedtime Campaign: The Sword of Dreams, Part 1. Another great story from a father who by all measures is raising a great future Dungeon master.
• RPG Blog II: Is D&D a product of the midwest?
• RPG Blog II: Organizing RPG PDFs
• Tankards and Broadswords: Reclaiming the Blade, on swordplay in the movies
• Gnome Stew: The Blackest of Fridays. Where to get RPG discounts this season
• Jeff Rients: Dungeons & Dawn Patrol
• RPGPundit: Amber: The Game Storygamers Love to Hate
• Finally, “By Decree of the Czar” asks: Do you have any humorous house rules?

• 6 comments
• Leave a Comment
• Digg This
• Stumble This
• Bookmark This